Shamoon,+Linda+and+Debroah+Burns.++A+Critique+of+Pure+Tutoring

Shamoon, Linda and Deborah Burns. "A Critique of Pure Tutoring." WCJ 15.2 (1995): 134-151. Reprinted in Barnett 225-241.

Shamoon and Burns argue that we may only believe in nondirective tutoring because it is part of the orthodoxy, the assume values, that have been handed down through the "bible" of WC scholarship. "This bible contains not only the material evidence to support student-centered, non-directive practices, but also codes of behavior and statements of value that sanction tutors as a certain kind of professional, one who cares about writing, and about students, their authentic voices, and their equal access to the opportunities within sometimes difficult institutions" validating "a tutoring approach which 'feels right,' in fact so right that it is hard for practitioners to accept possible tutoring alternatives as useful or compelling" (226). They list several assumptions that we have in WC theory that seems to come from //assumed// values, rather than from researched findings. Among these, they spend the majority of the article talking about the supposed importance of nondirective strategies that ask us to avoid writing on the students paper, only validating student voices to the point of sublimating our own, perhaps more knowledgeable voices. They use the example of the music education masters class to support an alternative strategy that both supports students' as musicians (read: writers) as well as the tutor as musician (writer). Also, like most professors speak of their thesis or dissertation director actually rewriting their work in front of the student in order to help them understand disciplinary conventions. Shamoon and Burns suggest that we need to be open to seeing these alternative strategies as sometimes working for the students who come to our center. They suggest that while these strategies are most often beneficial for intermediate and advanced students, they can sometimes work for beginners as well (stressing this in a way that suggests the WC only sees beginners... hmmmm..?).

$$ Quotes "A good deal of effort during [music education] tutoring is spent on imitation or, at its best, upon emulation. Rather than assuming that this imitation will prevent authentic self-expression, the tutor and the student assume that imitation will lead to improved technique, which will enable freedom of expression" (232).

"The social nature of directive and emulative tutoring serves to endorse the student's worth as an emerging professional.... It models a writer's attitudes, stances, and values. In so doing, it unites the processes of writing with the subjectivity of being a writer" (236).

"If writing center practices are broadened to include //both// directive and non-directive tutoring, the result would be an enrichment of tutoring repertoires, stronger connections between the writintg center and writers in other disciplines, and increased attention to the cognitive, social, and rhetorical needs of writers at all stages of development" (239).