Narratives of Disclosure: Reconsidering the Ethics of Personal Writing Assignments in Composition Pedagogy for Neurodiverse and Marginalized Students

Abstract

Instructors in the college composition classroom often require personal writing assignments, such as the literacy narrative, which can place pressure on students to reveal private life details. In the case of marginalized students, such an assignment may involve writing about traumatic or difficult experiences that students may not be ready to relive or may feel uncomfortable disclosing to others. For neurodiverse students, the literacy narrative can prompt disclosure of disabilities that students may not wish to otherwise reveal to instructors or peers. Ethical issues surrounding the literacy narrative assignment are explored and suggestions for pedagogical changes are proposed.