The Serpent and the Sainte-Chapelle: The Genesis and Iterative Development of a Writing Pedagogy for Christian Colleges and Seminaries

Abstract

The field of composition and rhetoric does not have a pedagogy that reconciles faith and scholarship. The purpose of this Doctor of Philosophy dissertation is twofold: (1) to ignite a conversation among Christian composition faculty by introducing a prototype freshman composition pedagogy built on a Christian theological, philosophical, and educational foundation, and (2) to advance the conversation about writing pedagogy to include college, graduate-level, and doctoral writing, using a second iteration of the original model, which offers nine principles and strategies for the art of writing.

Chapter 1 describes the research arc. Chapter 2 argues composition pedagogy is in crisis and compares freshman composition to the Greek mythological hydra with many heads and many problems. Chapter 3 traces composition instruction trends in America up to 2015. Chapter 4 overviews failing secular strategies in response to the freshman composition instruction crisis. Chapter 5 builds the theological and philosophical foundation for an instructional design theory with an accompanying model. Chapters 6-13 provide the initial instructional design theory from its theological inception to fostering a vision for doxological writing. Craig Bartholomew’s Tree of Knowledge provides the systematic method this project uses to rebuild composition theory; Kevin Vanhoozer's Trinitarian Theology of Communication model is the theological base providing key theoretical categories of the writing pedagogy.

Chapters 15 and 16 illustrate how the prototype model (designed for freshman composition courses) progressed after nearly a decade of implementation into a multi-dimensional, fully orbed iteration of the original model for use with Christian writers at every level (college, graduate, doctoral). While the initial fourteen chapters contribute to the conversation on teaching freshman composition, chapters 15 and 16 are designed to illustrate that Christian theology and philosophy impact writing pedagogy at all levels through nine writing principles. The ultimate goals of the newer model (fashioned after an architectural masterpiece, the Sainte-Chappelle in Paris) are spiritual formation and human flourishing in the life of each student writer.