Writing Engagement

(engage with composition and peer-tutoring theories)

One of the key things I do as a mentor when I am reading a student's writing is to take myself out of the equation. These are not my thoughts, these are not my opinions, I am reading someone else's thoughts on something for clarity. Drawing upon readings such as Trimbur (1987) and concepts of collaborative learning. I think of myself less as an authority and more of a knowledgable peer offering advice and feedback. I want the student to interrogate why they think what they think. Explain it to me so it makes sense. My job as a tutor is not to "correct" their writing, but rather to guide them towards finding the words and message they seek to convey in their writing.

I would occassionally come across a students writing or argument, and find myself in total disagreement with their analysis, but set that aside to focus on the structure of their overall thesis and argument and focusing on those areas. On occasion if I feel like a school of thought is not presented, I might offer it as something to look into for further research. Or I might offer a different perspective to engage in, but these are merely suggestions, and the students thoughts and voice should come first.

Another writing engagement method I found very helpful was to not respond to a writing sample until I had read all of it. I would take notes and focus my feedback into general thoughts and suggestions about either strong points that worked and/or areas where I struggled to comprehend the point.

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Trimbur, John (1987) "Peer Tutoring: A Contradiction in Terms?,"Writing Center Journal: Vol. 7: Iss. 2,Article 4.