“Minimalist Tutoring: Making the Student Do All the Work”
When reading this article I found that I disagreed with two points that the author made. First, the author claimed that we, as tutors, are “so used to real-world writing where perfection is paramount, that we forget that students write to learn, not to make perfect papers,” (170). While it is true that writing is a process I would have to argue that perfection matters; in fact, it determines the grade you will receive on the paper. My next issue with this article was a method suggested when the writer is being defensive or uncooperative. The author suggests that the tutor mimic the student’s body language and even go so far as to yawn and gather up his/her items to make a point. We have discussed professionalism in the writing center, does this not contradict what we have learned thus far? From this I have created two questions for this reading:
1. Do you agree or disagree regarding the perfection point mentioned above.
2. Do you believe that we should or should not follow the method mentioned above for dealing with uncooperative students?
“A Critique of Pure Tutoring”
After reading this article I found the section regarding the “defeicit theory approach” to be really fascinating in how it relates writing and music. Personally, I have been playing the cello for ten years now, and I know that at my lessons the teacher is directive and corrects mistakes. This helps me when figuring out future passages. I believe that this directive approach would be best in writing as well.
1. Do you think the social constructionist views of tutoring is optimal over the orthodox ways?
Final Shadowing
16 years ago
I agree with Sarah's implication that Brooks's method for approaching uncooperative students is detrimental to the learning environment that the Writing Center strives to create. It should be the student’s prerogative to cooperate with and act maturely in the presence of the tutor. The student initiated the session with a request for assistance in his writing process, therefore the student should be prepared to respect the tutor during the session (this is certainly possible, expected even, as college students are in the “Emerging Adulthood” category of society, according to most American psychologists). In a similar respect, the tutor should be capable of maintaining an appropriate level of maturity during the consultation as well, which translates into the projection of professional behavior at all times. The tutor is trained to remain objective, and mimicking a student’s acts of laziness or immaturity for the sake of proving a point would be a purely subjective response and could result in distraction or even confrontation.
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