REHABILITATING THE "IDEA OF COMMUNITY"

<p>Learning communities have become increasingly popular ways for working with students, especially first-year students, yet there has been little discussion of these structures in the composition literature. Given that the root metaphor of conflict informs many first-year writing pedagogies and in light of Joseph Harris's critique of "community" as a key word, talk of learning communities may invoke fears of a return to conservative tenets ofexpressivism. Community-like elements, however, are regularly noted by other scholars as informing practices in many writing classes. The apparent success of learning communities and the continued use of community in our classrooms should therefore cause the field to re-consider how we define "community." Such re-considerations should not only respond to Harris's insightful criticism but also build on research and theory that suggest why learning communities can be effective vehicles for curricular and institutional change.</p>