From Peer Tutors to Writing Center Colleagues: The Potential of Writing Center Internships

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dc.creatorSilver, Naomi
dc.creatorLuke, Carrie
dc.creatorNieman, Lindsey
dc.creatorPremo, Nicole
dc.date.accessioned2017-10-26T18:58:07Z
dc.date.available2017-10-26T18:58:07Z
dc.date.issued2009
dc.descriptionThe current conversation surrounding peer writing tutor professional development frequently includes discussions of authority, autonomy, and oversight. At the University of Michigan's Sweetland Writing Center, our conversations have followed similar trends with the added complication of an unusual setup when it comes to one-to-one writing consultations. Because Sweetland is staffed entirely by what the field calls "professional consultants" (university writing faculty with MFA or Ph.D. degrees), "professional development" has meant simply carrying out the work of the Academy, that is, attending conferences, publishing books and articles, conducting research, and revising curriculum. Yet in the Peer Tutoring Center – a space populated by upper-level undergraduates who have completed two semesters of intensive training taught by Sweetland faculty in the theory and practice of tutoring their peers – "professional development" has raised many issues of power and authority, at least for the faculty and staff supervising them. When the "professional consultants" seek to "professionalize" the student peer tutors, the emphasis shifts from self-improvement and self-interest (in the economic sense) to quality control and consciousness-raising. The question becomes one of how to help undergraduates transition from self-interest (in the psychological sense) to community- or organizational-interest, that is, how to help them identify with the body that oversees themen_US
dc.description.departmentUniversity Writing Centeren_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.15781/T24X54Z54
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/62286
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.relation.ispartofPraxis: A Writing Center Journalen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPraxis: A Writing Center Journal;Vol 7, No 1
dc.rights.restrictionOpenen_US
dc.subjectSilveren_US
dc.subjectLukeen_US
dc.subjectNiemanen_US
dc.subjectPremoen_US
dc.subjectinternshipsen_US
dc.subjecttutorsen_US
dc.titleFrom Peer Tutors to Writing Center Colleagues: The Potential of Writing Center Internshipsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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