The Significance of the WLN in Rhetoric and Composition
Writing centers are a crucial part of the field of rhetoric and composition. Within its walls exists collaboration between students and tutors. Tutors continue to play an important role in supplementing the writing instruction students are receiving. The pedagogies existing within the field of rhetoric and composition flow from the classrooms and into the writing centers where they’re put into practice by not only the students but also the tutors. As Neal Learner writes in “Writing Center Pedagogy,” the writing center is “a unique window into teaching and learning writing and the many intertwined contexts in which that teaching and learning take place” (312). Writing center pedagogy prioritizes the development of a writer’s process versus their product, reflecting the process pedagogy and the social turn that characterize the late 70s and early 80s. At the heart of writing center pedagogy is
the belief that learning to write is a social process …. The terms social and process are essential to these beliefs. As far as the social aspect, … writing center pedagogy is predicated on the idea that interaction is at the heart of any act of writing. In one sense, this interaction is based in rhetorical theory or the idea that any writer needs to consider purpose, audience, context, and content for any writing task. In another sense, the basis for these beliefs draws on developmental learning theory” (Learner 306).
Stephen North’s famous statement in his seminal essay “The Idea of a Writing Center” encapsulates this social process driving writing center pedagogy: “Our job is to produce better writers, not better writing” (438). Learner describes writing centers as “a point of contact and a conversation about writing” (Johnson). This idea extends to the WLN.
As the first publication—initially a newsletter then transforming into a peer-reviewed journal—dedicated to writing center scholarship, the WLN has created and fostered a space not only for tutoring pedagogy but also for writing and writing center pedagogy. Upon its inception, the WLN gave writing center directors and staff a “national forum for regular publication and professional contact” (Kinkead 1). This space for conversation about writing center pedagogy further exemplifies and emphasizes the social turn in the field of rhetoric and composition—that writing is produced within communities rather than in isolation. The writing center serves as a writing community for students. Similarly, the WLN helped establish a writing center community. The WLN as a journal also allows tutors, emerging scholars in the field of rhetoric and composition, to enter the conversation. Scholarship "about teaching and tutoring appear in virtually every issue of the Newsletter, and these articles are among the most frequently used resources for tutor training courses and workshops” (Kinkead 7).
But the legacy and impact of the WLN cannot fully be seen without recognizing the contributions of Murriel Harris, its linchpin. Harris "remains at the forefront of writing center scholarship and practice—researching, designing, developing, and publishing” (Kinkead 12). As the spearhead for the first publication dedicated to writing center scholarship, Harris is an exemplar for collaborative efforts in establishing an ongoing conversation about writing and pedagogy within the field of rhetoric and composition.
As the first publication—initially a newsletter then transforming into a peer-reviewed journal—dedicated to writing center scholarship, the WLN has created and fostered a space not only for tutoring pedagogy but also for writing and writing center pedagogy. Upon its inception, the WLN gave writing center directors and staff a “national forum for regular publication and professional contact” (Kinkead 1). This space for conversation about writing center pedagogy further exemplifies and emphasizes the social turn in the field of rhetoric and composition—that writing is produced within communities rather than in isolation. The writing center serves as a writing community for students. Similarly, the WLN helped establish a writing center community. The WLN as a journal also allows tutors, emerging scholars in the field of rhetoric and composition, to enter the conversation. Scholarship "about teaching and tutoring appear in virtually every issue of the Newsletter, and these articles are among the most frequently used resources for tutor training courses and workshops” (Kinkead 7).
But the legacy and impact of the WLN cannot fully be seen without recognizing the contributions of Murriel Harris, its linchpin. Harris "remains at the forefront of writing center scholarship and practice—researching, designing, developing, and publishing” (Kinkead 12). As the spearhead for the first publication dedicated to writing center scholarship, Harris is an exemplar for collaborative efforts in establishing an ongoing conversation about writing and pedagogy within the field of rhetoric and composition.