(with apologies to Robert Fulghum)
In English 260 (Intro to Writing Center Theory and Practice), new tutors write a tutor philosophy at the end of the semester, expressing their ideas about tutoring and writing centers in any format they choose. Tutors have created everything from poems to skits to songs/raps to paintings, as well as a range of texts. A few years ago, I decided it was time for me to tackle this task along with my tutors and here’s the latest version of my “tutor philosophy.”
Lesson #1. Writers need to be active participants in their own learning
My writing center work has taught me that Stephen North didn’t get the quote quite right when he said, “our job is to produce better writers, not better writing.” The grammatical problem with this sentence is that the subject doing the “producing” is still the tutor and/or the writing center. For a tutoring session to work and learning to happen, both tutor and writer have to be involved. In order to improve, a writer has to write and think and write some more. A tutor can be involved in this process, but they cannot be the sole actor in it. We all have had sessions like this—where the student pushes the paper across the table at us or demands, “Tell me what to write,” and the fundamental problem with those moments is that if one gives in, nothing changes.
Continue reading “All I Really Need to Know (about teaching) I Learned in the Writing Center”
Voices from the CLC Writing Center 