Reflexivity and Agency in Rhetoric and Pedagogy

College English Mar 1994

Reflexivity and Agency in Rhetoric and Pedagogy

Rebecca Moore Howard ; Richard Harvey Brown ; Marie Secor ; Davida Charney ; William B. Stanley

Abstract

I he postmodern penchant for reflexivity has affected all arenas of social research, including composition and rhetoric.Sandra Harding explains the importance of reflexivity as she defines feminist methods: The beliefs and behaviors of the researcher are part of the empirical evidence for (or against) the claims advanced in the results of research.This evidence . . .must be open to critical scrutiny no less than what is traditionally defined as relevant evidence....This kind of relationship between the researcher and the object of research is usually discussed under the heading of the "reflexivity of social science."(9) Reflexivity encourages a questioning of the most basic premises of one's discipline.Charles Bazerman, whose essay "The Interpretation of Disciplinary Writing" appears in Writing the Social Text, describes the fruits of interrogating one's discipline: "By reflection one can come to know the systems of which one is part and can act with greater self-conscious precision and flexibility to carry forward and, if appropriate, reshape the projects of one's discipline" (37).

Journal: College English
Published: 1994-03-01
DOI: 10.2307/378526
Open Access: Closed
Topics: multilingual writers