So far we have discussed important elements in creating effective writing within the foster care system. Discourse communities are groups of people that share a commonality in a particular interest, hobby, belief, or cause, and have a particular way of communicating within that group. Foster care community discourses may involve foster parents, DCS employees, legal representatives, or members of the community. Acronyms and language specific to the foster care system are important to learn in order to best communicate with your audience. Increasing your subject knowledge of the legal system such as court hearings and protocol, as well as the department’s policies and procedures that take place from the removal of children to reunification is necessary to communicate effectively and appropriately. The choice of genre used in your writing will need to change depending on the type of document, your audience, and purpose. I will discuss in further detail why subject matter and genre choice is important to writing in the foster care system.
Subject knowledge
While I was attending a PPH for a child in my care, I arrived at the court house on time and prepared to take notes involving the case. I looked at the over head t.v screens and found the associated courtroom for my case. I had met previously with the attorney, behavioral health specialist, and my agency worker days before but did not recognize anyone in my area. I had been through this process previously and was in the same area as my last case. The appointed time was approaching without recognizing any other team member, so I decided to ask questions. As I approached the main information desk, I mention I was there for mediation and assigned to courtroom 14. The women corrected me and said “mediation” was not the correct term, but instead I was there for a PHC and my team was actually meeting at the opposite end of where I had been waiting. My narrative is an example of having a lack of subject knowledge about the court room system. I also was not familiar with the acronyms and used incorrect terms to explain my situation. In my defense, experience would have solved some of these issues. In relation to writing, however, my example could be applied to new writers that do no properly understand the subject matter and do not research appropriately with the subject matter expert (SME) before hand. By asking questions to the SME, an inexperienced writer can gain the appropriate information needed to write adequately. For example, learning acronyms such as a Preliminary Protective Hearing (PPH) and a Pre-hearing Conference (PHC) are some basic terms used throughout the foster care system.
Some may not be writing technical documents but instead want to write for a non-profit foster care agency, or to reach out and support foster care parents. Subject matter knowledge is still important to validate your words, answer questions, and be confident in the message you are sharing. Interviewing other foster care non-profits, reading blogs and website “about” pages, and talking with other foster care parents will help to gain well-rounded information from a variety of sources and experiences.
As I mentioned in my first blog, Arizonans for Children is a non-profit organization that supports foster care children in mentoring programs, organizing activities, and providing a fun area to play during visitation times with family. This resource will offer basic information in relation to a different portion of foster care. This facility does not deal with areas in the legal systems or DCS directly. Instead, those involved in this area will deal with volunteers, biological families, foster care children, and community resource partners. The subject knowledge required here would be an understanding of volunteering at the facility, responsibility, the organizing of donations, understand board policies, and other basic information about the facility. I think an additional way to improving subject matter knowledge is to understand what happens “on the ground.” As writers, we may not know be aware of the daily routines and challenges that volunteers and employees encounter. Some examples might be to know how to handle behavioral disruptions that might occur while at the facility, problem solving techniques, needs and wants of foster care children, and statistical information particular to foster care families. Additionally, and perhaps most powerfully, is understanding who might be visiting the blog or website because this knowledge will help organize material for your readers to quickly navigate their needs.
Genres
By having a clear understanding of genre when writing, we can tailor our writing choices of audience, style, tone, and word choice to the appropriate situation. Bazerman reiterates this thought by saying, “As people develop understanding of the communicative world, their literate practices may change to fit their deepened vision of what writing accomplishes and how” (17). Genre is dynamic and does not require a set of specific rules but allows changes within the genre according to the situation (Devitt 576). I will mention two examples of how genre might alter according to situation. The first situation is that a quick glance of the Greenbelt Movement’s website (an environmentalist group in Africa) may conclude another charity that teaches tree planting and promotes future jobs. But further research and an in-depth understanding of Wangari Maathai’s mission reaches far beyond charity. The genre shifts from fund writing to stories of women who have moved beyond the idea of tree planting to investing in their future, a future of greener highlands, healthy drinking water, and more.
The second example of dynamic situations in genre can be found in UNESCO’s initiative to provide literacy to men and women and to boys and girls across the world. Although the goal of literacy for all is shared among many nations, each country developed criteria to reach these goals according to their national cultures and identities. What might work or be acceptable policies for one country may not workfor another. For example, in Australia’s indigenous culture, Aborigines constitute large numbers of adults that cannot read or write. By tackling this issue, Australia will be successful in their mission to eradicate illiteracy. Similarly, but differently, is Turkey’s approach to illiteracy. Their governments will focus on the implementation of “We, Mother and Daughter are at School for Literacy” campaign. This approach is specific to Turkey’s circumstances and needs. Focusing on women and daughters, they hope to reach 3 million literate adults within 4 years.
Genre can also be applied to Arizonans for Children’s website. They use text, videos, and photos to promote core values of their program and mission. The following video highlights the importance of mentoring foster care children:
A way to connect with your readers is to use a multimodality approach to reach a variety of different readers. Gunther Kress stresses this point by saying, “…it is not possible to imagine communication which does not encompass the meanings realized in genre.” Or in other words, the choice of genre creates meaning according to the situation. I included a video from Arizonans for Children to support this section on genre and to break up the flow of text using a multimodal technique. The ability to streamline text, video, and images will enhance your writing to be interesting, engaging, and original.
Conclusion
Writing for the foster care community will be rewarding and instrumental in promoting information, services, and community resources for foster care families in need. Some of your readers may also be inspired to join the foster care community by becoming licensed themselves, donating their time as volunteers, or supporting non-profits through a variety of other ways. By having a clear understanding of subject matter and by considering genre as you write, the organization of your message will enhance the communication and connection with your audience.
Arizonans for Children 
Hi, Amanda
Very informative blog. I think the multimodality aspect of genre is the best way to reach a wider audience. It is all about our audience and whom we can reach and get the message out to. The traditional ways of reading an article or a book are good, but having social media and other forms of multimodalities to reach a bigger base is one of the best ways to get people informed and active in things that matter.
Genre is dynamic; that is something that we as writers should store in the back of our minds. If we do that, we can adjust to whom we are writing for and how to reach them effectively. I liked the video you included in the blog. This was an excellent example of that multimodality I have been talking about here. Sometimes people may not want to read up on something and may just want to see a video. A review. Something that is more visually stimulating to create interest in a specific issue or an organization. Social media can help writers, speakers, and others shift genre accordingly to really do some good in the world and keep people informed on important issues in many different ways.
Anthony
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Amanda,
Great blog, you explained the nature of your organization, Arizonans for Children clearly and you made it an interesting read. I am impressed by your organization; children in foster care need as much assistance as they can get, I know it must be rough for children to be in foster care and away from their family. I worked for a non-profit years ago and we had an affiliation with the Alaska Dept. of Health, when we found out that many of the children that were taken from their homes had to put all of their belongings in a big plastic trash bag we at PARENTS, Inc. felt that was not acceptable so we created the “Suitcase Drive” which was a way to collect ‘gently used’ suitcases for children being taken from their homes. It was a huge success, we stored the suitcases at our office and whenever a child needed a suitcase we were called and we delivered the suitcases to the Dept. of Health to give to the children.
You also made it clear that there is a specific type of writing needed for your organization and that it is important to know the correct terms and abbreviations. I liked reading about your court experience; it gave a personal touch to your blog. I also liked the way you included our readings in your blog, they were a reminder of our goals to establish the importance of written communication in our work.
There was one sentence that I was confused about so I copied it: “As writers, we may not know be aware of the daily routines and challenges that volunteers and employees encounter.” Not sure what you meant to say here. All in all, a very good blog. Judye Houle
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