Conclusion

This study examined the case of a recently inaugurated institute by essentially asking stakeholders what mattered to them when it came to professional development in multimodal composition. Participants and coordinators articulated similar concepts—that the role of expertise in teaching multimodal composition is contestedthat it can be a challenge for professional development to fit into both personal and programmatic goals, and that complex social and institutional dynamics shape professional learning experiences. Though these observations are influenced by the institutional context of my specific research site, they can help form guidelines for professional development design in a range of contexts, as the discussion section above attests. However, even the most strategic professional development designs may not resolve some of the challenges outlined in this chapter, particularly those related to expertise. While expanding and improving professional development opportunities in multimodal composition is certainly one step our field needs to take to update composition curricula, that intervention alone may not lead to sustainable or equitable change. As a field, we also need to research the ways that contingent labor, hiring practices, inadequate graduate program preparation, and a lack of professional incentives impede the acquisition of multimodal composition expertise.

© Gabriel Morrison, 2021

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