Keywords
Pedagogy
Abstract
In our undergraduate training course, like many others, consultants-to-be learn about the role of the writing center as an institutional middle-ground, a liminal space between teachers and students, the university and the individuals within it. University-sponsored “peer” tutoring, of course, depends on situating ourselves as such. However, writing center practitioners’ view of ourselves and our work, and the image we present to our consultants-in-training, can be very different from the preconceived images that incoming writers have of the writing center. Some are nervous, scared we will “tear apart” their papers. Others are skeptical, unsure of how an undergraduate consultant could possibly help them with their writing. Some resent a required visit; others look forward to their sessions. Before a writer has actually visited a writing center for a consultation, how can we communicate to them the nature of what we do? If a writer feels nervous or out of place, how do we reassure them as quickly as possible, before they even interact with a writing center employee? How does our local context, as a liberal-leaning university in a liberal-leaning county in a predominantly conservative state impact these dynamics? In this article, we will describe the interventions of “welcome” that we are currently implementing in our writing center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) and the theoretical considerations behind our choices. While we have tailored our interventions to the needs of our specific institution and situation, we share our experiments with welcome in hopes that other writing center practitioners can adapt our methods to the needs of their own centers.
Citation Information
Type of Source: Journal Article
Authors: Leia Eller and Olivia Wood
Year of Publication: 2019
Title: “Underground Hellos: Signaling Welcome to Marginalized Writers in the South”
Publication: The Peer Review, 3(1)