I was introduced to adrienne maree brown’s book Emergent Strategy in one of my dramaturgy classes, though the book never says anything about theatre. The book– which is difficult to pin down genre-wise, but what I would describe as part self-help part manifesto–is about philosophies that build collaboration. Using poetic metaphors, personal anecdotes, and often witty footnotes, brown leads the reader through strategies and philosophical inquiries to strengthen one’s ability to change the world around them. While I highly recommend that you get the book and read it yourself, I wanted to bring some core ideas from Emergent Strategy and apply them to the practice of tutoring.
Fractals
If I were to pull what I would consider to be the most important lesson from this book, I would say that it is the idea brown puts forth about how we are all a part of an interconnected ecosystem. She uses a wealth of different metaphors to describe it, my personal favorites being fractals and a mycelium network. At the basic level, brown is arguing that a key element of emergent strategy is acknowledging that “what we practice at the small scale sets the patterns for the whole system” (2017, p.53). Like a complex system of fungi, we are not operating independently, but we are rather one part of an interlocking system. This translates to the simple idea that one must reflect the environment they strive for within themselves. brown cites Grace Lee Boggs and her seminal phrase: “transform yourself to transform the world.” As we are considering the large concepts of linguistic justice or creating equitability within a Writing Center space, under a larger institution, we have to remember that the change begins with yourself and the individual writers you meet with.
Murmuration
Another analogy that brown utilizes is that of flocks of starlings in large groups called a murmuration. If you have never seen a starling murmuration in action, I highly recommend finding a video of one, as it is absolutely hypnotizing. The reason it is referenced in this book is because the starlings must be in complete sync with one another, which involves both interdependence and decentralization. The starlings don’t follow one leader, they focus on the starlings immediately surrounding them. If those starlings move, then they move. Like the fractals in the previous section, they are a complex and connected system. This type of trust is not only helpful in survival, but also liberating. brown argues that “adaptation reduces exhaustion. No one bears the burden alone of figuring out the next move and muscling towards it” (71). While I am not arguing for the complete overthrow of leadership within the DePaul Writing Center (love you admins!), I think that peer tutoring is much like a starling murmuration. No one tutor is the leader from which all movement must come from, and every writer we see is not someone that needs to be led, but another starling entering the vast movement. We adapt with a writer; we do not force them to do things. Additionally, collaborating with other tutors and constantly adapting your own tutoring style through practice is an integral part of a Writing Center. I personally have found the murmuration idea to be helpful in shifting my viewpoint on tutoring.
It is my humble opinion that Emergent Strategy is a must-read for anyone operating in any sort of collaborative space. brown masterfully and creatively shifts one’s understanding of what movements and collaboration itself can look like. In looking at a Writing Center as a mycelium network or a murmuration of starlings, I think that it helps transform the educational space into a place of growth, adaptation, and community.
Twitter: @adriennemaree