THE IDEA OF THE WRITING CONSULTANT
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| "The expectations students and faculty have for writing consultants are high, and it is important for consultants to have a strong understanding of their role in academic support . . ." |
My first blog post about the IWCA conference was about how we define students in writing centers.
Today I want to focus on issues surrounding the writing consultant.
The expectations students and faculty have for writing consultants are high, and it is important for consultants to have a strong understanding of their role in academic support and why that role is valuable.
As I made the rounds each day of the conference, I tried to attend a fair number of sessions centering on professional development for consultants/tutors.
Those who do writing center and tutoring work still believe that tutors not only put theory into practice, but also turn practice into theory, and this tenet was at work in Baltimore.
I attended one session that explained how the Writing Fellows program at the University of Wisconsin worked, and the presenters concluded that many moments of writing help benefit from the collapse of the generalist/specialist tutor binary.
In other words, many students need help from specialized generalists, while other sessions work best with a generalized specialist approach.
A specialized generalist might be a tutor who is highly experienced in argumentative writing across disciplines, and a generalized specialist may focus on many types of writing within Arts & Humanities.
I think the Comm. Lab gang definitely operates within both of these tutoring spheres as needed (I’m thinking about the wide variety of social sciences essays we read!).
Plus, the fellows program was similar to our Multicultural Fellowship program—tutor-enhanced classrooms are an increasingly common body of services utilized by professors.
I expect this trend will continue to alter writing center landscapes.
Yet another trend that is here to stay is that of translating the work of writing consultants into career training that can be applied to a many different fields.
Stay tuned, Comm. Lab gang, because we are going to complete this activity in January (No “homework” required…promise!)
Perhaps the most controversial challenge to more traditional tutor roles was to “get lost” as a path to inquiry.
This workshop, led by writing center directors Michelle Eodice, Elizabeth Boquet, and Frances Condon, encouraged participants to brainstorm current issues in their respective writing centers or labs, and then veer away from an obvious solution or answer to the issue.
Today I want to focus on issues surrounding the writing consultant.
The expectations students and faculty have for writing consultants are high, and it is important for consultants to have a strong understanding of their role in academic support and why that role is valuable.
As I made the rounds each day of the conference, I tried to attend a fair number of sessions centering on professional development for consultants/tutors.
Those who do writing center and tutoring work still believe that tutors not only put theory into practice, but also turn practice into theory, and this tenet was at work in Baltimore.
I attended one session that explained how the Writing Fellows program at the University of Wisconsin worked, and the presenters concluded that many moments of writing help benefit from the collapse of the generalist/specialist tutor binary.
In other words, many students need help from specialized generalists, while other sessions work best with a generalized specialist approach.
A specialized generalist might be a tutor who is highly experienced in argumentative writing across disciplines, and a generalized specialist may focus on many types of writing within Arts & Humanities.
I think the Comm. Lab gang definitely operates within both of these tutoring spheres as needed (I’m thinking about the wide variety of social sciences essays we read!).
Plus, the fellows program was similar to our Multicultural Fellowship program—tutor-enhanced classrooms are an increasingly common body of services utilized by professors.
I expect this trend will continue to alter writing center landscapes.
Yet another trend that is here to stay is that of translating the work of writing consultants into career training that can be applied to a many different fields.
Stay tuned, Comm. Lab gang, because we are going to complete this activity in January (No “homework” required…promise!)
Perhaps the most controversial challenge to more traditional tutor roles was to “get lost” as a path to inquiry.
This workshop, led by writing center directors Michelle Eodice, Elizabeth Boquet, and Frances Condon, encouraged participants to brainstorm current issues in their respective writing centers or labs, and then veer away from an obvious solution or answer to the issue.
During this exercise, I thought about how the higher concerns of tutors in the Communications Lab do not always mesh with the hopes of students and faculty seeking assistance in the lab. I am still trying to get lost within this issue.
While this exercise was great for center directors, I think the notion of getting lost is also useful for consultants because some detours away from rigid writing expectations can lead to original thought in a tutoring session.
Rachel Olsen is the supervisor OCCC's writing center located in Communications Lab.
While this exercise was great for center directors, I think the notion of getting lost is also useful for consultants because some detours away from rigid writing expectations can lead to original thought in a tutoring session.
Rachel Olsen is the supervisor OCCC's writing center located in Communications Lab.
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