ENGL-1810: Mentoring Writers

This course broke down a lot of what I thought I understood of working with writers. The benefit of working with student writers simultaneously to the coursework allowed me to practice what we were covering in our coursework and gave me much to consider. One particular area I have become very aware of is how I influence writers with my choice of feedback. I can now see how in the past I have used a heavy hand when offering feedback that may have deprived writers of the autonomy, voice and ownership they should have in their own work. While it wasn’t my intention, it was my impact. It is my duty to analyze the way I interact with writers and take measured steps to continue to give constructive, actionable feedback that doesn’t silence or minimize the writers.

A piece of writing from The Oxford that gave me a lot to think about in how I interacted with writers was Mara Brecht’s Basic Literacy: Mediating Between Power Constructs. Brecht speaks to their experience teaching at an ABLE program and their Literacy Letter project. They tell us of some of their considerations leading this program and working with the students, and some of their experiences realizing what they could do better in hindsight. Brecht touches on how the course material, the partnering of students, the direction all must be curated to create a learning environment that doesn’t alienate students and fosters their learning. Of particular interest to me was how Brecht criticizes some of her own responses to her student’s writings. “When working with Kathy, I often found it hard to recognize where any lines were. I was unsure if I would be crossing boundaries. . . I did not want to encourage self-effacing writing, but at the same time, it was her writing, not mine. My values were not Kathy’s values, and my tutor position did not grant me authority to alter Kathy’s value,” (Oxford, 303). I found Brecht’s vulnerability here refreshing and encouraged me to antagonize my own shortcomings.

Touching back on the curating of the assignments and feedback, Brecht had more to say that got me thinking about the feedback I gave. Brecht speaks about how even the questions we ask our students can feed into the systems of oppression. Brecht recalls asking Kathy what they should work on in writing, and reflects how this question was unfair for Kathy. Kathy didn’t have the vocabulary to describe their writing deficiencies as seen by our cultural standard, that they may not even feel anything was “wrong.” Kathy existed outside the educated class that decides a standard, and Kathy didn’t feel equipped to challenge the powers that be. Brecht agonizes over the ways we can passively give in to the status quo and reinforce the denigrated status of writers by us ourselves, those with a closer proximity to privilege, power or authority as tutors, not being willing to challenge what is. We are propping up systems of oppression academia is rooted in if we choose to be ignorant or ambivalent to our impact on writers from their perspectives, not just on their outcomes to the mold our culture wants them to fit.

In my time working with students I used Brecht’s vulnerability and mindfulness as an example to follow. I found some students I saw frequently and trusted and confided in them how I would be conducting our meetings differently. How I would be shifting some of my feedback from direct input to questions, allowing them to synthesize their own thoughts and feelings and put them to words. This took a lot of trust, a concept that we discussed very early on in this course. I wanted to help encourage these students to stand on their own, but I still wanted to be there for them. I wanted them to feel comfortable challenging me as I challenged them. I wanted them to be confident in discarding my feedback if it didn’t fit their goal. After each of these meetings I asked them to give me feedback on how they felt it went. I had some students tell me that they felt I was too hands-off, that it became an impediment at times to the meeting because I became too cautious. I wouldn’t give any suggestions, only questions, and sometimes they just wanted examples to pull from. I saw how student examples benefitted me in my classwork, and I tried to give them some and strike my balance. This reinforced for me some of our earlier discussions in the course on how we negotiate the needs and goals in our sessions, further tying our theory into practice.

I would like to leave off this semester with a final quote by Brecht that I come back to time and time again when I consider my interaction with writers. “I do not believe that I now or will ever totally understand the impact of my language, my tutoring style, and my authority. Furthermore, I cannot fully understand Kathy’s reaction to my language, tutoring style, and/or authority. . . To recognize the risks involved is to take a step in the right direction. It must be a constant process of locating comfort zones, tweaking, and adjusting those comfort zones.” (Oxford, 306) This helps me keep in mind my goal to be and do better for the students I work with. I want to encourage them to take ownership of their work, to not appropriate their work, to make writing centers comfortable and accessible to not just the majority. We do better when we know better, and this course has installed in me a curiosity for what I didn’t know I didn’t know. In conclusion, this course shook up what I thought I knew, and replaced it with an open mindedness and a direction.