In this article, Straub quotes Rebecca Rule saying,
"As [a] teacher, I must be careful not to take over—because the minute I do, the success (if there is one) becomes mine, not his—and the learning is diminished. I can contribute; I can guide; I can brainstorm with him; I can suggest exercises; I can offer models; I can tell him where the comma goes; I can support him wholeheartedly. But I must not take over."
I think this is a very important point for us to remember in our role as writing consultants. I think anytime you are talented in a particular area (most likely writing for most of us since we are in this class) it is difficult not to take control in situations regarding that area, but as consultants, it is extremely important that we don't. I know that sometimes when I read people's writing I have the urge to cross out all sorts of things and change it to exactly how I would say it or write it, but this is not the point of being a writing consultant. We have to suppress that urge to take control and instead support, guide, and help, as Rule suggests. It is not simply about having a good end product, if it were, perhaps people would just bring us assignments to the writing center and we would write it for them. But that is not what the writing center is about. It is about learning. It is about the process.
So true! It's important that while we give our input, we try to maintain the the individual writer's voice and ideas. It's only so much "editing" and "proofreading" a consultant can do before the paper loses all personality and evidence that the writer wrote it. We definitely need to be mindful of this as we when we enter the field.
ReplyDeleteI also think that suppressing our urge to just cross out everything shows our respect for the writer's thoughts and ideas. I keep stressing the importance of respecting the writers in my blogs, and that is simply because I think it is extremely important. We don't know how every student was taught to write or their writing background. So, simply marking up everything (1) does not teach them anything, and (2) can potentially offend someone and may appear as if we are insulting their intelligence. So I think you make a very good point.
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