SUNY Polytechnic Institute Writing and Communications Center Coordinator and Professor of Practice, Dr. Don Moore, recently published a paper titled, “A CHAT Analysis: Narrating the Writing Center’s Formative Period,” in Praxis: A Writing Center Journal.

This research on the historical development of writing centers is significant because it employs Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to trace the evolution of writing centers from their inception. By examining the formative period of writing centers, Dr. Moore highlights the dynamic processes and pedagogical shifts that have shaped current practices. This analysis not only provides insight into the historical context but also contributes to a deeper understanding of how writing centers continue to evolve in response to educational needs.

From the recognized beginning of the “laboratory” movement in composition instruction, teachers have sought to employ new and more practical methods useful in developing student writing. Such trends continue today as new generations of students enter the academy and new challenges emerge. From such conditions, Dr. Moore explains that we might see how components within a system of activity work together to meet objectives and develop outcomes within the shared dialectic of an activity system. With this idea in mind, this piece reviews writing center-related scholarship from the late 1880s through the early 1940s to trace emerging contradictions in laboratory teaching’s praxis.

To read the article, click here.