It has been a long while since I’ve posted here. In my time of blogging silence, I’ve been attending UNL to finish my degree in English. Which leads me to this interesting post I’ve blogged for you.
I am in a writing theory and practice class that has a focus on writing centers. I will be posting my personal thoughts on readings from this class each week. You are invited to comment and share your thoughts. It is my hope that we all grow and learn some.
So, what is a writing center?
Last semester, in September, I had the good pleasure of listening to Professor Stephen North. His comments were interesting in that he used his failure to speak up when he thought he could have made a difference, at his university in Albany, when they were constructing a curriculum for the English department as a way to motivate a younger generation to do what he did not, or feels he failed to do which was, for one thing, educate educators and students on what a writing center is.
It is completely ironic to me, as an English major, we do not have the verbiage to explain exactly what we do. Sure there are words like author, novelist, poet, Professor of English Studies, and writer. But what do they do and how do they get there? Professor North spoke about this as well, and his frustration was clearly heard.
I often wonder if we lack the verbiage because in the past we called ourselves scholars, and set ourselves apart as elitists, pushing interest away from the Literature and Writing in the process. It is disheartening to see English departments collapsing in on themselves. Here at UNL, there is much talk among students and those who work in the Writing Center, about lack, of funding, funding being cut, or underfunding. But how can funding be given when the majority of university staff do not even agree on what the Writing Center is, or what it does?
In The St. Martin’s Sourcebook for Writing Tutors, Professor North has an article titled, “The Idea of a Writing Center.” Though the article is entertaining to read, much as he was in person to listen to, Professor North doesn’t have any clear direction other than it is hard to get people to understand what a writing center is. Even faculty of a university do not agree. Is it a place where professors send remedial students with “special needs” for help in getting a paper done? Is it where accomplished writers go when they have writer’s block? Is it where an average student goes to get a paper proofread for grammar mistakes?
According to Professor North in his article listed above, “For faculty members the two primary criteria were grammar and punctuation” for the usage of a writing center. However, according to Muriel Harris, a professor of English at Purdue University, in her journal article “Talking in the Middle: Why Writers Need Writing Tutors” says, “Writing centers do not and should not repeat the classroom experience and are not there to compensate for poor teaching, overcrowded classrooms, or lack of time for overburdened instructors to confer adequately with their students.” Writing centers are place for students to go for many reasons though. Some include to understand the verbiage a teacher uses, to talk through an idea, to have someone ask them questions about their writing, etc. It is a safe, unintimidating place for students to better their writing. Even Wikipedia is getting it, saying it is a place to learn.
From Professor Harris’ article, I learned that from her student surveys many students are learning and growing as writers, in whatever field they are writing in. One thought I had was, a writing center seems closely related to what constructive workshops and critique groups do for a creative writer. Now I do have to admit that my first experience with the Writing Center at UNL back in 2014 was not the best…nor was my second. It was loud and crowded, with only two students being helped. The rest of the chatter was from others there with nothing to do. I left to go work on my own where it was quiet and I could think. Although I strongly support writing centers, the location and space was not conducive to learning or discussing anything for me. Now in 2016, after waiting and waiting, UNL is finally renovating their writing center. At the moment, they have been relocated to Love Library, where I am typing this blog outside the room, and you know what? It’s quiet. Not silent, but quiet. I can work and students are learning and I hope (fingers crossed) that when they are moved back into their renovated space, it remains a quiet place conducive to learning and growing as a writer.
I can’t help but wonder if I’m the only student that wants to use the writing center as a quiet space to converse about my writing with a tutor, to bounce ideas off of them and grow as a writer? Or would the university suggest I find a critique group or a workshop?
But I ask you when you think of a writing center, what does it mean to you? Have you ever thought about it? And how can we better change the static notion of the majority that a writing center is only for those who need extra help because they didn’t learn what they should have in high school into what a writing center really is?
To read other blogs on this topic check out our class blog.
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