Robin's Class: BLOG # 9

Monday, October 19, 2009

BLOG # 9

I looked throught the text book and became inspired by Murphy's essay, "...The Psychoanalytics of Tutoring Well". I have always had in interest in being a therapist, and find the process of talking very helpful in most problematic situations. I'm interested in researching this further because there are aspects of psychoanalytics to review when it relates to tutoring. Some of them are:

What if the tutor sees himself as only a therapist?
What if the tutor gets a sense of power from giving 'therapy' to a student?
How will the Writing Center know if a student is helped by a session using therapeutic skills?

This last question leads me to another topic I am interested in. How can we judge the effectiveness of Writing Center sessions if no one is responsible for judging the progression of a student's work? I feel that checklist research is a strong topic to study. Writing Centers seem pointless if each tutor using his/her own practice. Students are at the mercy of tutors who may get power from giving knowledge, or acting as a therapist. How will the director know if the student has really been helped? So, to summarize my current interests...psychoanalytics in tutoring, and setting up an effective checklist system are at the top.

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Response Essay

Robin Leigh Dr. Chandler Peer Tutoring September 26, 2009 Why Collaboration Is Not The Best Method For Everyone Lunsford lists several reasons that show the benefit of collaborating, such as..."aiding in problem solving, sharper, more critical thinking and...the encouraging of active learning..." (pps. 94-95) I disagree that collaboration ultimately leads to these results because different students work better in different environments. I am the type of student who generally cringes when teachers ask us to split off into groups. When in a group, I'm so concerned that the work gets done correctly that I sometimes take over and do not allow everyone to have a fair share. This leads to other students not engaging with thinking, talking and writing, as Lunsford says it would. This goes against Lunsford's theory that collaborating aids in problem solving, and only creates a problem in itself. Students who are shy found an easy way out of involving themselves in collaborative work, when a talkative/bossy student like me gets involved in their group. They may have been better off working alone, after being given an assignment. That would've ensured that they engage wholly in a project, instead of allowing a groupmate to do the majority of the work. I think giving students clear roles of teacher/tutor and student/learner helps to aid more critical thinking. Even if the student becomes the teacher for a period of time, it would allow them to talk about what they have learned, or reiterate what was taught to ensure they are on the same page. These are examples of the Storehouse and Garret model of tutoring. In a class exercise that called for students to switch roles between being the tutor and the student, I found that collaborating never emerged as a source of help. In this circumstance, we used the Storehouse model when I was the student. I asked a lot of questions about exactly what the assignment was, if my method would be acceptable, and how to go about following the guidelines. This method of tutoring gave my 'tutor' the power and knowledge that was fixed, such as telling me to follow the MLA format. During that same exercise, I talked about what I gained from the reading and how I felt about it. That part of our group execise turned into the Garret model. We never used the Burkean Parlor model, (collaborating) because it didn't seem appropriate. We both did well when power and knowledge was established. From my experiences, collaboration is not the best way to get a writing assignment done. It does not always aid in problem solving, and can actually cause problems. Collaborating does not always lead to critical, more sharper thinking as Lunsford says because roles can become cloudy. If it is not established that everyone needs to pitch in equally, some may not engage at all, therefore not be thinking or engaging them- selves wholly. Because some students can become invisible while collaborating, it does not encourage them to participate actively, as Lunsford stated. Works Cited Lunsford, Andrea. "Collaboration, Control, and the Idea of a Writing Center." Barnett, Robert W. and Jacob S. Blummer. The Longman Guide to Writing Center Theory and Practice. New York, New York: Pearson Longman, 2008 92-99

Robin's Class

Monday, October 19, 2009

BLOG # 9

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