Spring 2008 (Volume 5 Issue 2) - Authority and Cooperation

Image of a student checking in to the writing center
Another consultation begins in the writing center


Focus: Authority and Cooperation

Tutoring Style, Tutoring Ethics: The Continuing Relevance of the Directive/Nondirective Instructional Debate
by Steven J. Corbett, University of Washington, Seattle
A new look at the directive/nondirective debate

Centering the Writer or Centering the Text: A Meditation on a Shifting Practice in Writing Center Consultation
by Matthew Ortoleva, The University of Rhode Island
Choosing your approach based on the writer's needs

Affirmations: How to Inspire Students to Revise a Memoir
by Carol Hawkins, Mount Ida College
Building communities of mutual respect in the writing center and the classroom

The Problem of Email: Working to Decentralize Consultant Authority in Online Writing Centers
by Andrea Ascuena and Julia Kiernan, University of Louisville
Advice for encouraging collaboration in asynchronous email consultations

Problems with Bruffee: Post-Process Theory and Writing Center Opposition
by Tom Truesdell, Northwestern College
Putting writing-center theory into practice may sometimes reinforce the hierarchy of the classroom

Looking On and Overlooking: An Analysis of Oversight in Online Tutoring
by Lori B. Baker, Southwest Minnesota State University
On-line consulting introduces potential risks and benefits via a dual sense of "oversight"


Columns

From the Editors: Authority and Cooperation
Praxis explores authority and cooperation in the writing center

Authority and Cooperation: Five Views from Writing Center Directors
by Patricia Burns and James Jesson
Praxis surveys directors for their attitudes toward the roles of authority and cooperation in writing centers

Strategies for Editing and Sentence-Level Consulting
by Kimberly Hoffman, Kanaka Sathasivan, Scott Blackwood, and Lisa Leit, University of Texas at Austin
Helping students edit without diminishing their authority

The Merciless Grammarian
The Merciless Grammarian spews his wrath on nasty problems of grammar, mechanics, and style


Consulting

"So rudely forced…": Student Writers, Course Requirements, and the Writing Center
by Glenda Conway, University of Montevallo
Liberatory educational practices can rescue students from the wasteland of dreaded writing assignments

When Roles Collide: On Being a Writing Center Tutor and Composition Instructor
by Elizabeth Chilbert, Boise State University
Personality crises confront the instructor-tutor

Overcoming “The Girl Tutor” Complex: Gender Differences in the Writing Center
by Samantha Mudd, Western Kentucky University
Gender considerations in consultations

Featured Center: The Rattler Writing Center
Praxis visits the Rattler Writing Center

Consultant Spotlight
Praxis interviews Elizabeth O'Hare, graduate student in neuroscience, and writing consultant at the University of California, Los Angeles, Graduate Writing Center


Training

Sutton’s Rule for Writing Centers
by Doug Dangler, Ohio State University, Michele Eodice, University of Oklahoma, Carol Peterson Haviland, California State University, San Bernardino, Jill Pennington, Lansing Community College, and Tiffany Turcotte, Michigan State University
Working with assholes

Opening the Door to Discourse: Cooperation, Authority, and the Inner-City High School Writing Center
by Alaina Feltenberger, University of Colorado at Boulder
Making high school writing centers a reality

A Century to Authority in the Writing Studio
by Cindy Cochran, Illinois College
Examining strategies from the past in the present

Encouraging Tutor Independence
by Gayla Mills, Randolph-Macon College
Creating authority in peer tutors by decentering the director's role


News & Announcements

CFP: Fall 2008 Issue of Praxis
CFP: Fall 2008 Issue of Praxis

IWCA/NCPTW 2008 Conference
Alternate Routes: New Directions in Writing Center Work

European Writing Centers Association Conference
Initiating Writing Center Work - Connecting Secondary, Higher, and Professional Education


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