Building it Together: Using Undergraduate Research to Construct Training for Literacy Volunteers

Jennifer Follett, Associate Director, LWC

Peer Consultants:

Kristin BeckertJacob GoodwinPaul McGuiganLiza Schreiner

We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness. --Thich Nhat Hanh

Loyola's Center for Community Service and Justice

CCSJ engages students and the broader Loyola community in education through service for a just and equitable world. We are committed to collaboration with community partners and to involvement with people who are marginalized, especially those who are materially poor. Our work is inspired by, and flows from, the Jesuit Catholic educational mission at Loyola that calls for a dynamic integration of academic excellence, social responsibility and faith that serves justice.

• service-learning• Justice and social change• Spirituality/personal growth

CCSJ’s Community Partners(some examples)

• The Caroline Center: assists unemployed and underemployed women “acquire skill necessary to “find work in a career with potential for . . . growth.”

• “Learn to Earn” Program at the St. Ambrose Center: Helps unemployed and underemployed find and retain jobs through adult basic education, GED prep.

• The Esperanza Center: ESL program, employment placement and healthcare services for Latino/Latina immigrants.

• Refugee Youth Project: after school/summer program for refugee students ages 6t-21, held at BCCC

• The Ark: a pre-school program for children who are currently homeless, emphasizing language and social skills.

• Cristo Rey Jesuit High School: a college-prep/work-study high school for low-income students in Baltimore City.

• Mother Seton Academy: A tuition-free, Catholic middle school for both boys and girls

The Loyola Writing CenterCurrent iteration founded 2002Senior staff: 3 faculty from writing department5 Graduate writing consultants15-20 undergraduate writing consultants

From LWC website (www.loyola.edu/writingcenter:

The Loyola Writing Center supports Loyola College students, faculty andstaff striving for the Jesuit ideal of eloquentia perfecta—not only the literal“perfect eloquence” in correct speech and writing, but also communicationwhich is perfect for the task of acting on the human spirit towards goodand just action. In the Jesuit tradition of working with others to reach acommon goal, the Loyola Writing Center offers individual consulting onwriting-in-progress for the entire Loyola community of writers, includingundergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and staff. All typesof writing are welcome, including academic work from any disciplines andself-sponsored writing.

WR 323: Writing Center Theory and Practice•3 credit course offered through the Writing Department

•Students explore the theory and practice of writing center peer consulting through reading about current issues in writing center research, writing assignments, class discussions and activities, and by observing and participating in writing center consultations.

•Action-resear ch is a key component of the course. Previous WR 323 classes have included projects like:

• Examination of student perceptions of the Writing Center, with a goal of developing publicity materials

• Design of the physical space of writing centers (including Feng Shui analysis)—the basis for our current layout

• Design of web-resources /handouts to support student use of Loyola’s customized A Writer’s Reference

Action Research Project: Tutor Training for CCSJ

A large part of what writing centers do involves action research--often with the purpose of finding ways to help our writing centers better reach the populations it serves, or to contribute to some kind of social change. Sometimes, action research in writing centers is done in partnership with (or at the behest of) other departments or organizations within the university. We’ve been asked by CCSJ to design a training program for their volunteer tutors who are working with organizations that do some writing/reading/literacy work. We’ll complete this project through a series of steps: 1.) Profile the CCSJ-partner programs we will be helping serve2.) Assemble a bibliography of sources about tutoring programs and writing center collaborations with service organizations3.) Review an article from an academic journal that you found especially helpful4.) Interview administrators and volunteers from these community organizations 5.) Using the findings from both your primary and secondary research, write a proposal for a training program6.) Write a short essay reflecting on the whole experience

Helpful Sources: A Sampling

WR 323 researchers’ bibliographies included sources that:

•Helped the researchers conceptualize a tutor training program, and the ideas that may be important to address

•We may want to make available to CCSJ volunteer tutors

Sources for Designing A Training ProgramBornstein, Jodi. “Challenging College Students’ Assumptions about Community Service Tutoring.” Equity and Excellence in Education. 1993.

Harris, Muriel. “Cultural Conflicts in the Writing Center: Expectations and Assumptionsof ESL Students.” Writing in Multicultural Settings.

Lytle, Susan. “Living Literacy: Rethinking Development in Adulthood.” Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook.

Focus on literacy/learning from a cultural context—address issues of diversity, marginalization, contextualized learning, and the implicit links between literacy practices and cultural values. Also helpful for understanding Loyola students’ possible attitudes/assumptions and in considering reflection/discussion prompts for prospective/new volunteers.

“Tutor Training.” Learning Support Center at Paradise Valley Community College.

An outline of a tutor training program for college student volunteers.

Resources for CCSJ Volunteers

• Jeff Brooks “Minimalist Tutoring: Making the Student do All the Work”

• Amy Jo Minett “’Earth Aches by Moonlight’ Helping ESL Writers Clarify Their Intended Meaning” &

• Ben Rafoth “Trying to Explain English” fromESL Writers: A Guide for Writing Centers

Isserlis, Janet. “Adult Academy Tutor Training Manual.”

Developed for VISTA volunteers working in an adult literacy tutoring program.

www.Tutorfi.Com A tips blog created by teachers with tutoring and

discipline strategies for working with children K-12.

Interviews

WR 323 researchers interviewed Loyola student volunteers, student service-site coordinators, and administrative staff from community partner organizations. A few themes emerged among the interview responses:

1.) Content knowledge (GED information, foreign language, etc) is less important for volunteer tutors than strategies for supporting learning.

“Knowing more Spanish does not necessarily help . . . It becomes a crutch for our students.” Diana Seimer, Director, Esperanza tutoring program

“It wasn’t about my math skills, but my willingness to work through the problems with the students, and be there with them as they tried to get a certificate that I had earned without question.” Lizzie McQuillan, volunteer

Interviews, cont.2.) Tutors should be prepared to encounter issues of cultural, economic and ethnic marginalization, and to confront their own history of privilege.

“These women have bee failed by the school system in many cases, and now struggle from welfare check to welfare check . . . For most Loyola students, issues of poverty are nothing they have experienced or will experience, so it’s important to talk about how to respond to it.” Siobhan Watson, Caroline Center volunteer (and Writing Center peer consultant)

3.) In programs for children, volunteers need help with small-group or classroom management strategies.

“When desks were in clusters, the kids got pretty unfocused; they were too busy “learning” about each other rather than learning about what we were putting on the board. . .I learned how hard it is to discipline even young kids.” Heather Barton, Guilford Elementary School volunteer

Student research/presentations:

1.) Supported importance of examination of multicultural/diversity issues as they pertain to literacy/learning

2.) Encouraged active participatory training

3.) Seemed inclined to fewer required training pieces

4.) Emphasized practice/pragmatics over theory in choosing material to include in training seminars

5.) Highlighted the role of student service-coordinators

Proposed Training/Support Program:The Results of Our Negotiations

Pre-service Training Seminar: Tutoring Basics: what does a tutoring session look like? (2 hr)Establishing rapport, how to support learning without “over-teaching,” setting goals together, closing a session. Will include presentation from writing center staff, role-playing and small group discussion with experienced tutors/writing center staff.

Pre or During Service Training Seminars: Tutoring in a multicultural setting (1 hr)How cultural identities affect assumptions about learning, communication, language. How to facilitate cross-cultural communication. Inventorying our own cultural identities. Will include presentation from writing center staff and/or other faculty/administrators involved with diversity support, role playing, small group discussion and reflection. Strategies for working with different learning styles (1 hr)Introduction to visual, auditory, kinesthetic, global/analytic learning styles. Requires participants to complete a quick (10-20 minute) online learning style inventory before the session. Will include presentation from writing center staff, small group discussion/problem solving, reflection. 

Proposal Cont.

Pre or During Service Training Seminars:

Special Topic (to be co-facilitated with Dr. Scott Follett): Tutoring in Math and Science (1 hr)Methods for effectively supporting learners with mathematics and science. Will include presentation from Mathematics/Science faculty, small group discussion/problem solving.

Blackboard support: useful articles and other resources, discussion boards—the writing center/CCSJ student site coordinators will maintain a central website instead of organization-specific websites. Tutor-buddies: linking writing center staff and CCSJ tutors Volunteer tutors will have the option to be paired (or grouped) with a writing center undergraduate consultant or consultant-in-training to periodically exchange reflections on their tutoring experiences, share ideas, ask for advice, compare experiences, techniques, etc.

Reflections:WR 323 Researchers'

•New competencies and processes in conducting research—discovering new methods, new sources, new purposes

•Insights into the application of writing center-based research outside writing centers

•New perspectives on our own peer-consulting context—the benefits in having comprehensive preparation before beginning to tutor

•Deeper awareness of issues of marginalization, creating and maintaining sustainable service programs

•Gratification in “college work” going beyond the classroom—the responsibilities this entails, new identities as academics

Reflections:The Director/Instructor's

•The theory/practice divide . . .led to inclusion in the WR 323 curriculum of further explicit discussion of the purposes of studying both theory & practice, Freire’s concept of praxis

•A balancing act: due dates vs. usable, responsible research

•Follow through—how to facilitate the efforts of and compensate students who continue research beyond the semester

•The connection to other on-campus tutoring programs—how can we use this collaboration to create stronger relationships to tutoring programs sponsored by the Athletics Department and Academic Advising and Support Services?

Brainstorming and Discussion ActivityWhat partnerships with other university departments or community

organizations has your writing center formed? What has made such partnerships successful? What have been some challenges you’ve faced in forming or maintaining partnerships?

What further university departments or organizations are you aware of that have similar goals, values or interests as your writing center? What kinds of partnered projects can you imagine pursuing?

How would you describe the strengths, interests and talents of your undergraduate staff? How could you use those strengths, interests and talents to support existing or future partnerships?

What might be some challenges to incorporating undergraduate efforts or research into partnership projects? What will your writing center need to do to support undergraduate contributions?

Questions?

Loyola Writing Center410-617-5415

www.loyola.edu/writingcenter

Associate Director, Jennifer Follettjfollett@loyola.edu