Re: tutor training discussion

[Carl Fielden <cfielden@mail.sdsu.edu>]

Sara,

The article you mentioned sounds interesting.  Could you post the citation
on the listserv?

Carl Fielden





>May I have the citation for the article?
>
>
>"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
>"
>Tere Molinder-Hogue			   "No snowflake in an avalanche
>IUPUI English department		       ever feels responsible."
>
>CA 502L  274-4499/2049
>							S. Lezczynski
>
>On Wed, 12 Nov 1997, Sara Kimball wrote:
>
>> Tere, this is my *mature* view of the course. It took some bumpy
>> intervals, especially during our horrific second year, to get there.
>> A couple of years ago my college alumni magazine published an essay by a
>> medical school student about learning on the job.  The most recent view of
>> medical education gets students involved in clinical practice (under
>> supervision) much more quickly than it used to.  The essay was a
>> thoughtful piece about how beginners don't do everything perfectly and
>> about the gap between abstraction and practice.  I xeroxed it and gave it
>> to my undergraduate
>> trainees to read during the interval when they were just starting to
>> consult and were finding things a bit bumpy, and we've read it in in
>> subsequent classes too.
>> Sara
>>
>>
>>  On Wed, 12 Nov 1997, tere molinder-hogue wrote:
>>
>> >
>> > Sara, I'm struck by the similarities between our training approaches.  And
>> > heartened to hear your description of the "stages" trainees go through
>> > during the course of the semester.  Because my mother taught me an amazing
>> > capacity to assume guilt, I assumed the difficult features of the stages
>> > you describe were something I was doing wrong -- now I don't need therapy
>> > :-)
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
>> > Tere Molinder-Hogue			   "No snowflake in an
>>avalanche
>> > IUPUI English department		       ever feels responsible."
>>
>> > CA 502L  274-4499/2049
>> > 							S. Lezczynski
>> >
>> > On Wed, 12 Nov 1997, Sara Kimball wrote:
>> >
>> > > Mickey, our training class starts out with four weeks in which the
>> > > students read and discuss various articles on working in writing centers
>> > > as well as practicing on each other, there's a two week transition
>>period
>> > > that's an introduction to the nitty gritty details of workig in our
>> > > writing center (the record-keeping system, the FY comp syllabus etc.),
>> > > then they work as consultants in our center.  During the first part
>>of the
>> > > course they are supposed to observe sessions conducted by experienced
>> > > consultants and when they start consulting, they normally team-up at
>>first
>> > > with experienced people and with each other.  After a couple of
>>weeks they
>> > > go solo.  I've learned to describe the first part of the course as the
>> > > abstract part, as describing what we are aiming for.  And I warn
>>them that
>> > > the abstract principles of consulting are mediated in the messy
>>details of
>> > > working with real people in real-life situations.  I've also learned to
>> > > make it clear to them that their job in the second part of the
>>semester is
>> > > to reconcile the abtract with the concrete experiences they will have in
>> > > the second part.  I sometimes find the discussion in the first few
>>weeks a
>> > > bit frustrating, because it is abstract. The students are idealistic and
>> > > eager, but naive. I'll ask a question sometimes,
>> > > and get an answer that more or less recapitulates the reading.  When
>> > > they're doing their initial observations, before they've worked with
>> > > students themselves, the trainees can be very critical.  Things become
>> > > much more interesting once they're working with students themselves.
>> > > Sara Kimball
>> > > UT Austin
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>>


_______________________________________________________________

Carl Fielden
Coordinator, High Tech Center for Students
       with Disabilities
Disabled Student Services
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA  92182-7417
Phone:  	(619) 594-5343
FAX:     	(619) 594-4314
e-mail:  	cfielden@mail.sdsu.edu

________________________________________________________________