Dissertation: notes 7

Wendy Bishop "We're All Basic Writers..."

Students are not the only ones with writing apprehensions according to WAS ( Writing Apprehension Survey ): Writing tutors too.  Those with high apprehensions have "less control over usage and written conventions."  Sylvia Holladay adds that these students are "frightened by demands for writing competency, who fears evaluation because [they] expect to fail, who avoid writing, and who behave destructively when forced to write."  Bishop suggests 3 methods of talking about apprehension during tutor training: literacy biography, "How I Write" essay ( to write and revise ), Synthesis ( connect discoveries from prior assingments with research and discussion ).  Works Cited page leads to several journal articles ( good to check out ).

Irene Clark "Maintaining Chaos in The Writing Center..."

Clark just reminds those in the Writing Center field  to never forget its "adolescent" chaotic energy inspite of its gained "adult" and established status.  Discomfort is good, and so is remembering one's values, having balance between nurture and demand, staying critical ( questioning assumptions and reflecting ), and avoiding absolutes ( anything dogmatic ).

Irene Clark "Dialogue in the Lab Conference: Script Writing..."

Incorporating the writing of hypothetical dialogues into tutor training also utilizes discussion and practice efficiently.  The instruction for this activity according to Clark includes: handing students with a paper wit lots of errors, prompting students to create hypothetical dialogues between themselves as tutors and as tutees.  the end goal is for tutors to "discover through role-playing their own concept of a student-tutor conference."  The vicarious participation leads to staff discussion, lesson in empathy, and awareness of strategies.  With less pressure, tutors writing these dialogues are enabled " to think of many ideas...to conduct their actual tutoring sessions with great control... to evaluate themselves more objectively."
-Attribution Theory

Art Young "College Culture and the Challenge of Collaboration"

Young points out that within the field, collaboration may be the norm, but outside the field in the college environment, collaboration might not be as popular.  This was the view in 1992, I wonder if this view persists today (2011).  College is traditionally based on heirarchy so in a way "we are subversive."  Nonetheless a heirarchical background doesn't usually reward risk in collaboration because it is unpredictable; it'll end in "success, failure, or something in between [thus] teachers fear collaboration, students fear it, administrations fear it."