Assignment #3 the Approach

In this week’s reading of four articles I keyed in on two essays that caught my attention. One that was interesting and the other meh! Not on my to read list again. I feel all the articles gave me a little insight on the ongoing debate of which approach would better fit the purpose of the writing center. Similar to the article that addressed the movie Robin Williams was in and his eccentric way of teaching his students vs. the traditional method. I don’t believe there is a one size fits all approach. You will get a variety of students coming in and out of the writing center and the more adaptable you are to their needs, the more the student will get from the session. In no way am I saying make it a fix it shops, but I am staying, be open to using both directive and non-directive as well as using them concurrently.

Writing Lab Newsletter – I seen the approach of non-directive being addressed as the basic minimalist tutor. Where they side beside the student, not in front of which can be intimidating. They spoke on body language and being able to set the tone of the session with little to no spoken words. They also introduce an advanced minimalist tutoring approach which you say more than you would in a basic minimalist tutor session but…, you don’t take over the session and become a dictator. There were some areas I highly digressed in. Where they introduced the defensive minimalist tutor: where they advised the tutor to sit there slump in the chair and reciprocate the actions of the student. I feel like yes, being up front and honest about how you can help them is a start, but how productive would a tutor be to play mimicking games? These are instances where using both directive and non-directive approach would have made sense. This time is used foolishly by both tutor and student. They also spoke on the various types of returning adults that go back to school and visit the writing center. They spoke various approaches used in order to get them motivated and started.  I do believe you should exhaust every method you can in order to get the student to a more comforted state of expressing the current knowledge they possess on a given topic.

A Critique of Pure Tutoring- My favorite article this week broke down the discipline of the directive approach. They spoke of the musicians and artist how effective the direct approach is in the learning practice. I also believe they went into detail of how to combine both in the writing center in order to cater to the variety of students that come in and out seeking help and advice from their sessions. I felt as this was the most balanced, rational and ideal aspect of what the writing center should encompass.

Tutoring Style, Tutoring Ethics: The continuing Relevance of the Directive/Nondirective Instructional Debate- went into details on how the when using different approaches non-directive and directive in the writing center some of the beliefs and approaches that are used. This essay focused on the writing center and it’s modern reason for existing. I feel this was a pro-non-directive article, condoning “Socratic Dialogue” to the directive approach. As always the main concern seems to want to ensure that the student’s paper’s integrity remains intact, while glorifying the hands off approach.

Perspectives on the Directives/Non-Directive Continuum in the Writing Center – My least favorite article.  Yet, I enjoyed the focus on improving the writer and not the writing is the premise in which they believe will assist the student most. Assisting the student in self- discovery rather than enabling a student to depend on using the writing center as a crutch in which they will forever be bonded.