Why We Resist "Leading the Horse": Required Tutoring, RAD Research, and Our Writing Center Ideals

Abstract

This article takes up the long debated issue of required tutoring in writ- ing centers while responding to the relatively recent call for the writing center community to rely less on anecdote and lore and to push for more research-driven practices. Prompted by a heated conversation on the WCenter listserv, this article explores how reactions to required tu- toring can unearth some enduring ideals individuals have about writing center work and how these ideals may shut off potential improvement to the field of writing centers. Results from a survey study of one semester of developmental writing courses and then interviews with students at the writing center provide strategies for framing required tutoring productively. The article concludes by asking readers to reflect on, recognize, and renegotiate their own writing center ideals in order to raise new questions about best practices and develop stronger studies that look at longstanding dilemmas, such as required tutoring, in a more nuanced way.