English 303: The Theory and Practice of Tutoring Writing is
a combination of coursework utilizing scholarship demonstrating the history and
evolution of writing center philosophy coupled with field experience through
our internship. And from our readings
this week, I felt that we were offered the opportunity to feel the weight of
misconception North throws at us in his manifesto, “The Idea of the Writing
Center”. Essentially a mission
statement, he implores the English department community to open their eyes to
the possibilities for a nearly transcendent experience between writer and
tutor.
I empathized with his frustration regarding the members
of his own department not recognizing the true nature of his role as writing
center director. There is a parallel
between the role of a parent to young impressionable children who seek guidance
and a consultant offering guidance to writers.
And the same can be said for the ever evolving philosophy that drives
the writing center today.
Just as parenting styles have evolved from “tough love”,
to “spare the rod and spoil the child”, to the ever present “love and logic”—Lundsford
pointed out for us that the style of consulting and overall writing center
philosophy has evolved from an authoritative approach to a more collaborative
effort among the group of writers and consultants. But what I can tell you from my own
experience both as a student writer and a parent, is that no two writers
(children) are alike and it takes the perfect combination of discipline and
guidance to ensure that they learn the process and have the capability to apply
what they’ve learned to future projects.
The goal for this semester is to know what combination
will work with whom. Ancillary to that
is to get writers who meet with us to get excited about writing. All too often I feel like there’s pressure
for efficiency, meaning spit out your assignment in the shortest amount of
time. But what happened to quality
first, then speed?? We were asked the
first day of lecture to think about our own manifesto, goals, etc. about the
writing center and I can already sense a pull toward “building the fire within”
rather than “lighting the fire beneath”.
Does this make sense?
Hi, Ali!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your first post here! I really appreciated how you were able to relate writing center work to your parenting experience. I find that most new consultants are able to essentially touch back to another experience in their lives as a way of scaffolding a new understanding of what they’ve gotten themselves into (and customer service jobs tend to come up frequently). It does seem to me that parenting is a great place to touch back to. Guidance seems to be a key role in that position, as it is in the Center. I also appreciated how you were able to trace composition philosophies along with parenting philosophies, and how those have (thankfully!) evolved over time. You certainly nailed the spirit of writing center work when you wrote that we should be “building the fire within.” It’s a tall order, though, right? That’s what makes the work so interesting.
I’m looking forward to reading your next post tomorrow!
Melissa