James Moffett Explained

James Moffett (1929–1996) was an American teacher of English, author, and theorist of the teaching and learning of language arts and especially writing.[1]

Biography

James Moffett was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1929. After growing up in the southern US, he spent his high school years in Toledo, Ohio. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard University.[2] Drafted to serve in the military for two years shortly after graduation, and after a stint as a teaching assistant for S. I. Hayakawa, he thereafter taught at Philips Exeter Academy for ten years. He then took a faculty position in Harvard's Graduate school of Education for three years while he worked on his first major work Teaching the Universe of Discourse.

Moffett's paired publications, Teaching the Universe of Discourse and Student-Centered Language Arts, K-12, were both initially published in 1967, and updated throughout multiple editions through 1992. Shortly after their publication and ensuing success, Houghton-Mifflin approached him about writing a textbook, and the result was a influential language-learning collection entitled Interaction, published in 1972; the most expensive education collection in history.

Prior to its adoption, the citizens of Kanawha County, West Virginia, staged violent protests over this and other textbooks.[3] Moffett later wrote an award-winning book about the events, Storm in the Mountains: a Case Study of Censorship. The result of these protests was that almost all the state curriculum boards, not wanting to court controversy, rescinded their orders, and Houghton Mifflin abandoned the project less than a year later.

The controversy received national coverage at the time and subsequently.[4] [5]

After this setback, Moffett's career changed dramatically. The Interaction curriculum was reformed as Active Voice, published in 1981, and adopted as the state-wide curriculum of California for many years. After relocating to Northern California, his pedagogy began to focus on alternative education and spirituality.[6] He continued to write several other English language learning books through the 70's, 80's, and 90's.[7] He founded the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning in 1992, and died from cancer in 1996.

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Author Bio: James Moffett. www.heinemann.com. 2020-01-10.
  2. Durst. Russel. 2015. The Stormy Times of James Moffett. English Education. 47. 111–130.
  3. Mayher. John. 2010. Liberating Literacy Under Threat: Re‐reading James Moffett's Storm in the Mountains. Changing English. 17. 3. 309–314. 10.1080/1358684X.2010.505450. 145687127.
  4. Mason, Carol. Reading Appalachia from Left to Right Conservatives and the 1974 Kanawha County Textbook Controversy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10457618.
  5. Priest, K. C. Protester Voices: The 1974 Textbook Tea Party : a First Time First-Hand Protester Account of the Event That Launched the Fight for the Heart and Soul of America. Poca, W. Va: Praying Mantis Pub, 2010.
  6. Foehr. Regina. 1998. A Tribute to James Moffett. Journal for the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning. 3. 1–12.
  7. Web site: Brief Reviews of Major Works of James Moffett - National Writing Project.
  8. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/763683215 WorldCat book page
  9. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/25048936 WorldCat book page
  10. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38590262 WorldCat book page
  11. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/940541744 WorldCat book page
  12. Web site: Brief Reviews of Major Works of James Moffett - National Writing Project.

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