Agency in the Writing Center: Examining the Importance of Student Autonomy in Higher Education

In college-level English courses, students often struggle to achieve satisfactory results in their writing. To remedy this, they seek help at campus writing centers, where a tutor helps them improve their writing skills and their academic performance. Yet, students experience tension between the classroom and the writing center that universities should seek to minimize. In my research, I discovered how different learning methods may either foster or suppress student autonomy. Further, I found that current methods—such as the course-embedded model for mitigating the tension between the writing center and the classroom—fail to empower the student. Using Rutgers University and its style of minimalist tutoring as a benchmark, I discuss the topics of autonomy and agency, student-led negotiation with authority, lack of academic motivation, and how we can bridge the pedagogical gap between the writing center and the classroom.