First, a quick peek into the Workshop Window:
(The following posts were taken from the Writers’ Workshop Practicum Canvas discussion forums).
Two of the biggest challenges I have faced in my time as a Writing Mentor at Arizona State University’s (ASU) Writers’ Studio have been (1) to advocate for and enable student access to a mentor (myself) as a writing resource, and (2) once that engagement has occurred, to maintain a sense of relevance and trustworthiness as a viable resource through the process of online relationship-building (I serve only online students through the Writers’ Studio). In truth, this is not the first time I have experienced these challenges: I have also taught ESL online, engaged in multiple community education programs using asynchronous delivery methods, and am myself an online graduate student, so I am quite familiar with the tenuous process of building trust and relevance within online educational settings. You would think that it would get easier, right? ((sigh)) It probably comes as no surprise to anyone who has ever worked in education that nothing could be further from the truth. Each new round of students brings a new round of challenges…and new opportunities for success.
Thankfully, one resource I now have as a Writing Mentor (compared to my rather lonely existence in previous roles) is access to the Writers’ Workshop Practicum, an online internship program where we mentors can gather to exchange thoughts and ideas about mentoring and supporting students. Specifically, we are asked to contextualize our mentor experiences through engaging with a series of academic writings—work that encourages us to “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better” (invaluable advice attributed to the late Maya Angelou). In other words, we mentors are not left to fight the good fight alone: we all struggle with questions of relevance and engagement and, given our unique situation as a resource for online students, we must also figure out how to manage this using multimodal techniques and integrating a diverse student body (more on how this student body requires a multiliteracies approach is covered in this Writers’ Studio essay section below). At times, it feels a bit like Ginger Rogers dancing backward in heels, but as educational spaces continue to develop and adapt to online delivery needs, I feel that my experiences as a Writing Mentor are more than adequately preparing me for a successful career in academia.
To reflect on how I have utilized the Writers’ Workshop Practicum as a space for collaboration and support, I reviewed my discussion post responses over the course of this past semester to search for common threads that underscore the direction of my professional development. Over and over again, several clear themes emerge, to include: (1) how do we encourage students to participate?; (2) how do we ensure meaningful participation when students do engage?; and (3) how can we utilize a multimodal, multiliteracies-focused approach as educators to ensure that we are creating equitable learning experiences? I have highlighted three of my discussion posts below to provide narrative examples of these themes.
Fortunately, my interest in multiliteracies, a topic I first began exploring in graduate school almost twenty years ago, has reemerged in my current role as a mentor and ASU student, and I once again have been able to pick up this thread in my academic writing and research. Only this time, I have the added benefit of working within a university framework that puts multiliteracies, diversity, and intersectionality at center stage for discussion and research. As my work through the Writers’ Workshop Practicum illustrates, being a professional member of ASU’s staff requires honoring core values of honoring inclusivity and accessibility to create equity within the educative process. It cannot be just lip-service. And it cannot start at the top and work it’s way down. As a Writing Mentor, I engage in this collaborative, diverse educational process (this community building!) at the ground level, one revision workshop/mentoring session at a time. That is, IF I can convince the student to sign up for the revision workshop to begin with. But again, each new round of students brings a new round of challenges…and new opportunities for success.
References:
ASU ENG 584 Writers’ Workshop Practicum. Canvas Discussion Responses, https://canvas.asu.edu/courses/110434/modules
