Question for Everyone

So lately I've had a question on my mind and want to share it with all of you to see the responses I get. I know there have was a presentation or two on the subject during the IWCA-NCPTW conference,but here goes:

What happens to the identity of a tutor when they are no longer a tutor? Many times, tutors have an identity that they have developed while tutoring. What happens when the tutor is no longer a tutor, but just a student? How do they adapt, per say?

I find myself asking this question more since I tutored as an undergraduate, but do not have the time to tutor as a graduate student.

Your responses who be helpful for an article I am writing.

Comments

  1. Hi! I know that I use the training I received for tutoring in many other aspects of my college experience, and now especially as a teacher. A WC background has been very useful as I respond to my students work, and I try to give them a little theory before we workshop so that they will think about the kind of response they are giving their fellow students.

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  2. Interesting question. As a student tutor I fell in love with the Writing Center. It seemed like the best job ever to get paid to sit and talk to people about their writing. When I entered graduate school, I maintained ties with my WC and it was a sanctuary away from the stress and intellectual rigor. After I finished, I became a teacher and I always felt that I taught like a tutor, with an emphasis on revision and peer review. Now, I work as an administrator for a Writing Center and I still enjoy tutoring when I get a chance. My long answer to your question is that being a tutor informed everything that came after it and I still consider myself a tutor at heart even if I'm not one in title.
    Good luck in your research.

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  3. I'm going to be so sad when I'm not a tutor anymore. I'll probably cry a lot and then use my training to transition into teaching freshman composition (provided that I get into graduate school).

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  4. Anonymous6:55 AM

    Tutoring has so infused my being that now, as an Instructor with a Ph.D., I do everything in my power to create space in class for at least mini-consultations. I also constantly highlight student agency and authorship: THIS IS YOUR PAPER, and though I am the gatekeeper and guide, ultimately you make the final decisions, hopefully deliberately and thoughtfully. I also have used peer tutoring research to help set up group workshops in class, explaining a little of the theory (if stronger writers help writers who are less "strong," research shows you both benefit).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous6:56 AM

    Tutoring has so infused my being that now, as an Instructor with a Ph.D., I do everything in my power to create space in class for at least mini-consultations. I also constantly highlight student agency and authorship: THIS IS YOUR PAPER, and though I am the gatekeeper and guide, ultimately you make the final decisions, hopefully deliberately and thoughtfully. I also have used peer tutoring research to help set up group workshops in class, explaining a little of the theory (if stronger writers help writers who are less "strong," research shows you both benefit).

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous12:47 AM

    I have been tutoring for a while now. The modes and moves of tutoring have been spilling over both in my analytical toolbox and in how I pose questions to people for better or worse to be a bit comical about it.

    I think you will at first miss it, but I think people evolve and adapt to new circumstances pretty quickly.

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  7. Anonymous1:43 PM

    I don't think that the role you played as a tutor ever goes away. You are always going to have that background knowledge to help you with the other problems that you'll face outside of the writing center. I'm a consultant right now and for me I love it to much to leave it. I believe that you really don't ever move on. If you have kids or are planning on it I'm betting that you will use the knowledge that you gained in the Writing Center to help them with their papers. Even though techniqually you aren't a tutor in my eyes you still play the role.

    ReplyDelete

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