The recent pedagogical “boom” in English studies and the seeming omnipresence of the term pedagogy have not been matched by a correspondingly radical shift in how we prepare professors of English. Instead, Shari J. Stenberg argues, “professing” remains primarily defined by conceptions of research.

Stenberg insists that pedagogy will not be rightfully valued until we confront the disciplinary model that diminishes it. She offers a compelling historical account of how teacher preparation has been shaped by entrenched notions of the research professor and then examines and critiques four major contemporary metaphors for the professor in training and the teacher-preparation methods that result: the teacher as scholar, the teacher as trainee, the teacher as owner, and the teacher as learner.

To promote a shift from teacher training to true pedagogical development, Stenberg provides conceptual revisions and suggests specific pedagogical changes designed to influence how we understand and practice disciplinarity at each point in pedagogical development. Offering rich examples that illustrate the praxis of teacher development, Stenberg argues for and enacts pedagogical inquiry as disciplinary work by drawing from her experience as student, teacher, and writing program administrator.
Refiguring English Studies. 173 pp. 2005. College. ISBN 0-8141-3741-5.

No. 37415