Extracting from the Extracurriculum: Using Extracurricular Composition Practices to Bring Purpose, Voice, and Engagement Back to the English Classroom

Authors

Grace N. Ellis, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Stacey Waite

Committee Members

Lauren Gatti, Shari Stenberg

Date of this Version

7-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Citation

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

Major: English

Under the supervision of Professor Stacey Waite

Lincoln, Nebraska, July 2025

Comments

Copyright 2025, Grace N. Ellis. Used by permission

Abstract

This thesis explores how principles and practices from extracurricular literacy spaces and the extracurriculum as a whole can inform and revitalize the secondary English classroom. In response to growing student disengagement, apathy, and disconnection, particularly within highly standardized and product-focused classrooms, this argument investigates how programs such as the Nebraska Writers Collective’s All Writes Reserved program and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Young Writer Camp model authentic engagement, identity exploration and development, and rhetorical agency through creative, student-centered writing practices. Drawing from composition theory, educational research, and experiential data from Nebraska-based writing initiatives, the thesis argues that incorporating choice, safe-risk taking, community, and process-based pedagogy can foster deeper learning and genuine connection in the curricular space. This thesis emphasizes practical application in acknowledgement of constraints within the field of education. This work positions the extracurriculum as a pedagogical framework that may help teachers to reimagine and reshape the secondary English classroom into a space for social, emotional, personal, and intellectual transformation.

Advisor: Stacey Waite