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-- Foundations of literary society that preceded the “school of thought” connected with writing centers
-- Literary society involved students working together to discuss writing, reading, and reasoning; opposite idea to many higher education institutions at the time, which focused on memorization and professor instruction -
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-- First “hints” of writing centers originate with the intended purpose of improving student writing via a conversationalist approach
-- No specific educational institution or individual is cited with opening or founding the “first” writing center location
-- Emphasis on integrating writing centers in the classroom and seen as an extension of the class itself; these programs were called “writing labs” at the time, which focused mostly on improving grammatical writing -
-- Russian psychologist whose theory proposes social interaction plays an integral role in the process of learning and knowledge-based development; school of thought that believes social learning comes before cognitive growth
-- Social development theory possesses two key terms, both of which have essential applications to writing center practices: the Zone of Proximal Development and the More Knowledgeable Other -
-- Influx of new, foreign language-speaking students and aftermath of WWII; writing labs provided a source of writing remediation and support
-- New focus on writing as an extension outside of classroom work; labs included one or more English tutors that assisted in-need students individually or on a small group scale -
-- Public colleges began offering free tutoring sessions, including academic writing improvement appointments, to athletes and World War II veterans (often footed by the school’s athletics department or the GI Bill)
-- Emphasis on instituting writing centers for students in need of writing help; often seen as remedial sites or “fix-it” shops that focused on only underprepared students -
-- Open admissions to college and Civil Rights movement; greater influx than ever of students applying to colleges and working toward an education necessitated an open venue to assist with remediation in writing
-- Free tutoring offered to low-income, underprepared students; many of these new applicants did not have the educational foundation for college level learning and thus needed substantial writing support -
-- “Professionalized” writing centers being put into practice; movement from calling writing “labs” or “clinics” into “centers”
-- Writing centers remained available for the above groups, but at last also became available for middle-class students of varying needs
-- Literary Crisis (“Why Johnny Can’t Write” article) acts as an impetus for further use of writing centers
-- Writing centers viewed as valuable sites for not only remedial writers, but also successful graduates to strengthen writing -
-- Inclusion of writing centers with a more interdisciplinary, encompassing outlook; formation of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs, which encouraged writing among all disciplines (other than simply the humanities)
-- New look at the use of writing centers for more than simply academic papers; centers are helpful sites to revise a variety of documents, including resumés, application essays, etc. -
-- Utilization of an ever-expanding database of online resources and technological capabilities
-- Greater integration of computers and digital writing resources into university writing centers
-- Increased focus on creating an “equal environment” intended for revision, not editing
-- Stronger emphasis placed on higher order concerns in terms of writing, “conversation” between consultant and client -
-- Implementation of “online” tutoring services; use of in-text notes and documentations, phone and digital video options for real-time conferencing
-- Due to greater demand of writing from other disciplines outside of the humanities, encouraging experienced writers other than English majors (from business to chemistry) to participate as consultants
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