Student Empowerment: Developing A Learner’s Writer-Identity

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From the earliest levels of education, students come to think of themselves as being certain subject-oriented. Children identify an affinity for interests such as reading, sports, art, or math, which develops through junior high and high school into societally informed categories such as “Art-brained” or “Math-brained.” In terms of writing, this separates students from having any hold in a writer-identity. Even though we all write on a daily basis, whether it's an email, a text to your friend, a tweet, or journaling, there’s a separation of perceived capability. At the college level, such as in a Tutoring-Learning-Center, acknowledging students agency in their own writing and knowledge of their language empowers them to see themselves as writers and understand their own writing processes, to better their identity as a writer as well as their writing.

In Buckley-Marudas’ “Making Room for the Writers: Creating Time and Space for Secondary School Writing,” Buckley-Marudas reveals that the identities a student imposes on themselves can be challenged and trigger a pivotal shift in how they view their writing. A writing festival was implemented at a high school where students were encouraged to write the whole time during workshop events organized by guest authors. They were also encouraged to share their writing with their peers and listen to each other read their works out loud. Most of the students had never shared their writing with peers or even their friends, and the festival’s format allowed for personal expression to become public. The students participating in the festival were able to hear and understand different sides of their peers; students once perceived as entirely “Math-brained” were also recognized as writers alongside that existing identity. “This kind of pedagogy… created time and space for them to do so. … it builds on the idea that students’ sense of agency as writers increases by sharing their work with peers or another known audience. What this inquiry adds is that these students’ audiences were rooted in authentic relationships” (49). Tutoring-Learning-Centers and Writing Labs already allows for the potential to build these authentic relationships around writing. The tutor-learner dynamic gives a student space and time to share their writing, as the festival did for those high school students. A common method employed in Writing Labs has learners read their work out loud, also similar to aspects of the festival, allowing the learner to develop their ear to their own work as well as vocally share it with another. Even though the audience is one on one in a Writing Lab, there’s still a very personal shift in how the student views their writing, which empowers the student’s writer-identity. 

Placing more power into the student’s hands also involves emphasizing the power in reflecting on their work. To be able to reflect on their decision-making in their own writing and focus on why they made certain choices is a key element to Writing Lab theory. Tutors primarily ask content questions about the learner’s intentions, trusting them with the decisions they’ve made. In the article, “Finding Value in the Process: Student Empowerment through Self-Assessment,” four teachers decided to implement different methods of writing assessment to be able to benefit the student; to better make assessment of writing for the student, rather than have assessment done to them with no real development of their writer-identity or their writing. Their methods focused on the processes of writing; composing, trying, and revising (33). The assessments were fulfilled one on one with the students’ instructor, and the final grade would be based on these processes, with direct feedback by the student on how deeply they felt they engaged with the processes. The teachers stressed that the final grade was not about the product, but the effort and the growth. The Writing Lab also seems to encourage this. Learners are hitting whichever word count they need to based on the class level, but there’s strong emphasis on the process of how they get there. 

Unfortunately, many students become hindered in their process by the expectations of writing. A common question that learners lead with is, “Can you check my grammar?” The imposed importance of grammar throughout all education levels can hold a student back in their writing. As sharing with peers, a tutor, or instructor allows for freedom and strength of identity, giving a student more credit for their innate abilities with language allows the same empowerment. In their article “Power Play: From Grammar to Language Study,” Devereaux and Crovitz argue that students’ ingrained relationship with grammar has negative effects on their relationship with their writing and their writing process. In order to re-invent language discussions, Devereaux and Crovitz would like to introduce the term “language study” into the classroom over “grammar,” to emphasize a wider purpose and more constructive framework for writing. The terms grammatical “correctness” vs. grammatical “fit” also come into play, suggesting that it's important to recognize the power and range of language, focusing on the writer’s intentions and the contextual fit of the language within the work over the abstractions and supposed truths of grammar (19-20). Some tutors in Writing Labs have been taught not to address that grammar question immediately. Grammar has its benefits, especially if it severely hinders a writer’s clarity and concept, however giving more credit to the writer allows for the writer to foster a better relationship with their own writing. 

Working in a Tutoring-Learning-Center allows for the opportunity to implement better systems for learners, helping them realize their own merits and strengths within their writing. Every learner may have a drastically different background and perception of themselves, but Writing Labs can give each one of them the key elements of time and the space to develop their writing, their process, and empowers them to see how multi-faceted their identity is. A learner shouldn’t feel restricted to only their “Math-brain,” and be allowed the tools to recognize their agency as a writer.

Works Cited

Buckley-Marudas, Mary Frances. “Making Room for the Writers: Creating Time and Space for Secondary School Writing.” English Journal, vol.107, no. 3, 2018, pp. 47-53, https://secure.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/EJ/1073-jan2018/EJ1073Making.pdf_ga=2.258220425.2027431961.1583172446-24770454.1582654743.

Devereaux, Michelle D. and Darren Crovitz. “Power Play: From Grammar to Language Study.” English Journal, vol. 107, no. 3, 2018, pp. 19-25, https://secure.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/EJ/1073-jan2018/EJ1073Power.pdf?_ga=2.256575880.2027431961.1583172446-24770454.1582654743.

Warrington, Amber et. al. “Finding Value in the Process: Student Empowerment through Self-Assessment.” English Journal, vol. 107, no. 3, 2018, pp. 32-38, https://secure.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/EJ/1073jan2018/EJ1073Finding.pdf_ga=2.90835225.2027431961.1583172446-24770454.1582654743.

Author Bio:

Kala Buttke is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and pursuing a BA in English: Editing, Writing, Publishing and a minor in Professional Writing. Kala works as a tutor and intern for UWSP's Writing Lab, a branch of the Tutoring-Learning-Center.

Keywords:

Tutoring, Consulting, Writing, Writing Identity, Capability, Empowerment