A&S Teaching & Learning Community of Practice 2026-27: From Grind to Joy: Centering Pleasure in University Reading and Writing Instruction

Most university students experience anxiety around reading and writing from time pressure, high stakes assessments, and lack of competence and self-efficacy. This session presents approaches that centre students’ enjoyment of reading and writing as antidotes to anxiety and dread, which can exacerbate student reliance on GenAI. Low-stakes reading and writing activities that involve peer feedback and discussion as well as reflective assignments like journaling can help students gain a sense of writerly identity, agency, and belonging. This session explores pedagogical strategies gleaned from research that create pleasurable reading and writing experiences and communities for students in academic courses.

Presenter:

Andrea Williams, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, Writing & Rhetoric, Innis College 

For more upcoming CoP sessions, visit our Quercus site.