It is rare occurrence when I step away from an article with a sense of complete annoyance. In general, I am cursed with a propensity to be swayed by most arguments. I have opinions, but they are generally influenced by a well-crafted argument or two. When reading Jeff Brooks' article Minimalist Tutoring, this was not the case. After putting down my book, I found that I was completely nonplussed and slightly disgusted. This is a reaction that is deeply instinctual, one that comes from emotions and experiences as both a tutor, but especially as a tutee. Although minimalist tutoring can be stimulating, I can also remember times where I asked questions of a professor and left 15 minutes later, with a muddled feeling of being more confused than when I entered. When a student knows there are answers, but is unable to access them, it can be an overwhelmingly frustrating experience.
While certain aspects of Brooks' argument are logical, even valuable, including the idea to treat student writing as texts, a process where "students learn to write, not craft perfect papers," (170) I find his guidelines for minimalist tutoring frustratingly limiting. At some level, the specific logistics of where to sit and how to write are useful for creating a comfortable atmosphere for consultants and students, I am highly skeptical of the claim that "if you follow these four steps, even if you will do nothing else, you will have served the student better than you would if you 'edited' his paper" (171). I find it interesting that "editing" seems to be a pejorative term in Brooks' eyes; while I do not approve of simply correcting a paper for a student, I think that it is a little excessive to dismiss editing as a tool that is inherently less helpful than positioning yourself to the right or left of the student.
I suppose that my main problem with "minimalist tutoring" concerns the relationship between the tutor and the tutee. While Brooks' claims that by following his guidelines, the tutor will be a source of "support and encouragement" (169), his process of "defensive minimalist tutoring" seems to contradict this immediately. He seems to set up an antagonistic relationship between the tutor and the tutee. He implies that when students ask questions about what they should do in a section of the paper, the response should be either mocking, dismissive, or both. "I have found," he says, " this approach doesn't upset students as it might seem it would; they know what they are doing, and when you show that you know too, they accept this" (172). Uh, right. I'm not sure what type of students Jeff Brooks tutors, but I certainly would not be one of them.
I think that when students come asking for help at the writing center, most are not simply trying to get the consultant to write the paper for them. Asking questions like "what should I do here?" should not be a cause for hostility. Students come to writing centers to ask questions that they may be uncomfortable asking a professor, and they do not deserve to be shot down or mocked for asking them. I think that these broad questions from students stem from a sense of confusion about perhaps a specific aspect of their writing that they are not yet conscious of or unable to verbalize. It is our job as consultants to tease out what this specific issue is by asking targeted questions in return.
Overall, I think that students come to the writing center looking for clarification, and by participating in this type of highly minimalist (and sometimes defensive) tutoring can sometimes leave the student feeling more confused than they did before. While some students with a strong sense of the goal of the assignment and of their own ideas may benefit from a minimalist tutor, others need more direction. Brooks creates a list of guidelines that appear to be overarching and universal. To never engage in any type of directive tutoring is a mistake, just as to edit a paper for a student is a mistake. How the two styles of tutoring balance in a specific session must be based on the needs of the student being tutored. Minimalist tutoring should not imply minimal help.
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