ABSTRACT
Within the disciplinary research and lore of composition and writing centers, collaboration stands as the tag for work done together, for heads bowed over a paper, for groups engaged in conversation. Those in writing centers come closest to seeing the conflict between allowing voice and teaching a discourse, between working together and teaching alone, between using a given definition of collaboration and engaging in the activity of collaboration. Respect for the authority of a consultant differs from respect for the consultant’s position, from respect for the tutorial knowledge the student must acquire in order to pass a course, and from the respect a student may have for the institution called writing center. The institutions, assessment practices, and hierarchies foster overarching goals that encourage even writing centers to exert power over, rather than power with, which, in turn, can undermine the collaborative activity itself.
