bibliographic essay

I want to write about “emotionally charged sessions”. I think it is important for tutors to realize the different situations they will have to tutor in. There are so many stresses for college students, so there may be frustrated students that come into the session. A tutor should know how to listen to the tutee’s problems as well as make the best use of their time. As a writing tutor this topic alone is very important to understand because we only have 20-30 minutes with each student. And, as the semester continues, students will feel more stress, but there will be less time to deal with each student as more people come into the writing center. A tutor should know how to listen and be supportive without giving advice. While this topic seems easy to understand, it is extremely difficult to apply. Consider, when we talk to friends, we listen sympathetically and then give input. Our input may range from personal opinions and experiences to learned psychological help. This kind of input comes naturally, but we have to combat this in a tutoring session because it is not appropriate. While we may only be stating our opinions-not forcing ideas onto the tutee-the tutee may feel pressured to take that course of action. And, even if the advice is innocuous, we do not have the training to be advising someone. Sending someone to the psychological counseling center is always a backup, and we know that we can reschedule sessions, but I think that this type of formula is too simple. I know that if I were to open up in a tutoring session, I would be expecting or even longing for that listening ear. So, if a tutor simply says I understand and then tries to move onto the topic at hand, I would feel offended or even lonely. Simple formulas cannot teach us how to be compassionate as well as professional. Tutors need to learn how to handle delicate situations like this without giving moral/ethical advice.

I would really enjoy talking about a few different situations that tutors will commonly deal with. I would also like to dive into those situations to explore the different reactions or possibilities. There are many ways to approach sympathetic listening while maintaining professionalism, and I want to elaborate on those ideas. I also want to show why certain reactions are incorrect, and I would like to discuss the incorrect reactions and showing better alternatives. In writing this paper, I hope not to simply restate what we have learned from the articles in “A Tutor’s Guide” or in the ethics module. I hope to explain the reasoning behind these decisions, and I think that this would be beneficial for other tutors.