Hello Lynne,
thanks for the very interesting description of your field of work. Your
were asking whether I also encounter similar problem areas like you do.
Let me comment briefly on each of the subjects you mentioned:
The distance issue: I have just started a training program for writing
tutors that is heavily based on an e-learning platform. Our website does
provide information about this under "Schreibberaterausbildung" but for
now only in German. So, I may be facing "distance problems" in the near
future. I will contact you again about this.
The combination of reflective writing with academic style:
I would like to know more about what you mean by that specifically.
By looking at your example (critical analysis in the portfolio), I am
assuming that you have problems with people writing in a rather personal
voice in the portfolio.
I think a good way to avoid that is to designate certain parts of the
portfolio for personal accounts and for academic discourse (where the
personal experience has to be shown within the "bigger picture" of the
discipline). I think, portfolios should allow these two areas if you
follow a writing process approach in your study/writing support.
As we all know, often writing in the personal voice (sometimes close to
spoken language) helps to release and develop ideas, which can later be
"translated" into academic language/the language of a particular
discourse.
Therefore, whenever I work with portfolios in seminars, I suggest to keep
a learning log/journal/diary and use this material as a springboard for
the observations about the learning process that will be portrayed in the
portfolio. Students can (but don''t have to) include parts of their
journalwriting include in the portfolio in order to show where they came
from in the development of a certain idea/aspect.
To actually show the transformation of thought from the personal realm to
the discourse of a discipline, I suggest two steps:
a) a brief comment on the journal entry ("Explain the circumstances of the
creation of this piece of writing. What makes it special for you? What did
you learn from it?")
b) a resumee at the end of the portfolio ("Give a summary of the comments
you made in the portfolio. What tendencies (strategies, methods,
techniques, personality issues) can you discover in your work?" What
questions/problems remain open? How do you want to deal with these issues
in the near future?)
To sum it up: for me, portfolios are ideal places where you can make
visible (and therefore learn from it again) students' transformation from
one konwledge community (let's say high school) to another (your area of
study).
Tell me more about what you mean with your last topic on your list (case
study work rather than essay writing). Could you give me an example for
case study work?
Best regards,
Gerd
PS: I am going to send the pdf file with my writing center concept in a
separate mail.
Hello Gerd,
> I was very interested to read your introduction and will be doing one of
> my own for the list very shortly.
>
> I work at Bournemouth University, England, as a Lecturer in Student
> Support and Information Skills with Post-Qualifying Social Workers -
> that is on continuing professional development courses aimed at bringing
> diploma-level social workers up to undergraduate degree level, mostly
> working at a distance.
>
> In my previous life I was a librarian so the Information Skills area of
> my work has been relatively easy - transferring information literacy
> into a professional social work arena. The other part, Student Support,
> has begun to focus on writing skills and pedagogies. I was not surprised
> at the lack of students' academic writing skills but have found it a
> challenge to deal with certain aspects of this - the distance issue,
> the combination of reflective writing with academic style, and the
> transfer into a professional arena, e.g. crtitical analysis skills
> within protfolio and case study work rather than essay writing.
> Do you encounter any of these issues or are you dealing more traditional
> students and courses? I would be interested in exchanging ideas and
> views. I have recently started an MA in Academic Prcatice (Teaching and
> Learning) and may devote my dissertation to this area of study.
>
> I would be very interested in your document regarding the Writing Centre
> which seems a very innovative project. I did have trouble dowloading it
> so would appreciate a copy via e-mail if at all possible. Thank you.
>
> best regards, Lynne
>
>
> Lynne Rutter
> Student Support Lecturer
>> Post Qualifying Social Work (PQSW)
>> Bournemouth University
>> Heron House, 4th Floor
>> 8-10 Christchurch Road
>> Bournemouth
>> BH1 3NN
> Tel: 01202 464760
> E:Mail: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Gerd Braeuer [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>> Sent: 27 September 2003 11:51
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: new member of your list
>>
>> Dear list members of LDHEN,
>>
>> I would like to use the opportunity of my new membership to this list
>> to introduce myself to you.
>>
>> Since the early 90's I have been interested in writing pedagogy in
>> general and in the work of writing centers in specific. Between 92 and
>> 94 I had a post-doc scholarship from the Germany-based DFG to get an
>> extensive overview about US writing pedagogy.
>>
>> Even though I was very eager to put into practice in German higher
>> education what I found in American writing pedagogy, I was not able to
>> find the right job for that in my home country. I finally decided to
>> accept a position at Emory University in Atlanta where I have been
>> teaching since 1995 in the field of German Studies (but always with an
>> emphasis on things writing).
>>
>> Nevertheless, since 95 I have been involved heavily in teacher
>> training and further education in the German-speaking countries. In
>> 2001-03, a DAAD project brought me to the University of Education in
>> Freiburg, Germany, where I started a writing center, which is the
>> first one of its kind in teacher education in the German-speaking
>> countries. The primary goal of this writing center is to train future
>> students not only for tutoring writing but also in a broader sense in
>> writing pedagogy. It is my hope that these students will start their
>> own writing centers at whatever school they maybe teaching in the
>> future.
>>
>> If you want to find out more about the writing center, please check
>> www.ph-freiburg.de/schreibzentrum. Under "Was wir wollen" you can find
>> a link "Gesamtkonzept" to a concept paper in English, that describes
>> the setup of the writing center in more details. If you have trouble
>> downloading this rather big file, please let me know and I can send
>> you the pdf as an email attachment. May I please also invite you to
>> use our online writing support in case you or your students work on
>> papers in German. Of course, English would always work as the language
>> of
>> communication with my writing tutors.
>>
>> I have contacted this listserv because I am interested in sharing
>> expertise about peer tutoring, the training of writing tutors, and the
>> use of portfolios and other forms of reflective practice.
>>
>> I look forward to collaborating with you.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Gerd Braeuer
