Our Hospital

    Blog

    Mar 04
    Blog: Orientation to Tutoring

    These days it seems as if anybody can tutor.
    Open any student newspaper, or skim the notices
    on campus bulletin boards, and chances are you'll
    see at least a feui advertisements for private
    tutoring in subjects ranging from computers to
    Spanish. volunteer tutors work in schools,
    libraries and church groups. Even elementary
    school students are encouraged to tutor their
    peers.

    lilhat does this explosion of tutoring services
    mean? Can just anyone hang out a shingle as a
    tutor? What does this increasing demand for
    tutoring on all levels of study imply about the
    nature of learning, the function of classroom
    instruction, and the nature of the support
    students need to succeed in their classes?

    Recently, educators have come to realize that
    classroom instruction alone may no* meet all the
    needs of all the students. In class, course
    content is pitched to the broadest possible
    spectrum, and so it can't be tailored to each
    individual student. One teacher can't always
    work intensively with each of thirty or so
    students in a fast-paced class, and accommodate
    the diverse learning styles of all these
    individuals. Or, textbooks and readings may be at
    a higher level than the student can handle. In
    other situations, a student may simply have a
    gap in the knowledge that's assumed to be a
    prerequisite for the class. Whatever the cause of
    the student s problem (and as we'll see, a part of
    the tutor's job is to find out), intensive and
    customized help may be impossible for the
    classroom teacher to provide.

    Enter the tutor -- an indiuidual with a good
    knowledge of the content area that's causing the
    difficulty, usually a student who's recently taken
    the classes to be tutored. For many less
    structured tutoring efforts, the session can
    consist of practically anything the tutor and
    tutee want it to be, from exam-cramming and
    rehearsing memorized material to rewriting a
    homework assignment. The ouerall effect of this
    array of miscellaneous actiuities is that of the
    old "Band-Rid" effect -- a quick fin for a
    superficial problem, which may bring the student
    back again and again as often as a new problem
    arises. In these situations, neither the student
    nor the tutor takes the opportunity to explore
    the other side of the tutoring function — the
    interpersonal side that has the potential to
    empower students to manage their own learning
    problems and increase their self-confidence and
    ability to cope with any challenge to learning in
    any situation.

    In the past few years, educators and learning
    specialists haue begun to examine tutoring as a
    distinct skill area, with the same need for
    standards and qualifications as other kinds of
    teaching and student support. They'ue obserued
    that in many cases, tutors don't ha'je any training
    in the issues connected with the tutoring process
    itself; they pass on the knowledge they haue by
    intuition, or by deliberately applying techniques
    they'ue absorbed from their own experiences as
    a student. Euen in more formal academic
    settings, tutors are often hired on the strength
    of their grade point auerage in the subject they'll
    be tutoring, not on the basis of their ability to
    pass on that information to someone else. This
    suggests that one of the essential components of

    a student s academic support system might be
    represented by a random array of actiuities,
    skills, techniques and philosophies, leaning
    students to take potluck when it comes to
    seeking help.

    Its now belieued that competence in the
    subject area is just one attribute of a successful
    tutor, and perhaps the most superficial one at
    that. Behind the subject knowledge lies a pool of
    concepts, skills and competencies that may haue
    an euen greater impact on the long-term success
    of a student seeking tutoring help. Rnd to make
    sure tutors are able to dram on these
    competencies to deliuer effectiue assistance to
    any student, current studies of tutoring as a
    professional learning assistance skill suggest
    that tutors need to prepare for their role by
    increasing their awareness of this ewtra
    dimension of tutoring.

    In many situations, the tutor is the mainstay of
    students at risk for failure. The tutor can spot
    problems teachers miss, listen to concerns a
    student mould neoer uoice to the teacher, focus
    learning toward indiuidual needs and problems,
    and see the student as a multidimensional
    indiuidual instead of only a name or a face. The
    tutor can answer questions students are too shy
    to ask in class, and they can giue personal, direct
    feedback on learning. The tutor can make the
    difference between failure and finish for a
    student ready to giue up on the system.

    With this kind of role to play, it's not surprising
    that so much effort is now being directed to
    preparing tutors for their work — work on which
    students and teachers alike need to be able to
    depend. With all these functions in mind, a tutor
    can be uiewed as an indiuidual who's midway
    between teacher and student, working with both

    sides to make sure students receiue the support
    they need to succeed. Before we eKamine the
    scope of the tutor's role and the essential
    elements of good tutoring, let's take a look at the
    tutor's relationship to the other elements of the
    basic learning triangle - teacher and student.

    TEACHER-TUTOR RELATIONSHIPS

    Although a tutor's primary relationship is with
    the student seeking help, that student's regular
    classroom instructor is also a factor in the
    tutoring process. In priuate tutoring, the
    student's teacher is a distant figure who enters
    the picture only through the student's comments;
    tutors don't encounter the teacher face to face.
    Euen tutors in large learning center labs don't
    usually work directly with their students'
    teachers. Howeuer, in program-specific tutoring
    situations, tutors know the faculty and can
    interact with them as needed to address student
    problems and issues.

    When you became a tutor, you joined the
    learning support team. Vou and the teachers in
    your department are on the same side now, and
    you'll be relating to them in a more professional
    way than when you were a student in their
    classes. So take time to get reacquainted with
    the teachers in your department in your new
    capacity as a tutor.

    Make euery effort to let teachers know that
    you're responsible, reliable and committed to
    working with them to help students realize their
    dream of becoming nurses. Show them that
    you're capable of keeping confidentiality, that
    you'll offer responsible feedback and that you'll
    work with them to deuelop the best strategies to

    deal with student problems. Teachers need to

    know that they can discuss a student s academic
    status freely with you, and that you'll put this
    information to positiue use, rather than using the
    tutoring session as an occasion for gossip and
    teacher-bashing.

    If you can, uisit the teachers who teach the
    courses your tutees are taking. Euen if you
    already haue all the class materials from your
    own student days, ask to see the syllabus. Find
    out if any new texts or materials are being used,
    and examine them if you can. Try to arrange a
    time to chat with the teacher. Rsk about areas
    that seem to be causing particular problems, and
    find out how the teacher presents this material.
    The context of learning is as important as the
    content — and knowing as much as possible
    about the enutronment, attitudes and behauiors
    that accompany learning helps the tutor to take a
    holistic uiew of the student and the problem.

    fit the core of the learning triangle is of course
    the studeett-teacher relationship, one in which
    the tutor doesn't directly participate. Howeuer,
    the student (and in some cases the teacher too)
    may bring this relationship to the tutor. Students
    who are frustrated and angry ouer their
    difficulties may shift the responsibility to the
    instructor — the person who's supposed to make
    learning happen: "She neuer answers our
    questions." Likewise, teachers can be frustrated
    too, or irritated by student attitudes and
    behauiors — and they can communicate these
    feelings directly to you, the tutor.

    Ulhateuer the nature of the relationship
    between your students and their teachers, your
    job as tutor demands objectiuity and
    detachment. Don't encourage negatiue feelings

    on either side, and don't allow your tutoring
    sessions to degenerate into a forum for your
    student's anger at the system or the instructor.
    This isn't to say that your student's perceptions
    and beliefs aren't a ualid subject for exploration
    -- you can certainly use them to deuelop a
    complete picture of the student's difficulty: does
    the student's attitude suggest a reluctance to
    take responsibility? Does it reflect reality in any
    way? Howeuer, once aired, these feelings need
    to take a back seat to the real purpose of the
    tutoring session -- soluing a particular problem.
    Getting inuolued in teacher-student conflicts only
    reduces your effectcueness as a tutor and
    compromises your position as a learning support
    paraprofessional.

    Resources:

    1. https://ualr.edu/studentsupport/tutoring/toots/

    2. https://paperleaf.ca/

    3. https://www.researchgate.net/