“We are not a ‘fix-it shop’”: The writing centre as a uniquely configured learning space

Abstract

For decades, writing centre practitioners have contested and protested against the demeaning characterisations of their pedagogic space. The Cape Peninsula University of Technology's (CPUT) Writing Centre has endured stigmatisation as a "clinic", "laboratory", "fix-it shop", and "remedial agency for removing students' deficiencies in composition" (Archer and Parker 2016, Drennan 2017, Moore 1950, North 1984. Although writing centre practitioners and theorists have described these centres as hubs for nurturing and enhancing students' intellectual and linguistic capacities in order to engage and master disciplinary literacies and genres while contributing to the transformation of educational projects, such a value tends to be misrecognised -by both lecturers and students at CPUT -as focusing on improving grammatical competence. This article contributes to the discourse of redefining the writing centre as a space with unique transformational pedagogies in the context of a university of technology, namely CPUT.Underpinned by the Academic Literacies approach (Lea and Street 1998), this study views the institutional spaces in which our writing centre operates as "constituted in, and as sites of discourse and power". The research purpose is to determine how the CPUT Writing Centre is viewed by the students who make use of it. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the researchers sought answers to the following two questions: (i) How is the CPUT Writing Centre configured to support learning at a university of technology? and (ii) How do students characterise the CPUT Writing Centre as a learning space with its own unique pedagogy? The article reports on students' perceptions and assumptions about the Writing Centre as a learning space at a university of technology in the Western Cape (CPUT). It also examines the permutations of a uniquely configured learning space, the impact of its attributive conversations, and the extent to which it is (mis)recognised as a transformative agency.

The role of a university in support of first-year students

“…English as the language of teaching and learning presents more than one hurdle for students from disadvantaged educational backgrounds with other challenges, including Quintile 1 schooling; homes without books or resources; parents who cannot help with tutoring or financing because they themselves were denied quality education under apartheid. At universities, the risk factors are associated with limited English proficiency (LEP), poor schooling and poverty (Pineteh, 2014;Sefalane-Nkohla & Mtonjeni, 2019). Being aware of these risk factors, such as inadequate preparation and poverty, a university must provide targeted support programmes that address such challenges.…”

“…This centre provides writing support to students to acquire academic writing skills by guiding them through their written assignments and assisting those who experience difficulties in the language of learning and teaching. Academic writing plays an important role in socialising students into the discourse of subjects and disciplines in universities (Pineteh, 2014;Sefalane-Nkohla & Mtonjeni, 2019). Due to being underprepared for higher education, CPUT students struggle to uphold academic writing standards acceptable for higher education.…”

“…These inequalities stem from black learners' historical oppression and resultant poverty in many areas of the country today (Ndelu, 2017). South Africa is one of the most economically divided countries in the world, with some of the lowest literacy rates (Sefalane-Nkohla & Mtonjeni, 2019). Knowing the background, challenges and deprivations of students is an important responsibility of all universities.…”