The establishment of writing centers has grown tremendously since their inception in the seventies. A kin to writing across the curriculum and writing in the disciplines, writing center pedagogy provides a unique alternative to classroom writing instruction. Though often utilized as paper “clean up” help in the seventies, writing centers were finally recognized in the mid-eighties as a legitimate source of writing assistance, with a focus on “changing writers, not text.” The writing centers themselves are characteristically and distinctly individual. There is no one overarching “mold” from which centers are wrought. Though they may all share the same “parentage,” they are each their own entity, eclectic and “highly frenetic.”
Tutoring sessions are almost always done one on one, between a tutor and a student. The tutor is not there to issue a grade on the student’s writing, but is both supportive and critical in reviewing the work. As a rule, the tutor and tutee begin each session by establishing goals. Then, the tutor serves as an “active listener” as the student reads his or her paper. At the end, the tutor writes a brief review of the session and encourages the student to return in the future.
As difficult as it is to pin down a typical writing center, it’s difficult to establish a unified pedagogy for the movement. However, there are some notable aspects:
· individualized instruction
· collaborative learning
· technological awareness
· ideal site for instructor training
Writing center pedagogy is most chameleonic, not encompassed by a guiding theory, but rather adapting other theories to compliment its own spirit. Contradiction is the order of the day in writing center pedagogy, but this is not a weakness. Indeed, within those contradictions lies the possibility for considering and discussing the “interactions of theory and practice.”
