Of Ladybugs, Low Status, and Loving the Job: Writing Center Professionals Navigating Their Careers

Geller, Anne Ellen; Denny, Harry

doi:10.7771/2832-9414.1758

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…The structural marginalization of writing centers has often been tied to physical location in basements or less visible spaces, or where centers are housed administratively as adjunct to departments or other services (Perdue, Driscoll, and Petrykowski 2017). Just as significant, WCAs may experience marginalization within their institutions because it is unclear where they fit in, often finding themselves "positioned as substrata of writing program administration, even further removed from the academic scholarship and intellectual inquiry of English studies" (Geller and Denny 2013). In this collection, the theme of structural marginalization in academe expands on the peripheral and ambivalent role of writing center administrators by exploring how writing studies graduate programs do not adequately prepare future WCAs for their work, how job descriptions perpetuate such ambivalence, and how marginalization is systemically reinforced in contingent labor practices.…”

Section: Structural Marginalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disruptive Stories: Amplifying Voices from the Writing Center Margins

2024

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Working and writing in a time of heightened social justice and advocacy movements that recognize and amplify unheard, silenced, and marginalized voices, writing center practitioners and scholars are compelled to reckon with the stories we tell that may, whether overtly or inadvertently, reify discourses of marginalization. Turning a lens on the narratives we disseminate in the articles and books we publish, the editors of this collection ask: What stories and voices are left out when we perpetuate the writing center grand narratives? In Peripheral Visions for Writing Centers, Jackie Grutsch McKinney points to the tendency in writing center studies to subscribe to "grand narratives," common (and often experience-based) stories that highlight our shared beliefs about the work we do (2013). While the problem of grand narratives-what some scholars call "orthodoxy" (Santa 2002) or "lore bias" (Kjesrud 2015)-has been examined before and through a variety of lenses including the way we collect data and relay information (Lerner 2014), Grutsch McKinney delves into why orthodox discourse may be so attractive, even though communities like writing centers can be vastly different in administrator's status, organizational structure, services, and practices. Our professional community is drawn to grand narratives because these are simultaneously "beneficial and constraining": writing center grand narratives create a sense of belonging Copyrighted material, not for distribution 4 : elizabeth Kleinfeld, sohui lee, and Julie Prebel

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Section: Structural Marginalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disruptive Stories: Amplifying Voices from the Writing Center Margins

2024

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“…För att kunna möta behoven hos en av sina målgrupper framstår det som ett viktigt utvecklingsområde för språkverkstadspedagogiken att integrera perspektiv på och kunskap om studenters studiesvårigheter och olika sätt att lära (se Babcock, 2015;Babcock & Daniels, 2017;Daniels et al, 2015). Resultatet ansluter därmed till andra studier som identifierat behov av professionsutveckling för språkverkstadspedagoger (Geller & Denny, 2013;Lennartson-Hokkanen, 2016;Perdue & Driscoll, 2017) och studiens resultat pekar mot att mötet med studenter i studiesvårigheter behöver uppmärksammas som en del av språkverkstadspedagogiken (Babcock & Daniels, 2017;Daniels et al, 2015;Hitt, 2012). Här skulle specialpedagogisk expertis och specialpedagogiska perspektiv på studiesvårigheter kunna utgöra ett värdefullt tillskott i utvecklingen av en språkverkstad som kan möta alla sina studenter.…”

Section: Diskussionunclassified

En språkverkstad för alla?

Dahl¹,

Lindqvist

2022

Högre utbildning

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Artikeln syftar till ökad kunskap om en grupp språkverkstadspedagogers arbete med studenter, vilka riskerar studiesvårigheter till följd av en funktionsnedsättning. Frågeställningarna rör hur språkverkstadspedagogerna uttrycker jurisdiktion och arbetsfördelning i dels handledningssamtal, dels andra arbetsuppgifter med målgruppen. Dataunderlaget utgörs av 8 intervjuer. Resultatet visar att språkverkstadspedagogerna har starkast jurisdiktion i handledningssamtalen, där kunskap om studiesvårigheter samt delvis andra metoder och förhållningssätt anges som viktiga för att kunna möta just denna studentgrupp. I övriga arbetsuppgifter söker däremot inte språkverkstadspedagogerna jurisdiktion över den specifika målgruppen. De gör i stället anspråk på ett arbete med alla studenter, och det arbetet vill de dela med universitetslärarna. Här framstår jurisdiktionen som svag, då språkverkstadspedagogerna avgränsar sitt arbets- och kunskapsområde olika och beskriver svårigheter att förhandla sin roll i relation till universitetslärarna. Detta tolkas i artikeln kunna påverka deltagandet för studenter ur den breddade rekryteringen, däribland studenter i studiesvårigheter. Slutsatser är att språkverkstadspedagoger bör ges möjlighet att utveckla en gemensam professionsidentitet, där perspektiv på och kunskap om studenters olika sätt att lära bör ingå. Vidare behöver språkverkstaden få ett samverkande uppdrag i syfte att kunna bidra till utvecklingen av en inkluderande högskolemiljö, där nya studentgruppers perspektiv kan tillvaratas och alla studenter bereds lika möjligheter. Detta ligger i linje med två viktiga mål inom högre utbildning: excellens och rättvisa.

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“…These interpretations impact how tutors understand themselves and how they believe students and faculty understand their role. Unsurprisingly, tutoring is not the type of job that people aspire to hold for the long term (DeFeo & Caparas, 2014;Geller & Denny, 2013). It is low paid and, like adjunct professors, devoid of job security and professional development (Halcrow & Olson, 2011).…”

Section: Statement Of the Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of their role as professionals, tutors often seek out the position as either a workstudy as a peer tutor or a steppingstone between graduate school and teaching at the college level; it is not the type of job that people aspire to hold for the long term (DeFeo & Caparas, 2014;Geller & Denny, 2013). In addition, DeFeo and Caparas (2014) found that tutors head into the position with low expectations but gradually grow to understand the meaning of their work.…”

Section: Adjunct Professorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the participants in the studies enjoyed their work, a common theme was that the work was not sustainable for the long term for reasons that included compensation and lack of professional development opportunities (DeFeo & Caparas, 2014;Geller & Denny, 2013). Those who went on to teach did find that their time as a tutor assisted them in helping students with writing in a more effective way, as they were more able to see where their students were coming from (DeFeo & Caparas, 2014).…”

Section: Adjunct Professorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Still the one-stop fix-it shop?: a question of professional tutor identity in the university writing tutoring center

Murphy Hunt

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This IPA study examines how professional college writing tutors feel their role is understood and appreciated (or not). While writing tutoring is a hallmark service at many undergraduate institutions, there remains an incongruence between what tutors, professors, students, and administrators expect from the role. In order to bring more clarity to the matter, this study sought to give voice to professional college writing tutors. This study surveyed six professional writing tutors in a semi-structured interview format, allowing them to express their sentiments around role, identity, hierarchy, and professional perception. Data was coded and examined through the theoretical framework of social identity theory. Key findings included: writing tutors make sense of their professional experiences by thinking of themselves as guides and translators for students; writing tutors found it difficult to maintain professional boundaries because students and faculty understood their role differently; relationships with administrators set the tone for whether writing tutors feel appreciated; and writing tutors generally enter the profession through their prior experience as peer tutors and personal connections to a university. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the field move toward standardization of professional writing tutor roles, establishment of clear professional boundaries, and intrauniversity academic support meetings.Future studies might examine trained vs. untrained professional tutors, as well as whether prior writing tutoring experience informs professors' teaching styles.

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Of Ladybugs, Low Status, and Loving the Job: Writing Center Professionals Navigating Their Careers

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Disruptive Stories: Amplifying Voices from the Writing Center Margins

Disruptive Stories: Amplifying Voices from the Writing Center Margins

En språkverkstad för alla?

Still the one-stop fix-it shop?: a question of professional tutor identity in the university writing tutoring center

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