'Conversations' with postgraduate writers understanding the role of the peer tutor.

• Published: 2008
• Subjects: writing centers; tutors and tutoring; peer-group tutoring of students
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1294

M.Ed. === With transformation in higher education institutions in South Africa, writing centres were established in the early 1990s to cater for the diverse educational, social and cultural needs of students. Transformation and the call for teachers to become lifelong learners, has motivated many mature professionals to enter postgraduate study. The Faculty of Education’s Postgraduate Writing Support Centre at the University of Johannesburg was established in 2002 to offer writing support to such students. Through a multi-faceted case study, this paper explores the importance of collaborative conversations within a community of student writers in constructing knowledge. It seeks through the narrative of three different tutoring contexts, to understand the role of the peer tutor in facilitating these conversations with postgraduates in support of their writing. The findings of this study suggest to faculty that a tutor training programme needs to be developed to ensure effective and successful writing support, and in addition the postgraduate programme should be reviewed to incorporate support and continued supervision through all stages of study. === Mr. W.A. Janse van Rensburg