Below is a more detailed outline ( compared to my initial draft ) of how I would support consultants' professional growth:
Intro:
As Assistant Director, I'd use "conversation" ( the essence of peer tutoring ) to facilitate a tutor-initiated dialog consisting of readings, reflections, and renderings of administrative tasks to empower consultants. Dialogs, according to Carol Singley et. al. can "create a space for play which enables learning” (11). This type of learning makes more impact and is more authentic because it uses conversation that "resists predetermined formulas, relying instead on the conversants’ intuitive sense of the flow and strategies of everyday discourse” writes Cynthia Onore. Through discussions during regular staff meetings and other forms of open communication, consultants will gain a better understanding of themselves ( as consultants ), and the writing center environment ( mentoring and administrative responsibilities ) in order to efficiently help students struggling at any stage of the writing process.
Read:
For starters, we'll start reading the following for context. Materials will be provided, but consultants choose and summarize content, and later co-present the information.
-Handbook: Reviewing basic policies and procedures is good so we're all in the same page. We will also entertain the possibility of updating and revising the handbook.
-Practice-oriented strategies: We'll share stories, and problem solving tactics in working with ESL students, hostile/dependent/reluctant et. al. students. We'll review Muriel Harris’ Grab-Bag of Diagnostic techniques; Joseph Harris’ review on how to become readers including tips on conferencing and responding to writing ( commenting on papers ); Geoffrey W. Chase’s breakdown of problem solving in 7 steps: accept, analyze, define, ideate, select, implement, evaluate; Irene Clark’s article in genre awareness; Jane Bowman Smith’s summary of Christensen’s levels of generality to develop paragraphs; and other readings highlighting empathy, listening, rapport builiding, faculty-teacher relationship, tutor-tutee relationship, improvisation, and more.
-Philosophy: We'll learn about the history of Writing Center ( Aristotle ) and its place in academia; We'll discuss WC's goals ( tutoring v. teaching/lecturing ), and tenets of collaboration ( non-directive v. directive approach ) and writing process as discovery ( brainstorming, drafting [ focus/thesis/evidence/organization ], revising [style], and editing [ grammar review ] ) using a worksheet that guides and reminds consultants about the writing process.
-Theories of Learning: We'll explore different ways of learning, such as visual, aural, kinesthetic ( role-playing as audience and stock characters ), right-brain, and left-brain, so we can have a better understanding in helping different types of learners.
-Literature on Composition and Rhetoric: We'll review various case studies, and the latest literature in the Composition and Rhetoric field, so we have language awareness ( jargon, classroom talk, unintentional messages/what's not said, and intonation ), and awareness of kinesics ( body movement ), proxemics (personal space), and haptics ( touching ).
As Assistant Director, I'd use "conversation" ( the essence of peer tutoring ) to facilitate a tutor-initiated dialog consisting of readings, reflections, and renderings of administrative tasks to empower consultants. Dialogs, according to Carol Singley et. al. can "create a space for play which enables learning” (11). This type of learning makes more impact and is more authentic because it uses conversation that "resists predetermined formulas, relying instead on the conversants’ intuitive sense of the flow and strategies of everyday discourse” writes Cynthia Onore. Through discussions during regular staff meetings and other forms of open communication, consultants will gain a better understanding of themselves ( as consultants ), and the writing center environment ( mentoring and administrative responsibilities ) in order to efficiently help students struggling at any stage of the writing process.
Read:
For starters, we'll start reading the following for context. Materials will be provided, but consultants choose and summarize content, and later co-present the information.
-Handbook: Reviewing basic policies and procedures is good so we're all in the same page. We will also entertain the possibility of updating and revising the handbook.
-Practice-oriented strategies: We'll share stories, and problem solving tactics in working with ESL students, hostile/dependent/reluctant et. al. students. We'll review Muriel Harris’ Grab-Bag of Diagnostic techniques; Joseph Harris’ review on how to become readers including tips on conferencing and responding to writing ( commenting on papers ); Geoffrey W. Chase’s breakdown of problem solving in 7 steps: accept, analyze, define, ideate, select, implement, evaluate; Irene Clark’s article in genre awareness; Jane Bowman Smith’s summary of Christensen’s levels of generality to develop paragraphs; and other readings highlighting empathy, listening, rapport builiding, faculty-teacher relationship, tutor-tutee relationship, improvisation, and more.
-Philosophy: We'll learn about the history of Writing Center ( Aristotle ) and its place in academia; We'll discuss WC's goals ( tutoring v. teaching/lecturing ), and tenets of collaboration ( non-directive v. directive approach ) and writing process as discovery ( brainstorming, drafting [ focus/thesis/evidence/organization ], revising [style], and editing [ grammar review ] ) using a worksheet that guides and reminds consultants about the writing process.
-Theories of Learning: We'll explore different ways of learning, such as visual, aural, kinesthetic ( role-playing as audience and stock characters ), right-brain, and left-brain, so we can have a better understanding in helping different types of learners.
-Literature on Composition and Rhetoric: We'll review various case studies, and the latest literature in the Composition and Rhetoric field, so we have language awareness ( jargon, classroom talk, unintentional messages/what's not said, and intonation ), and awareness of kinesics ( body movement ), proxemics (personal space), and haptics ( touching ).
Consultants' readings will be as well-rounded as a liberal arts curriculum.
Reflect:
To process the various information, consultants will journal reactions to readings and will reflect about their own knowledge and limitation about the field ( Loretta Cobb’s argument in overcoming writers’ blocks, such as “values clarification" ); their own language prejudice; their own learning/composing process ( Thomas C. Thompson’s summary of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: “Teaching tutors about personality differences and giving them such strategies for reaching students with different preferences can give tutors a broader array of tools with which to work and can thus make them more effective” [146] and David Healy's identifying 5 types of Role Conflict and 3 types of coping mechanism ).
They'll reflect about their own experience tutoring ( problems, questions, dilemma, discomfort, solutions etc. ). They'll also analyze and record tutor observations in the hopes of learning from them ( See article by Jane Van Slembrouck: "By observing fellow tutors' consultations, writing center tutors improve their abilities to evaluate their own practices when working with students." ). They'll get tutored and have their own papers workshopped to gain perspectives from tutees.
Render Administrative Tasks:
Application of theories and reflections is vital to the tutor-initiated dialog. Consultants will be encourage to participate more with administrative tasks and get access behind-the-scenes. Their involvment will provide them perspective of the Writing Center in a larger context within the University environment.
Some of these administrative tasks include:
-making resource material and teaching workshops ( spelling, vocab, grammar, research, process, etc. )
-creating and revising various writing projects ( handbook and newsletter )
-planning promotion ( flyers, articles, and classroom visit )
-performing clerical duties ( updating files with new hand-outs, library materials, student records )
-mentoring each other through a Buddy System that is initiated "between peer and professional tutors for troubleshooting to reduce new tutor anxiety and reinforce the spirit of cooperative learning" ( Gamboa et. al. )
Application of theories and reflections is vital to the tutor-initiated dialog. Consultants will be encourage to participate more with administrative tasks and get access behind-the-scenes. Their involvment will provide them perspective of the Writing Center in a larger context within the University environment.
Some of these administrative tasks include:
-making resource material and teaching workshops ( spelling, vocab, grammar, research, process, etc. )
-creating and revising various writing projects ( handbook and newsletter )
-planning promotion ( flyers, articles, and classroom visit )
-performing clerical duties ( updating files with new hand-outs, library materials, student records )
-mentoring each other through a Buddy System that is initiated "between peer and professional tutors for troubleshooting to reduce new tutor anxiety and reinforce the spirit of cooperative learning" ( Gamboa et. al. )
Discussion:
Through regular staff meetings and other forms of open communication, we will discuss the pressing issues regarding the readings and reflections ( mostly prompted by consultants' inputs ). We will also update each other on the renderings of administrative tasks. The meetings will be structured with an agenda co-created by the spotlighted consultant with the Assistant Director. Overall, the tutor-initiated dialog will improve communication, interpersonal, and critical thinking skills that are applicable in the Writing Center but also in other future professions involving flexibility, team work, and problem solving. By the time consultants graduate out of the University, they will truly be professionals ready to enter the workforce.
Through regular staff meetings and other forms of open communication, we will discuss the pressing issues regarding the readings and reflections ( mostly prompted by consultants' inputs ). We will also update each other on the renderings of administrative tasks. The meetings will be structured with an agenda co-created by the spotlighted consultant with the Assistant Director. Overall, the tutor-initiated dialog will improve communication, interpersonal, and critical thinking skills that are applicable in the Writing Center but also in other future professions involving flexibility, team work, and problem solving. By the time consultants graduate out of the University, they will truly be professionals ready to enter the workforce.
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