My Place or Yours: Theorizing Eclectic Writing Centers.
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| Title: | My Place or Yours: Theorizing Eclectic Writing Centers. |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Rossini, Carol |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 13 |
| Publication Date: | 2002 |
| Document Type: | Opinion Papers Speeches/Meeting Papers |
| Descriptors: | Case Studies, Educational Practices, Higher Education, Process Approach (Writing), Writing Laboratories |
| Abstract: | None of the theories that inform writing center work--Freudian theory, cognitivism, feminism, postmodernism, current-traditionalism, expressivism, social constructionism, and family systems theory--offer an adequate basis for writing center work. Even when Stephen North proposed "The Idea of a Writing Center" in 1984 (still considered to be the theoretical foundation of writing centers), he later retracted much of it as being impractical. For the past 30 years writing centers have considered themselves to be eclectic, so defined that research performed in one center is irrelevant to other writing centers. This paper discusses how borrowing two composition theories affected both Stephen North's writing center and the author's, and how emphasizing eclecticism has led to this reliance on borrowing rather than formulating theory. The two theories borrowed from composition are product and process--Eric Hobson considers these to be "trite descriptions," but the paper considers them apt descriptions of writing center work. The paper discusses the clash between product and process and outlines a specific clash and its outcome at Regis University's Writing Center, founded in 1989. It states that while the basis for real theory exists in writing centers' practices, it has no forum for discussion. The paper contends that until writing centers develop genuine writing center theory based on practice, they are all subject to being dismissed as fluff--nice to have in good times but unnecessary when budget cuts loom. (Contains 3 tables and 23 notes.) (NKA) |
| Entry Date: | 2003 |
| Accession Number: | ED470708 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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