The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

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perhaps fruitful answers. Freirean, open-ended problem-posing questions, in particular, can be applied to almost any writing situation with deconstructive and demystifying results: why, what, when, for whom, and how? Asking these questions encourages writers to both examine and question the conventions of the writing tasks assigned. For example, one of my tutees this semester was getting frustrated with APA formatting, so we had a fifteen minute discussion about it, asking why we thought this system was created in the first place, why it was so intricate, why citation was so valued in American academia, etc. While the conversation understandably didn’t alleviate all of her frustration with the format itself, she was able to discern that there was a logic and reasoning and values system behind it. These kinds of questions can also help the writer move beyond simple conventions into thinking about their writing in ways they might not have considered before. For example, another of my tutees had an assignment for a writing class in which she had to research a rite of passage in a different culture, and she was having a difficult time moving beyond regurgitation of the facts. So we started problem-posing. Why do you think the teacher assigned this particular essay? How is this topic relevant to you? How does your cultural vantage point affect how you view the subject matter? How does the cultural practice you’re writing about make you rethink or validate your own cultural views? And so on. These questions served several purposes: they allowed the writer to consider, and even accept, to an extent, the teacher’s reasoning for the assignment, making it feel less arbitrary, they required her think of the assignment in direct relation to herself, consequently making it more personally meaningful, and they asked her to question her own cultural assumptions, which is one way to encourage critical consciousness. As Breuch notes, “rote learning of subject matter, without understanding its relevance to one’s situation and the world, does not improve one’s education” (119). Engaging in this problem-posing is perhaps one of surest means of self-reflection. I think that it is a good idea not just to ask these questions, but encourage writers to ask these questions themselves, beyond the context of the writing center. Viewing the world, language, and writing as contextually situated can also help us to negotiate the seemingly adversarial relationship between academic discourse and a student’s home discourse. For this course, you’ve probably read an article or two about the Postcolonial pitfalls of academic discourse, about how it assimilates students into an academic culture. This argument, while occasionally hyperbolic, is not entirely off-base: while we may value a student’s home discourse in the writing center, in the majority of academic writing situations, they must ultimately adapt to the language and conventions of the academy. While the fairness of our academic situation is up for debate, it is the reality we currently face, and for some writers, it can be quite daunting. I think that taking a step back and viewing academic discourse as man-made allows us to see that it isn’t necessarily “right” or “better” than one’s home discourse, but simply a different rhetorical context. As theorist Patricia Bizzell notes, academic discourse is really just a series of conventions established “by consensus of the community this discourse unites. Academic discourse conventions derive their authority more from their status as conventions than any inherent superiority” (139). Of course, this doesn’t make academic discourse any less complex or difficult for writers to adapt to, but it emphasizes the fact that it is not intrinsically more valuable than one’s home discourse. As tutors, we are placed between these home and academic contexts, and hopefully we can be effective mediators by helping writers negotiate the differences and similarities of these contexts so that they can successfully and critically operate within both. Works Cited Bizzell, Patricia. Academic Discourse and Critical Consciousness. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburg Press, 1992. 152
Kastman Breuch, Lee-Ann M. “Post Process ‘Pedagogy:’ A Philosophical Exercise.” JAC 22.1 (2002): 119-50. Rpt. in Cross-Talk in Comp Theory: A Reader. Ed. Victor Villanueva. 2nd ed. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 2003. 97-125. 153
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The Tutoring Book Fall 2011 Edition
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�� Diverse Students and Cont
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Helpful Strategies 5 Savannah Corti
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Draw Upon Other Tutors Experiences
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and that even the sessions that did
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What is one thing you wish you had
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eceiving tutoring. But don’t let
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helped me see that. As a result, ex
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One Time Wonders: 30 Minutes to an
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No Draft? No Problem! 19 Kathleen U
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10-4, Little Buddy: Two Way Convos
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her paper, I noticed she hadn’t a
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mentors and sounding boards for the
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�On this page, the top link leads
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Purdue OWL (http://owl.english.purd
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• Argument • Writing about Lite
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The WAC Clearinghouse (http://wac.c
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“This exercise, popularized by Pe
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active problem solving and critical
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Directive or Not? Adapting an Appro
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essay meet the page limit is no lon
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particular solution, you are still
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was to trust her own knowledge and
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Step 2: Learning to Praise Equally
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• Hand gestures. Students who are
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Despite the fact that their struggl
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Your Safari Guide to Tutoring Advan
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esources for help. And don’t be a
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the instructor is saying, but she q
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Dyslexia in the Writing Center 59 A
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thinking about it and without reali
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Conceptual Learners: Students who a
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Tutoring Hearing-Impaired Students
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Writing Tutors. Boston: Bedford/St.
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Story 3: I brought up the subject o
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try reassuring them that writing is
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Tips for Tutoring Reading 73 Kathry
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each paragraph, and transitional se
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Theory to Practice At our writing c
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After each paragraph I asked her to
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Reading Out Loud: An Effective Stra
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discussion throughout the reading b
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Are There Proof-reading Traps Regar
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Labels and Misleading Assumptions:
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A Spare Tire, Not a Windshield 89 D
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experience on the tutoring road. I
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While I have had many successful tu
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that he was forced to learn five la
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work with students who seem to spea
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My Personal Experience with Tutorin
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Page 121 and 122: 121 Katie Johnson Fall 2004 The Wri
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