Bruffee and Collaborative Learning

Thomas' presentation on Kenneth Bruffee was interesting and insightful, as have been the other presentations on the previous theorists we have studied and read. As far as I can see, these theorists are only reinventing the wheel. They are influenced by previous theorists, or those they have studied with or under. That seems to be the common theme found through Bruffee; learning is a social activity, not an individual or personal process. Everyone learns something from someone else; that's it, end of story.

A lot of what Bruffee says makes sense, especially for a classroom setting. Peer tutoring enables students to join a social conversation and learn how to socialize in a particular discourse community. In groups, students (people for that matter) learn through a collaborative effort to create and maintain knowledge. As human beings this is what we do on a daily, hourly, and minute by minute basis. However, peer tutoring is what I have a problem with. I believe the teacher/instructor/facilitator must set very specific norms for the groups. I hate peer tutoring and total collaboration (Ms. Lunsford). But I am willing to accept that it can be beneficial for students to communicate with their peers in order to grasp a concept in any discipline taught. Which leads to Bruffee's theory that writing is the center of any curriculum.

This sounds a lot like Burns in the sense that all teachers are Language Arts teachers - we all teach reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. What teacher in what content does not do that? Bruffee also believes that the teacher's role is to engage students in various conversations and model several social communities or discourses in the classroom while the student learns to think. Can we say Bizzell? Seriously, none of this is new, only reused or revamped. I know that I will eventually come up with my own theory and it will be based on what I have learned in this class, in my school/classroom, from my students, my colleagues, and peers. I will not totally agree with or totally disagree with any one theorist, professor, colleague, or peer I may encounter throughout this endeavor; but I will take from each what I believe is useful and necessary to create the proper composition classroom for students to learn what they need in order to be successful at any level.