# My Writing Education Philosophy In the world of first-year writing and writing centers, writing tutors believe that students must learn that their voice is valid. We approach them as fellow members of the community of scholars and academics, impressing upon them the fact that they have joined us. It does not matter how they've arrived at the university, whether by scholarship or legacy or sheer gumption. It does not matter why they've come to college, even if their goal is to put in their four years on the way to make real money. It does not matter their reasons or background. They are our students and their ideas matter. Their every day communication, whether it's on Instagram and the doctors office, the grocery store or a work meeting, must matter to them. They must take their words seriously. So much of the word they interact with on a daily basis are ephemeral. Small bursts of thought on an infinite feed fine-tuned for novelty and forgetfulness. How do we go beyond the likes and engagement to ensure students think of their writing as impactful, significant, and lasting? The writing center is an essential part of this goal. No where else does a student have a one-on-one discussion about their writing with someone who has no stake in the final outcome of the assignment. The professor, obviously, will steer the student toward the parameters of the particular assignment and the peer review tutor is fulfilling a requirement of the class, but the writing center tutor approaches the writing from the viewpoint of a reader, writer, and to be honest, counselor. The writing center tutor's focus is the writer through the medium of the assignment, and gears their discussion to leave ideas and impressions that the student may take to their next writing task. Just by sitting at the same table, or sharing the same screen with a person who has dedicated some part of their academic live to studying writing, we justify the importance of what they have and will produce. We take their ideas and their words seriously and converse with them as equals, and, more importantly as writers. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to impress upon students that *they are writers.* We do not edit, but we point out patterns of mechanical inconsistencies. We reinforce the importance of avoiding plagiarim, being clear in identifying sources, and incorporating them into work that enhances instead of overpowers their own voice. When I talk to my own first-year students about citations, I always lead with the fact they what *they write* is *their intellectual property*. Just because they hand it in, it doesn't become mine, or the school's. I want them to see themselves as creators and researchers, just like those that they will cite in their papers. When their perspective changes to the fact that they too are writers, that they are allowed to enter into the larger academic conversation, citations become less of an unimportant chore to avoid a low grade, but a method of acknowledgement among peers. There are far too many places in this world where the writing students interact with is ephemeral. They scroll up and it's gone. At the same time, there are many opportunities for people use that ephemerality to accuse student writing of being vapid, un-serious, and unworthy. Yet, I think it's our priority as writing educators to highlight the writing that persists, the unseen influence of the writing that is fleeting, and to show students that they, just by their own existence, are continually writing their own story. And that story is important. --- *© H.B. Flyte All Rights Reserved.* [[HBlog]] | [[Logs]] l [[Home]]