Beyond remediation: Rethinking writing education in Argentine public universities

Abstract

The massification of higher education in Argentina has created a central dilemma for public universities: how to uphold open access while ensuring that traditional literacy standards do not exclude the most disadvantaged students. This qualitative study examines how writing instructors and program administrators at three public universities in the Buenos Aires conurbation navigate this challenge. Findings reveal two core tensions. First, competing notions of college readiness emerged, viewed either as an individual condition for academic success or an institutional responsibility to guarantee inclusion. Second, the activism of writing program administrators proved crucial in advancing programs and pedagogies that moved beyond a remedial paradigm toward one centered on inclusion. The study underscores the need to reexamine the structure and purpose of early-stage writing instruction and to strengthen partnerships across educational levels and within universities to broaden and sustain writing education opportunities.