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As I complete my first year as a Graduate Assistant in Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's Writing Center, I feel a small pang of regret, yet I also breathe a sigh of relief. Since August of 2003 I have tutored freshmen to post-graduate students in sometimes intense tutoring sessions. It didn't take long for me to discover that I would be helping students with more than the ever present comma splice. In fact, a few minutes into one of my first consulting sessions with a college freshman, I found myself consoling her with tissues and kind words of assurance. Her frustration and lack of confidence in her writing skills interfered with her ability to complete her first writing assignment in English 101. Was this what I was to expect from working in the Writing Center? As I guided her through a brainstorming and outlining session, I realized how important one-on-one tutoring could be. Today, my realization has grown to include the notion that writing centers have become an integral component in most universities, as writing centers provide assistance for all levels of students.
What I find most interesting about current writing centers is that they offer more than a tutoring service. A typical experience for a struggling student may begin with the student signing in and proceeding to a tutor, a computer, or a comfortable couch for some form of peer review. I use the phrase "peer review" because tutors do not approach students as intimidating instructors, but as individuals who are available to help them through a tough writing moment. Eric H. Hobson supports this theory, as he states that "[b]y encouraging collaboration between tutors and clients, writing centers help students succeed within a context that often works actively against them" (171). Indeed, collaboration is an important pedagogical method that tutors regularly employ. Another key idea to the successful contemporary writing center involves recognizing the need to assist students with grammatical errors. Students may participate in grammar review sessions on computers placed throughout the center. While writing grammatically correct may not be the ultimate goal of a writing center, it is a significant factor toward writing successfully in academia.
As a Graduate Teaching Assistant, I especially appreciate the hours I have spent in SIUE's Writing Center, as writing centers--and SIUE is no exception--provide essential training for potential teachers. From my limited personal experience, I can sense how valuable experience with tutoring can be for teachers. When working in the Writing Center, I help students from many disciplines and as I verbally explain errors and listen to their rationale, I make a mental checklist of how this experience may help my future students. What types of problems do I see recurring in the Writing Center? And will they apply to my own classes? The answer is yes. And I hope that by gaining first-hand experience in the Writing Center, I will become a more effective teacher in the classroom.
While university writing centers provide a training ground for future teachers and a positive atmosphere for students to receive assistance, one specific problem encountered by many tutors involves students and university faculty who see writing centers as a place where students may receive editing assistance. All too often students begin a tutoring session by stating: "I have problems with commas and I just need someone to proofread my paper." And I quickly respond that the session will cover more than just proofreading, as together we will focus on organization and structure in addition to grammatical and punctuation errors. Although grammar and punctuation are important to writing, this insistence on proofreading is problematic, as the goal of a writing center is "to produce better writers, not better writing" (qtd in Hobson 166). Tutors do not proofread to catch errors; tutors assist students with recognizing errors. Requesting assistance with proofreading is a problem that tutors struggle with, and that they encounter on a daily basis. On some occasions tutors cannot resist the urge to point out errors in student work; however, because most students are looking for a mere editing session they do not realize the benefits they will gain from a session that focuses on their individual and specific problem areas.
Although problems exist, writing centers do provide an important service for colleges and universities. And I have found that they do so in a way that is conducive to student-centered learning in an approachable environment. Both students and faculty should take advantage of the services writing centers offer, but they should be aware of the ultimate goal of "produc[ing] better writers." Perhaps future teachers and writing center skeptics should keep the following in mind: "[A]nyone intending to teach writing, to conduct research, and to critique writing instruction should know the work that the writing center community is engaged in" (Hobson 178). At the close of my first year as a Graduate Assistant, I continue to wipe away tears of frustration and assist students with focusing on the task at hand. I also continue to become more aware of the services a writing center provides; services that, as Hobson suggests, could go even further by extending knowledge of writing centers to a wider variety of interested individuals.
Work Cited
Hobson, Eric H. "Writing Center Pedagogy." A Guide to Composition Pedagogies. Eds. Gary Tate, Amy Rupiper, and Kurt Schick. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. 165-182.
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