Tutor reports on writing consultations are seemingly indigenous to writing center culture, yet their audiences and functions are, to borrow a phrase from Muriel Harris, "as varied as the students who stream in and out" of the center ("Talking" 27). Conversations at conferences and on the WCenter listserv, as well as writing…

Michael Mattison's "Someone to Watch Over Me: Reflection and Authority in the Writing Center" explores the problem of audience for tutors' reflective writing. In Mattison's case, tutoring practices and learning are undermined because reflective writing leads consultants to feel as though they are being spied upon by the writing center director.…

Writing centers are places not only of practices and policies but also of inquiry. Increasingly, research conducted in writing centers is informing the theoretical bases as well as the day-to-day goings-on in our various local contexts. In turn, the situated daily activity of each writing center as well as the theory or principles behind it…

Everyone involved in writing centers must recognize that the educational community of the 1990s will continue to grow more diverse culturally, linguistically, scholastically. Given this diversity, students, teachers, and tutors will become more, not less, interdependent. The ready, predictable answers and assumptions that existed once in a…

This article has been about reconsidering how writing center directors train tutors to read and respond to texts. The subject here has been new media texts. The author has asked directors to reconsider how they tutor and how they talk to students about their writing. The impetus for these evolved practices is the arrival of increasing numbers of…

While writing centers and writing fellows programs have been integral components of many colleges and universities in North America, these models of student-to-student learning are starting to develop in postsecondary institutions in other parts of the world, particularly in the Arabian Gulf. In particular, there are growing number of…

Considers the evolution of writing-tutor pedagogies, from the job-specific training of tutorial-centered "practical" manuals to the professionalizing approach that establishes awareness of the specialized discourse of writing-center scholarship. Suggests that the latter approach also writes tutors into the field's most painful and factious…

Proposes a dialogic method of training tutors, based on a learning theory which views the "class" as a conversation, where teacher and learner are indistinguishable. Asserts that where dialogue is lacking, information may be transferred, but little is learned. (MM)

Contrasts the advantages and disadvantages of writing center tutors who are familiar with the subject matter in a given field or discipline with those who are not. Asserts that by being "ignorant" of the subject matter, a tutor forces students to take responsibility for their writing. (MM)

Describes the implementation of a writing across the curriculum program at one university's writing center. Discusses solutions to counter the strains placed on the center by this additional program. (MM)

Discusses writing apprehension from the tutors' point of view, drawing on observations recorded in journals. Suggests that research and discussion about writing apprehension can form an important focus for developing a tutoring course. (MM)

Reprints an article originally appearing in "English Education" (v20 n2; May 1988; See EJ370079). Addresses problems currently faced by writing labs: training staff; incorporating usable word processing; and establishing working relationships with both academic and nonacademic communities. (JAD)

Argues that one productive approach to writing tutorials is to conceive them as performances and to encourage tutors to analyze them in this way. Analyzes tape-recorded narratives from tutors about conference experiences, which raise questions about the very nature of peer tutoring and help tutors clarify their roles. (SR)

Describes an adventure-based initial tutor training program designed to promote effective teamwork and enhance organizational ability. Notes that an added advantage of the outdoor activity is that it renews the importance of principles that have always made writing centers effective by metaphorically echoing the mental challenges of writing…

Surveys students concerning recruitment and referral issues at the writing center. Finds that the higher the class level, the less likely the student was to have attended the center. Finds that students view instructor referral to the writing center as a bargain. Suggests ways to improve tutor training, advertising, and referral methods. (RS)