Finding Common Ground
I enjoyed Rafoth’s ideas in the reading assignment this week about finding common ground in a tutoring session. He seemed to be saying that it is critical for both tutor and student to find common ground before the session can really get started—it is a starting place for all the work that needs to be done.
In the Writing Center, the student is in the tutor’s territory—at best, he may feel like a welcome guest or a friend; at worst, he may feel out of place, unwelcome, or even threatened. (Think of the last time you felt out of place or like you didn’t belong. Did someone help you and put you at ease? Or were you left alone in your awkwardness? Do students feel the same way in the Writing Center?) Since the student is in “tutor territory,” it is the tutor’s responsibility to search for common ground and initiate the process of understanding. One of a tutor’s main objectives, in fact, is to understand the student—what he is thinking, what he is trying to write, how he intends to do it, and what he wants help with. But as the tutor seeks to understand the student, he can also help the student to better understand the Writing Center and the tutor’s own role--the understanding can be mutual.
When tutor and student reach a mutual understanding, the real work can begin. Ideas can be more freely discussed, questions can be more openly raised, and the issues that lie at the heart of the paper can be brought into the open. On the other hand, two of the biggest pitfalls in tutoring can be misunderstanding and miscommunication. Usually these two go hand-in-hand. Do tutors try to force their advice, opinions, ideas, and suggestions on students before they try to understand them? Do they try to solve the problem before they even know what the problem is? Sometimes a tutor has to step outside his role of “tutor” and understand the student as a regular person before offering advice as a tutor.
Rafoth suggests that tutors offer students a new, fresh perspective of their work and ideas. But tutors can do this only after they first find common ground with the student and understand his starting point and where he wants to go.
In the Writing Center, the student is in the tutor’s territory—at best, he may feel like a welcome guest or a friend; at worst, he may feel out of place, unwelcome, or even threatened. (Think of the last time you felt out of place or like you didn’t belong. Did someone help you and put you at ease? Or were you left alone in your awkwardness? Do students feel the same way in the Writing Center?) Since the student is in “tutor territory,” it is the tutor’s responsibility to search for common ground and initiate the process of understanding. One of a tutor’s main objectives, in fact, is to understand the student—what he is thinking, what he is trying to write, how he intends to do it, and what he wants help with. But as the tutor seeks to understand the student, he can also help the student to better understand the Writing Center and the tutor’s own role--the understanding can be mutual.
When tutor and student reach a mutual understanding, the real work can begin. Ideas can be more freely discussed, questions can be more openly raised, and the issues that lie at the heart of the paper can be brought into the open. On the other hand, two of the biggest pitfalls in tutoring can be misunderstanding and miscommunication. Usually these two go hand-in-hand. Do tutors try to force their advice, opinions, ideas, and suggestions on students before they try to understand them? Do they try to solve the problem before they even know what the problem is? Sometimes a tutor has to step outside his role of “tutor” and understand the student as a regular person before offering advice as a tutor.
Rafoth suggests that tutors offer students a new, fresh perspective of their work and ideas. But tutors can do this only after they first find common ground with the student and understand his starting point and where he wants to go.
posted by Anonymous at 11:32 AM
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