The central value of first-year composition is often questioned, typically accompanied by characterizations of FYC as a “service” course. This collection counters those perceptions, sharing with readers a new FYC story, one that demonstrates a new “service” that the course provides to first-year students, a service that accommodates the realities of writing—that it is never just writing and that the writing process entails much more than plugging in the “right” words (that mean the same to everyone) in predetermined forms. The collection offers insights into effective FYC pedagogies and opportunities for readers to consider and think about their own teaching and their identities as FYC instructors. It offers prompts for reflection, suggestions for further reading, and multimedia components that can deepen and enrich our understandings of teaching FYC and instill a sense of agency for teaching FYC effectively and advocating for its value and relevance.
 

Jo-Anne Kerr is professor emerita of English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she taught English and English education methods courses and supervised student teachers. Jo-Anne was director of IUP’s English Education Program for 10 years and received the Outstanding English Education Adviser Award several years. She also served as codirector of the Southcentral Pennsylvania Writing Project from 2005-2010. She is coeditor and cowriter of Thinking Like a Teacher.

Ann N. Amicucci is assistant professor of English and director of First-Year Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, where she teaches first-year rhetoric and research writing courses, a writing pedagogy course for future K-12 English teachers, and undergraduate rhetoric seminars on social media, letters, and public intellectualism. Her work has appeared in Computers & Composition and The CEA Forum.