Consultation shadowing & Collaboration

Tonight's consultation shadowing was a little different in terms of environment because the session took place within the actual Writing Center room, whereas we usually meet in an office down the hall since another writing consultant has appointments at the same time. In addition, I was never introduced as a shadow this time so it led me to wonder whether or not that had any particular impact on the situation of the actual session. I think I've mentioned this in another blog post earlier in the year, but I have learned in my psychology about concept called the person-situation controversy which is basically concept that a particular situation has substantial influence in our reactions and interactions. This leads me to wonder—do various factors that are unique to each consultation session affect the outcome for the student? I think that this idea also ties into a lot of our class discussions and numerous readings on the atmosphere of the writing center being best when it is interpersonal and collaborative. I have come to see that this word, "collaborative", is a fundamental word in the rhetoric on writing centers. More specifically, our University's Writing Center is established on producing better writers, not better papers by consultant executing this technique of active conversation. Is active conversation a key component to interpersonal and collaborative environment of writing centers? I certainly think so because it requires individuals to collaborate with one another to strengthen and clarify ideas and knowledge. 

Furthermore on the note on collaboration, tonight's session definitely classifies as a collaborative effort. This evening, TWO students came in together to work on a research paper for their first-year seminar class. To be honest, I thought it was rather odd to assign a research paper to pairs of students. Through everything I have learned via the readings (specifically the Hull article if I remember correctly), class discussions, and shadowing a variety of different consultations, I am all in support of collaboration when it is done under the right circumstances. Nevertheless, the two students that sought the help of the writing center tonight had each written different sections of the paper and wanted to ensure they'd effectively merged the individual sections together. One thing that the writing consultant suggested was that their thesis was rather weak—perhaps (and most likely) due to the fact that they had written different parts separately. The writing consultant suggested they talk about it aloud in order to clarify and indicate a stronger, more concrete thesis. Another thing I have observed from this session is that with a research paper, there is more focus on making sure the information is being presented in clear and straightforward as well as carry significance. I also noticed an apparent struggle with research papers (as well as other types of papers) aiming to be informative to the reader without boring them with excessive summary. This also caused the two students to have issues with their paper being too long and which adjusting was actually more difficult than it would seem to be. On a final note, these two students were in their first semester of college and the writing consultant suggested that they try and eliminate areas where they tried to sound academic because it actually makes the sentences more vague and wordy. As soon as she said that, I could immediately relate because that was a major struggle for me when I first got to college and it continues to be. (Which is almost ironic that I include that in this blog because I'm sure some of my posts come across as unclear and confusing to a reader.)

Upon the focus of collaboration, I think there is definitely a correlation to the notion of community literacy. My blog post from November 3rd, titled "Tina article & the topic of Literacy" covers one of the readings about literacy. With these two major concepts at hand and the observations of this specific consultation session, I think another major question arises as to what degree can collaboration enhance literacy? Continuing with this idea, what is the most effective way of utilizing collaboration to improve literacy in the realm of education? The work we did at the Boys & Girls Club and the College Mentoring Program have both yielded different effects yet nonetheless at the core of both of these community projects is the use of collaboration as means of enhancing the literacy of others. Some researching on the University of Richmond's Library website lead me to the article "Helping Diverse Struggling Readers through Reflective Teaching and Coaching" which summarizes the work of improving students' poor literacy skills, highlighting coaching (in other words, a form of communication) as the main strategy used. This article is insightful but it's framework still prompts the question of how to use collaborative processes in their more effective and efficient ways. As writing consultants, it's crucial to broaden our knowledge of one of the fundamental practices of the Writing Center (collaboration)