Writing Beyond the Keyboard: Teaching Disengagement as Part of the Writing Process

Introduction Leander et al. (2010) problematized the “classroom-as-container” immobilization of learning. In the classroom-as-container model, actants from outside the classroom— materials, diversity, flows of information, narratives—are unable to permeate the walls of the building wherein the classroom is situated. Leander et al. (2010) called upon educators to unsettle the classroom-as-container, to consider the classroom not just as an immobilized place but “as a dynamic place-in-the-making,” “a point along a complex learning trajectory” (p. 381). Education is transitional, and I extend this mobility of the classroom to that of writing, in that the composing process extends far beyond the act of keying words onto a screen inside of the classroom, or library or home or dorm room. Just as energies, materials, and personal experiences flow into and within the classroom, affecting students’ learning experiences, so do they flow into and within students’ composing processes. Because of this flow, writing is not just a physically mobile activity that can be completed on a computer or in a notebook in different locations but is a mentally mobile activity as well, occurring beyond the keyboard. Brice Nordquist (2017) discussed the mobilities of literacy, explaining that “overlaps always exist among multiple material scenes of literacy and historical, imaginary, communicative, and virtual environments, and embodied experiences of these” (p. 94). Composing is not at all classroom-bound or even keyboard-bound but occurs in various environments. Personally, I have done some of my very best writing while driving. Something about the almost catatonic action of gripping the wheel while staring at the road for long stretches of time allows me a different space to create new ideas, make connections, and draw conclusions. Composing, for many writers, may also include hikes or walks, showers, lying down, or even activities that are purposefully hands-on, as Paul Prior and Jody Shipka (2003) described: