RE: Kairos/Andragogy

["Hatton-Montoya, Sharon" <hatton@uscolo.edu>]

I have been reading all the comments on this thread with interest, and I 
agree with what Rob has to say.  I have found that each session and each 
client is unique, and in order to meet the needs of each individuals we must 
constantly adjust our tutoring techniques.  We have had clients whose 
writing difficulties were so severe that they could hardly put together a 
well constructed sentece let alone a paragraph or an entire composition.  If 
we would have maintained a "hands off" the paper position at this point, 
they would never have come back.  But, by a little extra "nuturing" at the 
begining we have been able to help them become independent writers.

I worked with one of these clients yesterday.  A year ago we would have 
spent a very difficult hour trying to get through a paragraph, with me doing 
most of the writing.  At yesterday's session, we went through a six page 
paper in 45 minutes with the client in complete control of the session.  She 
now reads her papers, writes her own comments, and can spot most weaknesses 
before I do. She made the comment that she would probably never been able to 
gain the knowledge and confidence she needed to find herself as a writer if 
she hadn't felt so "safe" in the writing center.

I think it is imperative for tutors to assess the needs of each client as an 
individual and adjust their tutoring to those needs, even if means a certain 
amount of "editing" at first.  Sharon Hatton-Montoya

 ----------
From: wcenter
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Kairos/Andragogy
Date: Thursday, April 30, 1998 3:27PM

 ------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From:          Self <Single-user mode>
To:            Carl Glover <glover@msmary.edu>
Subject:       Re: kairos
Date:          Wed, 29 Apr 1998 14:42:46 -500

Carl --

Although I wasn't in on the discussion you had with other WCers
regarding teaching proofreading and editing in the center, your
summary of it, and comments regarding Kairos, connects with me
strongly.  The paper I gave at SWCA was primarily concerned with
applying Gerald Grow's Staged Self-Directed Learning model to WC
practice.  The main thrust of Grow's argument, which is based on the
general assumptions of androgogy -- that "A" word again -- is that learners
need
to be taught at their level, and that the level does not necessarily
reflect their maturity overall as much as their maturity as a learner
in relationship to a particular topic.


My interest in this issue came from observing a peer tutor who had a
particularly difficult time
working with a grad student; the problem stemmed from a mismatch
between the style of tutoring the pt was offering and the style of
teaching the grad expected to receive.  The peer tutor was expecting
to fulfill the role of the consultant or facilitator -- the grad was
looking for a coach/trainer; the peer was expecting a level 3 or 4
(according to Grow's model) student -- the grad was expecting a level
1 or 2 educational experience.  Thus, the grad student was insulted
by the pt's demeanor -- her probing questions and focus on HOC's was
met with "Don't YOU know ANYTHING?"

>But these policies and procedures ought to be our servants
rather than our being their slaves.  So while it may be writing center
policy not to write on a student's paper, there may be a time when
that is the appropriate pedagogical move, given the kairos of the
situation.<


The level of directiveness a tutor can appropriately use in a session
corresponds to the level of directiveness a student is willing to
take -- the level at which they want to, or better yet, are capable
of participating.  Still, the ultimate goal is to help students move
along that continuum, from inactive, dependent learner to active,
participatory learner.  An example might be working with an ESL
student with very limited language skills:  If I worked with them
using the same techniques that I used with a grad student in English
with excellent language skills, the ESL student would be lost,
confused, and thorougly unsatisfied with my dialogue-based,
collaborative-learning (androgogical) approach.  The techniques we
use must fit the situation, and we shouldn't feel guilty for allowing
them to change to fit the learning needs of different students.

Rob
_______________________________________________
Robert A. Russell
Director, Writing and Communication Center
East Tennessee State University
Box 70602
Johnson City, TN  37614
Phone:  (423) 439-8438
Fax: (423) 439-8666
russellr@etsu.edu
http://www.etsu.edu/wcc

***********************************************
"Objective evidence and certitude are doubtless very fine ideals to play 
with
but where on this moonlit and dream-visited planet are they found?"

 -- William James, 1842-1910, "The Will to Believe"