Edumucation vs. Indoctrination
Anyone who has been around me for more than ten seconds knows that I am a very opinionated person. I feel strongly about most issues and will gladly discuss those issues with anyone at any time. However, I do feel that as a tutor it is not my job to 'indoctrinate' or attempt to convince others of my way of thinking. The line is thin here, but I think it is well defined.
1) This issue may crop up when a student is writing an argument paper. In my tutoring 'threesome' I had students whose topics I highly disagreed with and let them know I disagreed. However, I used my disagreement to help their project. We discussed playing devil's advocate with our students to make them really believe what they are saying or strengthen their arguments with facts and not their opinions.
Argument papers are my favorite to help with. I like helping with all the different aspects of argument writing: development, drafts, polishing. But you'll never see me try to push my own beliefs on a person. I try to follow what Dr. Rogers said in our first class and that is ask the student what they are trying to say. Find out their topic. Find out where they stand and go from there. If they have some falsehoods, it is my job as a tutor to point those out. If I think they need more solid research, it is my job as tutor to help them- not just by pointing it out, but showing them places where they can find solid information.
This is a fine line, but compared to the other line we discussed earlier, this one is much easier for me to stay on the 'tutoring' side of. Of course I want people to agree with me, but when I clock in, I'm a tutor.
So to answer the question, yes, I think there is a marked difference between education and indoctrination within the context of being a tutor. Tutors method of education is helping their writing, not changing their topics. I can see how people in other realms of education- teachers, professors, ministers, etc- indoctrinate. Isn't that what philosophy professors do? Isn't that what teachers of writing theory do? (hope that was tongue in cheek enough)
By the way, isn't it funny that John Kerry's favorite baseball team- the Boston Red Sox- is going to lose to my beloved Yankees just two weeks before his own loss in the election?
1) This issue may crop up when a student is writing an argument paper. In my tutoring 'threesome' I had students whose topics I highly disagreed with and let them know I disagreed. However, I used my disagreement to help their project. We discussed playing devil's advocate with our students to make them really believe what they are saying or strengthen their arguments with facts and not their opinions.
Argument papers are my favorite to help with. I like helping with all the different aspects of argument writing: development, drafts, polishing. But you'll never see me try to push my own beliefs on a person. I try to follow what Dr. Rogers said in our first class and that is ask the student what they are trying to say. Find out their topic. Find out where they stand and go from there. If they have some falsehoods, it is my job as a tutor to point those out. If I think they need more solid research, it is my job as tutor to help them- not just by pointing it out, but showing them places where they can find solid information.
This is a fine line, but compared to the other line we discussed earlier, this one is much easier for me to stay on the 'tutoring' side of. Of course I want people to agree with me, but when I clock in, I'm a tutor.
So to answer the question, yes, I think there is a marked difference between education and indoctrination within the context of being a tutor. Tutors method of education is helping their writing, not changing their topics. I can see how people in other realms of education- teachers, professors, ministers, etc- indoctrinate. Isn't that what philosophy professors do? Isn't that what teachers of writing theory do? (hope that was tongue in cheek enough)
By the way, isn't it funny that John Kerry's favorite baseball team- the Boston Red Sox- is going to lose to my beloved Yankees just two weeks before his own loss in the election?
posted by Anonymous at 2:30 PM
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