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This article examines the construction of the pedagogical missions of professional and technical communication (PTC) programs, focusing on two forms of professional discourse. Specifi- cally, I look first at discussions and debates about our pedagogical missions in the internally directed or private conversations of scholarly journals. Then, I examine the externally directed or public discourse of 123 PTC program websites. To compare these two discourses, I frame their differences in terms of the doxa, or unspoken beliefs, upon which they ground their approaches to teaching students the techne, or principled practice, of PTC. The main conclusion of my study is that these differences reflect more than mere genre variations; they reflect important internal conflicts within the attitudes and perspectives on the role of PTC programs as sites of pedagogy. I conclude with the recommendation that we consciously resist the doxa that values pre-professionalism for its own sake by designing websites that refer directly to the topics and themes that arise in professional journals.
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The Pedagogical Missions of Professional and Technical Communication Programs: What We Say in the Journals and What We Say on the Web
http://www.cptsc.org/pp/vol1-2/gordon1.2.pdf
Gordon, Jay L.
Programmatic Perspectives
2009
Abstract: This article examines the construction of the pedagogical missions of professional and technical communication (PTC) programs, focusing on two forms of professional discourse. Specifi- cally, I look first at discussions and debates about our pedagogical missions in the internally directed or private conversations of scholarly journals. Then, I examine the externally directed or public discourse of 123 PTC program websites. To compare these two discourses, I frame their differences in terms of the doxa, or unspoken beliefs, upon which they ground their approaches to teaching students the techne, or principled practice, of PTC. The main conclusion of my study is that these differences reflect more than mere genre variations; they reflect important internal conflicts within the attitudes and perspectives on the role of PTC programs as sites of pedagogy. I conclude with the recommendation that we consciously resist the doxa that values pre-professionalism for its own sake by designing websites that refer directly to the topics and themes that arise in professional journals.
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