ERIC Number: ED647543
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 273
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-8417-2582-4
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Global Citizenship Writing Pedagogies: A Perspective from the Field of Ikeda/"Soka" Studies
Debbie Goss
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
This interdisciplinary study examines faculty members' various understandings of writing pedagogies across the curriculum to foster global citizens from the perspective of "soka," or value creation. Broadly, value-creating global citizenship pedagogy develops students' skills and knowledge for the purpose of socioecological good. According to Ikeda (1996/2021b), global citizenship education "should provide the momentum to triumph over one's own weaknesses, to thrive in the midst of society's sometimes stringent realities, and to generate new victories for the human future" (pp. 9-10). Much literature in the field of Writing Studies links writing to socioecological issues, and the burgeoning field of Ikeda/Soka studies values writing as a necessity for global citizenship education as modeled by the progenitors of "soka": Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, Josei Toda, and Daisaku Ikeda. The purpose of this dissertation is to bring these two fields together and identify various ways faculty members across disciplines understand writing pedagogies to foster global citizens. This qualitative study employs phenomenographic action research with a feminist research ethic to answer the research question: What are the various ways faculty members across disciplines understand writing pedagogies to foster global citizens? Five focus groups were created for each of the concentrations at Soka University of America: Life Sciences, Environmental Studies, International Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Humanities. During these focus groups, participants shared their understandings of whether and how their writing pedagogies foster global citizens as situated within their disciplines. From the analysis of focus group transcripts and a pool of artifacts such as syllabi and course handouts, a plethora of understandings surfaced. Some of these understandings appeared to be discipline specific and some were unique to each faculty members' interpretations of writing pedagogies and global citizenship. When analyzing commonalities throughout the study, three key findings emerged: "academic rigor," "for the greater good," through "dialogic engagement." "Academic rigor" refers to frequent, critical, and extensive writing. "For the greater good" relates to notions of the interconnectedness of life, fostering empathy, and applying these global citizenship traits to real-life situations. "Dialogical engagement" describes the process of mutual learning through listening to another's reflections. Dialogical engagement was present in the participants' pedagogies as well as in the design of the study itself. In other words, the dialogues in the focus groups enabled the participants and the researcher to come to better understandings of writing pedagogies to foster global citizens. Each finding is discussed in relation to the fields of Writing Studies and Ikeda/Soka studies, including implications for Global Citizenship Writing Across the Curriculum (GCWAC) programs. A concrete framework is provided as a heuristic for WAC leaders implementing a GCWAC program and for individual faculty members in any discipline to implement writing pedagogies to foster global citizens. Several examples for implementing a value-creating approach to teaching writing are also presented. This study concludes that anyone anywhere can take up value-creating writing pedagogies to foster global citizens, generating crucial social and planetary change. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Writing Instruction, Interdisciplinary Approach, Global Approach, Citizenship Education, Writing Across the Curriculum, Teaching Methods, Phenomenology, Universities, College Faculty, Biological Sciences, Social Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, Environmental Education, International Studies, Course Descriptions, Empathy, Academic Standards, Difficulty Level, Citizen Participation, Dialogs (Language), Teacher Attitudes, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: India
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A