Research in the Teaching of English May 2025

Argument as Architecture: Constructing an Alternative K–12 Writing Paradigm for Collective Civic Futures

Nicole Mirra Rutgers Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights ; Kia Turner ; Antero Garcia Stanford University

Abstract

Argumentation, one of the foundational pillars of writing instruction in K–12 schools, is consistently framed in literacy policy, curriculum, and assessment as a crucial skill youth need to participate in democratic deliberation. Yet the normative emphases in argument discourse on individual subjectivity, binary analysis, and competitive social scarcity stifle the development of the solidarity and relationality needed to counter rancorous political discord and to build equitable civic futures. In this conceptual essay, the authors offer a reimagined paradigm and practice of argument that fosters empathetic thinking and mutuality, moving away from the conceptualization of argument as solitary edifice and toward a vision of argument as collective architecture. Drawing upon lessons from global communicative traditions and recent turns in literacy scholarship toward participatory design, multimodality, and critical speculation, the authors provide five guiding principles for the Argument Writing as Architecture (AWA) framework, share vignettes from classroom and community learning spaces to illustrate its utility, and propose strategies for its implementation in K–12 classrooms.

Journal
Research in the Teaching of English
Published
2025-05-01
DOI
10.58680/rte2025594473
Open Access
Closed
Topics
writing pedagogy multimodality argument

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

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