Rationale for the I-212 Requirement

All SAW student staff are required to successfully complete I-212 “Peer Mentoring: Theory and Practice” prior to beginning their work with the program.

Writing ability, speaking ability, and knowledge of subject matter do not automatically translate into mentoring ability. Strong writers, speakers, and scholars do not automatically know how to communicate well with a peer, negotiate complex interpersonal dynamics, understand why a session was or was not successful, and revise practices strategically when needed. Importantly, peer mentors need guidance in developing reflective practices in order to be responsive to the diverse needs of the students with whom they work. Through a hands-on practicum, students are guided through those reflective processes. They also learn practical strategies for asking productive questions to elicit students’ ideas and engage in meaningful conversation (which goes beyond identifying weaknesses in a paper or explaining a grammar rule).

Even the most capable and well-intentioned student needs guidance in understanding her role as mentor at MHC. Specifically, the course helps students to see the difference between what a teacher offers and what a mentor offers (expertise versus peer relationship) as well as the goals of a mentor and the goals of an editor (conversation and transferable learning versus product-focused changes). We discuss the leadership mission of the college, the WCL, the SAW program, and the discipline of writing center studies more broadly to understand mentoring as helping students to develop transferable abilities as speakers, writers, and leaders, rather than only perfecting one particular project.

Students are compelled to use their class work to carry out MHC’s mission of purposeful engagement—by participating in goal-oriented collaboration, by being deliberate in their choices, by being reflective about their practices, by considering the implications of their work in a broader democratic context, and by being leaders in their work both within and beyond campus. This course allows us to prepare our students as well as possible for the work that they do, and to provide faculty and students with the best resources possible.

MHC seeks to be leaders among its peers in national and international contexts; as a growing number of institutions offer full credit undergraduate and graduate coursework in its study, we are continuing to bolster our own program to offer our students a competitive education in peer mentorship and writing center studies.