The Limits of Hacking Composition Pedagogy

In recent decades, the term hacking has ceased referring exclusively to illegal computing, and is regularly used in reference to practices that are considered virtuous in composition classrooms, such as collaboration, open access, subversion of hierarchies, and exploratory learning. Of late, hacking has begun to serve as an appealing metaphor for the work we aim to do in 21st century composition classrooms. However, as with any metaphor, the origin term might bring unwanted associations from its history and its contemporary evolutions. This essay synthesizes a survey of literature in the field with the history of hacking and its contemporary practices in open-ended competitions known as hackathons. Based on interviews of eight undergraduate hackathon competitors, in which the virtues of hacking appear to be quickly undercut by dubious ethical and political practices, the essay ultimately presents a caution against adopting hacking as a metaphor for composition.