ìThis is My Profession:î How Notions of Teaching Enable and Constrain Autonomy of Two-Year College Wrtiting Instructors.

Abstract

This study explores the following research questions: What expectations do writing instructors at two-year colleges identify for their roles as teaching professionals at these colleges? How do instructors negotiate tensions that emerge as a result of these expectations and those expectations they perceive from their professional community, preparation, and scholarship? I applied Sarfatti-Larson’s conceptualization of professional autonomy as an interpretive lens to understand instructors’ teaching choices. Sarfatti-Larson defines two different kinds of control: control over technique and control over scope of service. A failure to demonstrate control over scope of service ultimately contributes to deprofessionalization. Drawing on identity theory and positioning theory as frameworks to analyze how instructors’ perceptions of their roles as instructors and others’ expectations, this study describes how social interactions make some choices seem more acceptable than others. I collected qualitative data at three points in the semester. Specifically, I worked with 10 faculty members to conduct 7 observations, and 25 interviews, and to collect and analyze 112 papers. I analyzed these data using constant comparative analysis, developing code categories across the three stages of data collection. My analysis identified two kinds of instructional roles. Independent contractors exerted control over the techniques of their teaching within their classrooms. Semi-autonomous professionals exerted control over their classrooms and also drew on scholarship to exert control over their scope of service, advancing teaching at the department and institutional levels. In most cases where instructors performed roles as semi-autonomous professionals, administrators positioned them to do so. Additionally, independent contractors typically avoided discussing differences in teaching approaches, preferring to perform “as if” they agreed with teaching expectations to protect classroom independence. This oversight contributed to their poor positioning, because it limited their control to classrooms These findings suggest that administrators have an important role in shaping how instructors conceive of teaching. They also suggest instructors’ disengagement from institutional knowledge-making may contribute to decreased autonomy and devaluing of disciplinary knowledge. In order for English instructors at community colleges to assert professional autonomy over their scope of service they must see themselves and be seen by others as professionals with specialized knowledge.