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| navigate: home: magazine: spring/summer 2000: article | |
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Faculty and students share their research Peer tutoring conference spreads the word about collaboration By James P. Purdy | ||||||
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Bustling about the Alumni Fireside Lounge of The Nittany Lion Inn on an unusually warm October evening, Penn State peer writing tutors and writing center directors, past and present, eagerly awaited the convergence of 360 national and international presenters on the University Park campus. The registration table was set, the last conference T-shirt was folded and the pumpkins and gourds were placed to create a festive autumn atmosphere. Months of hard work were about to come to fruition in a weekend of sharing ideas and insights on tutoring programs and practices, writing center administration and the composing process at the 16th annual National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing (NCPTW) “Unmasking Writing: A Collaborative Process.” From its modest beginnings at Brown University in 1984, the conference has grown into an international event. The 1999 conference attracted renowned speakers and more than 50 participating institutions. It featured more than 60 workshops, presentations, panel discussions and talks on a variety of topics, including on-line and Internet tutoring, reflections of South African and Bulgarian peer tutors, tutoring English as a second language and tutoring adult and learning disabled students. Julie Story, conference director and assistant director of the Penn State Writing Center, explained the reason for the ongoing interest in such sessions, noting, “Colleges and universities, high schools and literacy centers with a desire to develop a program in peer tutoring in writing and to improve writing programs search for the diverse programs represented at the conference.” Conference participants agreed. In their conference evaluations, they said the best part of the conference was the “interaction between writing centers and the exchange of ideas” and the fact that “topics were very applicable to what I do in my profession.” At the center of this interaction is the tutor. With the guidance of Story and Dr. Jon Olson, director of the Center for Excellence in Writing at Penn State, the 35 Penn State writing tutors played a major role in developing and presenting the conference. The tutors’ work began in the spring of 1999 when they brainstormed the conference theme of “Unmasking Writing: A Collaborative Process” and formed hospitality, keynote, program and social committees, each with a student chair. Writing tutors also served in several other important conference leadership positions, including program intern and T-shirt designer, and they introduced each conference speaker and workshop session. Additionally, writing tutors presented workshops ranging from “How Can Being a Tutor Help You Find a Job?” to “Unmasking Writing: The People Behind the Tutor-Tutee Relationship.” Penn State tutors’ responses to the conference exemplify the conference’s power to influence the development of the Writing Center and to promote outreach. Keynote Committee Chair Marleah Peabody said her participation in the “When the Mask Falls: Tutoring Creative Writing” workshop helped her “formulate a plan of action for helping creative writers in our Writing Center. Spurred on by the discussion we had in that workshop, the University Park Writing Center will be sponsoring a creative writing workshop starting next semester [spring 2000].” Hospitality Committee Chair Erica Sterzinger echoed this sentiment when she expressed how the conference prompted her to create an outreach program with State College High School. “The one [session] that I did attend concerned outreach. I got a lot of interesting ideas on how to take the Writing Center beyond Boucke Building,” she said. Tutors from Penn State and other participating institutions benefit from participation in the conference through the opportunity to develop professional and scholarly contacts and to learn what other institutions, including Penn State, have to offer in the way of writing, tutoring and academic programs. “The NCPTW can lead to new, stronger community outreach programs,” Story said. “This forum is crucial in bringing together peer tutors, faculty and staff with local high schools and literacy centers.” The conference’s goal of faculty supporting students was illustrated by the collaborative keynote presentation titled “A Tutoring Narrative in Four Part (Dis)Harmony” by Dr. Beverly Moss, Melissa Dunbar, Wendy Ake and Nikole Marzano of Ohio State University. The group, comprised of a faculty member, a graduate student and two student peer tutors, engaged in an interactive presentation in which each member shared equally in the performance. The speakers used their own experiences to address how they negotiated the practical and theoretical demands of a collaborative peer consulting program. Story explained, “The hallmark of this conference is its encouragement of spotlighting undergraduate and graduate peer tutors and putting faculty and staff directors in a supporting role. Hierarchy is based more on the quality of one’s ideas than on institutional rank.” The conference also featured a distinguished speaker from the business community—Nancy Sharkey, assistant to the managing editor of The New York Times, who spoke on the importance of humanizing the editor/writer relationship. Through examples and personal anecdotes, she outlined the four stages necessary for an editor to establish a collaborative relationship with a new writer. She also emphasized how the conference’s message has begun to influence the editing field. “Today, in our newsroom of 1,100 people, we have a set of guidelines that I’m particularly proud of,” Sharkey said. “I was on an early committee that helped draft these new rules. They begin with these words: ‘Editing is a collaborative process. Your job is to help others—particularly reporters—realize the full potential of their work, not to do their work for them.’ Sound familiar? It should. This reflects your movement. But you know how hard it is to follow this standard—not to do their work for them. The temptation is to rework the words, not work with the writer. ... But more and more, we are finding something that you folks have been saying for years: It’s the writer, not the story.” Peabody’s response to Sharkey’s presentation echoed that of numerous participants. Peabody said, “I would have to say that Nancy Sharkey’s speech was my favorite part of the conference. It was entertaining and informative. It gave me the feeling that what we do is even permeating into the work world.” The conference also included the presentation of the Ron Maxwell Leadership Award to Molly Wingate from Colorado College. Named for Dr. Ron Maxwell, Penn State professor emeritus and director of the Penn State Writing Center from 1986 to 1997, the award is a tribute to his pivotal role in the conference’s growth and success. The award was created to recognize an NCPTW professional’s exceptional work to promote collaborative learning among peer tutors in writing. Maxwell attended the 1999 National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing and, along with other conference participants, called the 16th conference “the best conference ever.” His legacy is continuing at Penn State under the leadership of Olson and Story. As director for the 1999 conference, Story succeeded in raising enough funds for the conference to keep registration fees affordable for participants. “I was floored by how Julie was able to raise more than $10,000,” Olson said. Story secured grants from all 11 Penn State college undergraduate deans, as well as from Dr. Don Bialostosky, head of the English Department; Dr. Ann McLaren, director of the University Learning Resource Center; Dr. Ingrid Blood, associate provost and associate dean of Undergraduate Education; Dr. Larry Spence, former director of the Schreyer Institute for Innovation in Learning; Dr. Lynne Goodstein, associate dean of the Graduate School; and Dr. Patricia A. Book, associate vice president for outreach and executive director, Division of Continuing Education, who administers the Outreach and Cooperative Extension Program Innovation Fund. Fifteen years ago, a small group of college and university writing tutors and writing center directors started a movement that continues to gain strength—a commitment to promote collaborative learning and to share their experiences and insights in a national forum. This commitment led to the creation of the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing, which perseveres in this mission. Through the work of Story, Olson, Maxwell and others dedicated to the promotion of collaborative learning, the future of peer tutoring in writing is on the “write” track. | |||||
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