College, Career, and Community Ready Writers Program: Seeking Understanding Before Taking a Stand

Publication: American Educator
Date: Spring 2018

Summary: The National Writing Project's College, Career, and Community Ready Writers Program (C3WP) teaches evidence-based argument writing with an emphasis on dialogue, not debate.

Excerpt from Article:

In an era where public discourse has become increasingly polarized, and 'echo chambers' of narrow views populate people's social media feeds, teaching students to ground their arguments in evidence is more important than ever. To the detriment of education, we live in what author Deborah Tannen calls the 'argument culture,' where 'winning' is more valued than 'understanding.'

To equip students to thrive in this challenging environment, the NWP's approach to argument writing starts with having students understand multiple points of view that go beyond pros and cons and are based on multiple pieces of evidence, which ultimately enables students to take responsible civic action. At its core, C3WP supports students in navigating an increasingly dense informational world so they can become informed citizens who are prepared to participate in and ultimately strengthen a healthy and vibrant democracy."

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Read "For the Sake of Argument: An Approach to Teaching Evidence-Based Writing" at American Educator

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