The Oxford Guide for Writing Tutors: Practice and Research

The Oxford Guide for Writing Tutors: Practice and Research introduces two conversations to tutor preparation—the creation of knowledge in writing programs and tutor research. This approach lets tutors test their theories about what works in a writing centre session and helps move professional conversation toward why such practices occur. It bridges the theory–practice divide that often frustrates both novice and experienced tutors. By conducting research to answer these questions, tutors can help themselves, the writers they work with, their fellow tutors, and the writers they assist. The book also offers new methods for appreciating and critiquing scholarly work, making it easier to understand the best ways to help writers and to move the field forward. As tutoring programs take different forms and pursue various missions, the book aims to be flexible and easily rearranged to support a broad spectrum of reader needs. Each chapter can be read independently; the text does not rely on sequential reading to create meaning. The book includes intra-textual and extra-textual references for readers who want to inquire further, including references to related material in other chapters and citations of scholarship that grounds much of the field’s common knowledge. Much of the cited scholarship is authored by undergraduate tutor-researchers and by former tutors who were graduate students when they published their articles, modeling how tutors can bring practice and research together in their daily work and in their informed thinking about this work. Including tutor voices is an important tradition of the tutor education textbook across a range of institutions and programs. Distinctive Features: Includes scholarship authored by undergraduate tutor-researchers; provides extensive references and bibliographic citations; offers references to research that supports and challenges disciplinary common knowledge; contains assignments designed to support discussion, writing, and inquiry.