Guidelines for the Academic Preparation of
Two-Year College English Faculty

Executive Summary

The Two-Year College English Association of the National Council of Teachers of English developed the following document to give guidelines for the academic preparation of two-year college English faculty to administrators who hire teachers at two-year institutions, to university faculty who offer graduate courses or are engaged in training future two-year college teachers, and to graduates who want some direction in deciding appropriate courses in their preparation to become two-year college English faculty. 

Two major questions frame the document; what are the characteristics of effective two-year college English teachers, and how can these characteristics be fostered through academic preparation and professional development?

Characteristics of effective two-year college English faculty

• Reflective practitioners and flexible teacher/scholars
• Classrooms are student-centered
• Understand diversity and teaching to diverse ethnic, economic, and ability populations
• Challenge their students
• Teaching is grounded in theory and research
• Collaborate with colleagues in developing curriculum
• Actively serve their colleges and their communities
• Participate in professional community through conferences, presentations, publications and ongoing scholarship.

Academic preparation and professional development

Baccalaureate degree with major in English and these core courses:

• Western and non-western literature, including literary theory
• Grammar and linguistics
• Writing (including expository writing, creative writing, technical writing, writing in the disciplines)

Additional courses recommended in:

• Teaching writing (including courses in basic writers, bilingual/bicultural writers)
• Teaching reading
• The adult learner
• Curriculum

Master’s Degree in English or English Education should include:

• In-depth courses in the core group above
• Other coursework in:
  • Theories of learning, including basic writers and literacy for adult learners
  • Composition theory and pedagogy
  • Rhetoric and rhetorical theory
  • Reading and literacy
  • Multilingual/multicultural, ESL education
  • Computer-mediated learning and digital environments
  • Research methods
• Suggested elective coursework in:
  • Diversity
  • Writing Across the Curriculum
  • Writing Centers
  • Classroom assessment

Further Graduate Studies and Continuing Faculty Development

Further faculty development, which may involve doctoral work, should include:

• Higher education politics
• Issues of language policy
• Teaching non-traditional students, students with disabilities, and ethnically diverse students
• Course development and assessment; faculty/self-evaluation

Adjunct Faculty

Since much of the teaching of composition is taught by adjunct faculty, they should have the same qualifications expected for full-time hires, specifically, a master’s degree in English with coursework in Composition Theory or the Teaching of Writing, or experience with the National Writing Project, Writing Centers, or similar organizations. 

For those who may be teaching without this background (whether full-time or adjunct), the English Department in the two-year college is urged to offer courses or workshops in these areas as well as in methods of evaluation, adult learners, and assessment.

Prepared by an ad hoc committee of the Two-Year College Association of the
National Council of Teachers of English

Jo Ann Buck, Ph.D., Guilford Technical Community College, North Carolina—Chair
Sallyanne H. Fitzgerald, Ed.D., Chabot College, California—Past Chair
Yulanda McKinney, Monroe Community College, New York
Jude Okpala, Ph.D., Howard Community College, Columbia, Maryland
Marilyn Valentino, Ph.D., Lorain County Community College, Ohio
Xiao Wang, Ph.D., Broward Community College, Florida

Approved by the Two-Year College English Association of the National Council of Teachers of English, November 20, 2004

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