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Never a Dull Moment for the Attentive Writing Educator in a Community College

One of my favorite units to teach in the writing class is the rhetorical situation.  As a result, I personally have a practice of analyzing my audiences in most all situations.

Though I have wonderful senior citizens in my family and in my spiritual contexts, most recently I have become acquainted with a new senior community–people over 65 seeking health insurance.

The diversity among this population is fascinating.  With so many years on this earth there is an abounding presence of wisdom among seniors–if we are patient enough to uncover the treasure.  Yet, regardless of their wisdom, their time on this earth demands respect.

What does all of this mean for a writing teacher?

With 10,000 people turning 65 every day for at least the next 18 years, surely many more senior citizens will enter the college classroom (I am already planning the topics I would like to study once I reach my late 70s and life slows down a little.).

Given the insight above and the need to create strategies of engagement and interesting assignments, the college writing instructor must not only consider the 16 year old AP student entering college early, the father or mother squeezing in a course or two after work, or the recently graduated C- high school student who is not sure what he or she wants to be in the future but the attentive writing teacher must also consider the senior citizen who walks in the classroom with many years of experience, wisdom, insight, and contribution.

The task of the writing teacher is not easy but it certainly makes for an interesting learning environment, for all our students deserve attention and excellence.

There are no dull moments in striving to be an excellent educator.   I think this is why I love education!

By Avis Winifred Rupert, Ph.D.

Dr. Rupert has a 20-year teaching/leadership track-record in education. She is a native of Texas but has relocated to the East Coast where she is the Associate Dean of Arts & Humanities at Bristol Community College. Her background includes both teaching and administrative positions in the university and community college, international contexts, and secondary and dual credit experience in both the rural and urban high school setting. Rupert has traveled to 21 countries to-date, partnered with populations from diverse ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds; and achieved an 8-year management career complemented by four levels of management with the largest retailer in the world. Dr. Rupert’s education is complementary to her professional and personal growth and interests. She has a BBA in Business Administration with a minor in Marketing, an MA in Composition Studies, an MA in Organizational Management with an International Focus, a PhD in Rhetoric and Writing, and she is presently working on an MA in Biblical Studies and Theology. Rupert’s profile gives her a unique way of at looking at opportunities in education and beyond that often escape others. She contributes her success to self-awareness, an unparalleled drive to grow and develop in varying ways, and a tenacity for leadership. Finally, her dissertation which required the exploration of ethnography requires mention, for it too has added to her unique perspectives and accomplishments.

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