Writing Center Principles and Expectations

Principles

These principles are based on writing center theory and practice and on our values of empathy, cross-cultural awareness, and the power of peer conversation.

• Our motto is “We help people become better writers.” We help writers learn to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses and to learn strategies to improve their writing.
• We work as peer tutors, helping to facilitate a conversation about the writing process, rather than as experts imparting knowledge. We act as sounding boards, ask questions, and suggest options, rather than giving answers that writers are capable of discovering with support and guidance. When answers don’t come, we help writers find the answers in reference materials so in the future they will be able to find similar answers independently.
• We know that writing and learning are processes and that no single consultation session can address all aspects of the process. We work with the writer to set priorities and to focus the time together on these priorities.
• We recognize that the writer is the decision maker and that our role is to help him or her examine the options to be able to make stronger choices. If the writer looks to us as decision makers, we tactfully give that authority back to the writer.
• We see writing as context-dependent, meaning that every piece of writing requires different choices based on the writer’s purpose and audience. Assignment instructions and instructor comments are especially helpful in negotiating this territory.
• We recognize that writing, like the people who write, is culturally influenced. Western academic writing is not the only way, but it often determines the expectations of assignments in American higher education. We help to translate these expectations while showing our interest in and appreciation of other ways.
• We recognize that people’s interpersonal communication varies individually and culturally, and we work to honor the writer’s communication style and needs by being open, flexible, and sensitive to the needs of each person.
• We recognize that many non-native speakers want to achieve native fluency in standard American English and that assisting them in learning elusive idioms and standard phrasing by offering them a number of options may be appropriate.
• We respect diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity and work to maintain an inclusive environment by learning about queer history, ideas, and engaging in discussions. We respect everyone’s gender identity and use pronouns and names accordingly.
• We are not here to judge the quality of anyone’s writing. Instead we’re here to help them work toward improvement, regardless of their current skill level.
• We respect the writer’s efforts, dignity, and privacy, so we treat anyone who comes to the Writing Center with respect and confidentiality.
• We respect the other players in the learning process, and so we never criticize the efforts of the faculty, other tutors, or any other people who assist in the writer’s learning process, even as we do provide writers with tools for critically negotiating the institution.
• We do our best to send the writer out of the consultation session with tools to move ahead in his/her writing and learning processes. Therefore, we give the writer notes of our session and other reference materials as needed.
• We are also student writers who learn from and with other student writers. We continually seek to improve our own knowledge and skills as part of our work as writing tutors in the Highline Writing Center.

Our Writers

We help writers of all skill levels, from basic writers to non-native writers to students getting ready to transfer. Even fellow tutors, past and present, frequently use the Center because they know what great work we do. They come from all disciplines and will bring you many different types of projects.

Some important things to remember about writers:

• Many have never been to the Writing Center before and do not know what to expect.
• Some assume that the Writing Center will simply “fix” their papers—but they are often pleasantly surprised to find out that we do much more than that!
• Some writers do not want to be in the session. Your job is to encourage them as much as you can and remind them of their motives for coming in the first place, but also remember that you can’t make someone want to be there.
• Many have had bad experiences with writing and thus have little self-confidence about their writing skill. Be sensitive to this, but also curious about their previous experiences.
• On the other side of the coin, many writers have received excellent grades in writing and may be resistant to what they may see as you “interfering” with their writing.
• Many have had bad experiences with collaboration and may be hesitant to engage with you. Be patient and friendly, but remember that this “opening up” may take time and may not happen in one session.
• Different instructors often have different expectations and understandings, even of the same terms and course material. The tutor’s role is to help the writer remember and discover the expectations that the writer is facing, which might be a different situation that what the tutor expects.

But the most important things to remember are that it’s all writing and all writing has value!

What Writers Can Expect

The Writing Center will…

• Be a safe, comfortable, friendly and stimulating environment to receive assistance with their writing.
• Contain resources and materials to help writers improve their writing.

Writing Center tutors will…

• Provide knowledgeable, friendly peer assistance with all stages of writing.
• Provide excellent customer service.
• Help writers learn how to improve their own writing rather than doing the work for them.

Tutor Responsibilities

• Guide, encourage, and motivate students
• Ask questions
• Listen actively
• Recast and mirror a student’s ideas as you understand them
• Help students understand expectations and likely interpretations, sometimes critically
• Help students feel understood
• It’s okay if you don’t know!
• Recognize that each student has his/her own natural pace for learning
• Recognize that seeking help for writing is not easy for the student
• Develop and hone your own skills

What Tutors Can Expect

The workplace will…

• Be a safe and stimulating environment for tutors, with exceptional opportunities for learning and ongoing professional development.
• Contain resources and materials (i.e., reference books, citation manuals, writing instruments, paper, computers, etc.) necessary for conducting sessions.

Staff will…

• Maintain an appropriate level of professionalism by:
• Arriving on time and prepared to work.
• Dressing and behaving in a manner befitting their position in the academic community.
• Treating everyone around them with respect.
• Maintain ethical standards.
• Receive ongoing professional development.
• Be able to work a schedule that does not interfere with prior academic or personal priorities.
• Be able to take time off when necessary to accommodate personal or academic priorities.
• Be self-reflective practitioners.

Supervisors will…

• Be available to tutors and writers for guidance and advice.
• Be models for appropriate professional behavior.
• Advise and make suggestions to tutors as to behavior, best practices, etc. where appropriate.
• Provide tutors with ample opportunities to improve their understanding of Writing Center theory and practice.
• Provide tutors with ample opportunities for self-reflection.