Writing+Center+Theory+and+Pedagogy

=Writing Center Theory and Pedagogy=

**Basics**
Like any field, Writing Centers have pedagogies, or a set of teaching theories we often use as a basis for our work. These are just theories, ways of explaining what we do; you need not subscribe to any one particular theory, and you need not agree with all (or any!) of them. All of them have their pro’s and con’s, and you’ll sometimes find that some Writing Center and Composition theorists tend to point out more problems than solutions! This section is simply meant to give you some background for thinking about how Writing Centers operate.

HOCs vs LOCs Process vs Product Composition Paradigms Heuristic Metaphors Learning Styles Minimalist vs. Directive Tutoring

**HOCs vs LOCs**
One thing you’ll hear many times in a Writing Center is “HOCs before LOCs.” These acronyms stand for “**H**igher **O**rder **C**oncerns” and “**L**ower **O**rder **C**oncerns.” The difference is simple: HOCs are global issues, or issues that affect how a reader understands the entire paper; LOCs are issues that don’t //necessarily// interrupt understanding of the writing by themselves. You may find yourself thinking, “Well, it depends,” or, “But what if…?” You’re absolutely right to think so. These lists are just guidelines; every writer will have a different hierarchy of concerns. Always try to think in terms of, “Does this affect my understanding of the writing?”
 * < **HOCs** ||< **LOCs** ||
 * < Audience ||< Grammar ||
 * < Thesis statement ||< Punctuation ||
 * < Organization ||< Citation ||
 * < Focus ||< Spelling ||
 * < Development of ideas ||< Sentence structure ||

No, not necessarily. HOCs tend to interrupt a reader’s understanding of the writing, and that’s why they need to be addressed first. However, if a LOC becomes a major obstacle, then it naturally becomes a higher priority.
 * Are HOCs more important than LOCs?**

Think of an example of how a Lower Order Concern could become a Higher Order Concern. Here are some other issues you might face. These may be more difficult to categorize, and they may largely depend on the writing. If you think, “It depends,” make notes about the circumstances under which these issues could be a HOC or a LOC. Evaluating sources, citation method, style, paragraph structure, active vs. passive voice, format

A writer comes to you and says, “I’d like you to check my grammar.” Keeping in mind the “HOCs before LOCs” policy, and also remembering that the Writing Center is writer-centered, what should you do?
 * Something to Think About…**

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**Process vs. Product**
Over the years in the field of Composition, there has been a //paradigm shift//. Do you remember the way you were taught how to write a paper? Did you receive any guidance while you wrote, or did you just receive the assignment sheet and a set of guidelines? Were you allowed to revise after you turned your paper in, or did you just receive a grade? Were there any comments from the teacher on your writing?

For a long time, professionals assumed that you couldn’t //teach// writing. They assumed that it was a skill students would learn simply by example, or by being forced to practice writing. Students received little guidance while they wrote because teachers were primarily concerned with the //product//. To that end, the writing classroom became a place where students were taught grammar rules and vocabulary. They practiced writing, and then they were given a grade. However, teachers discovered that the product wasn’t getting any better. They began to discover what they really knew all along: that writing isn’t just a skill, but a //process// that occurs in several stages. If they could intervene in that process, they could improve the product.

 Writing Centers subscribe to this process-over-product model. Though writers bring us a product (their papers or projects), it is our job to do some detective work and investigate the writer’s process so we can help him or her improve it. This is what North means when he writes, “Our job is to produce better writers, not better writing.” It is very tempting to concentrate on the paper in front of you and to make it as perfect and polished as it can be, but how does this help the writer? He or she may get a good grade on that paper, but will he/she be able to apply these “fixes” to the next paper? Make it your goal during each session to teach the writer one thing that will help him/her improve his/her writing process.

But what will help the writer improve his/her process?
 * Teaching //strategies// vs. fixing errors
 * Asking thought-provoking questions that make the writer consider further development of ideas
 * Helping writers discover new avenues of research (again, by asking questions)
 * Making the writer do the work instead of doing it for him/her
 * Giving clear reasons and explanations for what you direct or teach a writer, so he/she can remember and apply those explanations
 * What else?

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**Composition Paradigms**
In the field of Composition, three schools of thought, or paradigms, are most often identified. Some theorists believe that these paradigms appeared in a certain order: cognitivism came first, followed by expressivism, and social constructivism is sometimes thought to be the most recent development. These distinctions are by no means exclusive or exhaustive, and the lines between each paradigm frequently blur. Think of these as ways of looking at the way people write.

(Keep in mind that this is a very brief overview of these paradigms, and meant to give you a reference and a basic understanding of where these schools of thought come from.)


 * What paradigm(s) do you most identify with? Why?**

Adapted in part from []
 * **Paradigm** || **Cognitivism** || **Expressivism** || **Social-Constructivism** ||
 * //Writing is…// || A function of cognitive process (goal is efficiency and clarity) || A way to express what is inside us (deep and personal) || A way to construct meaning (academic) ||
 * [[image:file:///C:%5CUsers%5Cfox27%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_image002.jpg width="624" height="477"]] //We write to…// || Learn || Discover meaning || Construct meaning ||
 * //The writer is…// || Problem solver, goal-setter || Mediator, free-writer || Academic ||
 * //The text…// || Plays a minimal role—some academic reading || Student texts //are// the focus of the class || Comparisons between canon and non-canon texts; student texts ||
 * //The writing process…// || Recursive, in three stages: planning, writing, revising || Involves freewriting, “discovery” drafts || Responding to issues in a discipline ||
 * //Theorists// || Flower, Sommers, Emig, Hayes, Shaughnessy || Murray, Elbow, Macrorie || Berlin, Bizzell, Bartholomae, Bruffee ||
 * //Can we teach writing?// || Yes—we can teach students how to become problem-solvers and goal-setters || No—but we can facilitate an environment of discovery || Not really—all we can do is teach them academic conventions ||
 * //Who is a writer?// || A person who sets goals || Lens through which the creative force flows || Uninitiated member of a discourse community ||

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**Heuristic Metaphors**
Whether you’re an experienced consultant or you’re just starting, you have an idea of what the Writing Center is all about. We use metaphors as “mental shortcuts” for communication; by comparing an object or a concept to something else, we immediately make associations. Images and ideas immediately come to our minds.

The problem with metaphors is that they //are// shortcuts. They’re a convenient way of thinking, but they can bring up the wrong associations. We’ll discuss a few Writing Center metaphors and what unintentional connotations these comparisons have.

//Composition theorist Andrea Lunsford writes about two metaphors: “Center as Storehouse” and “Center as Garret.”//

 “’The Center as Storehouse,’” writes Lunsford, “holds to the…view of…knowledge as exterior to us and as directly accessible. The Center as Storehouse operates as [an] information station or storehouse, prescribing and handing out skills and strategies to individual learners….They tend to view knowledge as individually derived and held” (Lunsford 93). This sounds like a very productive and efficient way to spend time, doesn’t it? What Composition paradigm could this fit into? Where could the problems lie? What is missing from this metaphor? If the Center is a storehouse, then writers simply come in and “pick up” the knowledge and skills they need. If you wondered where collaboration fits in to the storehouse, it doesn’t. Storehouses are about //individuals// deriving knowledge. There is no room for collaboration in this model.
 * Center as Storehouse**

A garret is the top room of a house, or an attic. “[Garret Centers] see knowledge as interior, as inside the student, and the writing center’s job as helping students get in touch with this knowledge, as a way to find their unique voices, their individual and unique powers…. The tutor or teacher listens, voices encouragement, and essentially serves as a validation….They view knowledge as interiorized, solitary, individually derived, individually held” (Lunsford 94). Garret Centers essentially assume that knowledge already exists within the writer’s “house”; that is, within his or her mind. He or she needs only to discover it, and the search becomes like sifting through the treasures of Grandma’s attic. What Composition paradigm could this fit into? Where could the problems lie? What is missing from this metaphor? Like the Storehouse model, the Garret model assumes that the individual is the only one who can obtain knowledge (because it is already inside him or her), and that this must happen alone. The consultant serves mostly as a sounding board for the writer’s search. Collaboration—that is, interaction and conversation—becomes problematic here, as well.  When you think of a hospital, you might picture a place people (writers) go for help, to “get well.” The consultant plays the role of nurse or doctor, diagnosing the writer’s issues and “curing” them. The consultant has the best of intentions, and so does the writer. Perhaps the writer feels that way, after all. What Composition paradigm could this fit into? Where could the problems lie? What is missing from this metaphor?
 * Center as Garret**
 * Center as Hospital**

Though the hospital metaphor has the best of intentions, it assumes that the writer or writing //needs// to be cured; that is, that the writer is somehow sick or injured. This assumption can be problematic. Can writing issues really be “cured?” Do they need to be treated the same way as illnesses?

This model assumes that the Writing Center is a mental institution, and that writers are the patients—or inmates! This, of course, makes the consultant the therapist, who, as in the Center as Hospital metaphor, diagnoses the writer’s issue(s), but these issues cannot be “cured.” Therapists merely try to help the writer cope with them and treat the symptoms. What Composition paradigm could this fit into? Where could the problems lie? What is missing from this metaphor? While the Center can often seem a little crazy, and consultants often feel a little like therapists, we can imagine that writers might take offense to being compared to patients in a madhouse—and rightly so! This metaphor assumes that issues in writing are mental defects that cannot be cured, but only coped with.
 * Center as Madhouse**

 Brainstorm a metaphor for what a Writing Center does—that is, what you think it //should// be. What assumptions are you making? What connotations could potentially become problematic?

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**Learning Styles**
Not everyone learns the same material in the same way. Some people need visual aids or reinforcements, some people need to hear or talk through a problem, and some people need to experience things the hands-on way. Many people are a combination of all three, but most often, we have one dominant learning style. You’ve probably heard of these learning styles, or “multiple intelligences,” as they’re sometimes called: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic/tactile learners. Each style has its own skills and its own challenges, but consultants can work with all of them.
 * **Visual learners** like to look at charts, graphs, etc. They often like to organize by color-coding and can “decode” these visual representations and connect their meanings to a larger whole. Their notes are often intricate and are sometimes in shorthand only they understand. They are often very good at facial recognition. These are the people who need landmarks to look for when navigating.
 * //This writer// often likes to “scribble” on the paper, crossing things out, drawing arrows, circling. He or she may think of words as entities on a page and may not be able to “hear” them in his or her head. The language can sometimes sound stilted when read aloud; you (the consultant) might find yourself thinking, “Nobody really says this.”
 * [[image:file:///C:%5CUsers%5Cfox27%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_image002.jpg width="624" height="477"]] **Auditory learners** easily understand and remember spoken instructions. They do very well listening to lectures and sometimes might like to tape-record discussions or lectures. They have a good sense of pitch and rhythm and need to be able to “hear” something in their heads. They frequently tell stories to illustrate their points. They sometimes have a hard time connecting spoken words with written words. These are the people who do very well with spoken instructions or directions.
 * //This writer// may have trouble putting words down on paper at all. He or she can //tell// you exactly what he/she means, but he/she may have difficulty when it comes time to actually sit down and write. His/her thoughts just don’t seem to come as easily, or he/she may claim he can’t remember all the great thoughts he/she had while talking. This writer’s style is often very conversational and informal, a perfect example of “write like you speak.”
 * **Kinetic/tactile learners** prefer to experience things on their own. They do very well figuring out how things work by holding them and manipulating parts with their hands. They prefer to “jump in” to new experiences and start //doing// right away. They have a good sense of spatial location and might be very good at navigating—as long as they’re the ones driving.
 * //This writer// can look at visual aids or hear lectures all day long and it won’t seem to sink in; he/she has to do things for him or herself. He/she may have a hard time sitting still and may fidget, sigh or look disinterested in a session.

**How Consultants Can Work With Different Learning Styles**

 * **Visual Learners**
 * Use color-coded highlighters to emphasis different areas.
 * Let them draw all over the paper
 * Try using drawings, lists, charts or graphs to explain concepts and aid memory
 * Use “webbing” or bubbles as a brainstorming technique
 * Encourage them to take a few minutes to write down their ideas before they respond to you
 * Give them (or point them toward) handouts from the Writing Center Resources Page
 * Realize that noise may be distracting to this writer. Try to pick a quiet spot for these sessions and try not to interrupt the writer while he or she is writing.
 * **Auditory Learners**
 * Talk! This is true of every writer, of course, but especially of auditory learners. Engage them in conversation about their paper topic.
 * Encourage them to explain things //and take notes//.
 * Suggest that they bring a voice recorder to your sessions.
 * [[image:file:///C:%5CUsers%5Cfox27%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_image003.jpg width="624" height="477"]] Encourage them to use that voice recorder while brainstorming or even while writing. They can come back and “record” their ideas later.
 * Help them come up with mnemonic devices to aid memory (for you music learners: All Cows Eat Grass, Every Good Boy Does Fine)
 * **Kinetic/Tactile Learners**
 * Allow them to move around while learning something new—this might involve pacing around the table or even taking a walk around the Bear Claw.
 * //Give them the pen!// This is generally the case, but it is especially helpful for kinetic/tactile learners. Talk and make //them// take notes.
 * Use bright colors to highlight.
 * Encourage them to take frequent breaks while studying or writing.
 * Encourage them to try reading or writing while doing something: running on a treadmill, etc.
 * For organization issues, try physically cutting up a paper (make sure it’s not the only draft!) and rearrange it.
 * Realize that this writer may like more ambient noise than you’re used to. Try not to let this distract either one of you, however.

You don’t have to share a learning style with a writer to be able to help him or her. You’ll find that you can learn a lot from people who approach learning and writing very differently than you do!

 **Adapted from:** [], [], []

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