Respect But Not Condone

I really do not feel qualified to answer this blog post because I actually do not know if a Southerner from the segregated South in England would have had his discomfort accommodated or respected. Instead, I think I will just add my own opinion regarding this topic that was discussed in class. I did not speak up in class during this particular discussion, so I will use this as an opportunity to do so.

When I think about someone being uncomfortable with me tutoring them because I am a woman, it bothers me. It bothers me, and it makes me angry, and it upsets me to think about the Writing Center accommodating that concern. The Writing Center is supposed to be a place of equality. Peers tutor peers and no one person is better than another. So of course, the idea that a man refusing to be tutored by me is somewhat upsetting.

This being said, in my semester and a half of working at the Writing Center, I have not ever had an experience with this. I have tutored many students of many different ethnic and religious backgrounds, and I've never come across this being an issue. I may just be lucky because I have never encountered this prejudice, but I feel that we are discussing something that doesn't seem to be a major issue. I have felt respected by many different types of people and I have felt ignored by many different types of people. I wouldn't say that I have been singled out for being a woman, for being young, or for any other quality I possess.

If I were in a situation in which someone did not want to be tutored by me because I am a woman, I would probably just accept that the student would rather wait for a male tutor and allow them to do so. Similar to what Aisley said in the class discussion, I probably would not want to tutor someone who was blatantly against receiving my help because I am a woman. If they believed my tutoring abilities were sub par, they probably wouldn't learn much from the session anyways. I understand that the student's viewpoint is offensive, but it would be just as offensive to force them to be tutored by a woman if it makes them feel uncomfortable.

So I guess how I feel about the situation is that if a student is against being tutored by a woman because of an ethnic or religious upbringing, we should allow them to wait an extra twenty (or longer) minutes to be tutored by a male tutor. I wouldn't necessarily say that we are condoning their prejudice but instead are respecting their wishes as well as respecting the female tutor that would have to deal with this in a session. Does this in any way answer this blog prompt?

Reluctant Students

In class I brought up one of the most memorable experiences I have of tutoring a reluctant student, so I guess I will just finish that story. During summer semester an older man came in for a session on a communications assignment. He was at least 30 years older than I am, and he definitely made it clear to me that he didn't think I was old enough or qualified enough to tutor him. On top of his reluctance towards me helping him, he also just did not want to be tutored in the first place. It did not take long for me to realize that I would need to approach this session differently. After he asked me a few questions about what my qualifications were ("So do you have any sort of degree?" " How long have you been going to college?"....) we finally started to read through his paper.

 I remember thinking to myself that I would need to be very careful in how I phrased my feedback so as to not appear condescending or belittling to the student. By the end of the first paragraph I found myself desperately searching for some sort of thesis statement. The way he had written the paragraph made it seem like the paper could be on one of about five different topics. I decided to read the second paragraph in hopes that he would finally state his main point and thesis. Unfortunately I could not identify the thesis in that paragraph either. I told the student that he was bringing up lots of intriguing information, but his paper could really benefit from having a clear thesis statement. He leaned back further in his chair for a minute and thought it over, and then he flat out told me that he didn't think he needed a thesis statement. This was his first refusal of my advice. His tone was so blunt that I knew it would be unwise to press the issue. We moved forward and naturally other weaknesses in the paper appeared. I would point these out to the student, but almost every time he told me he thought it was fine and that nothing needed to be changed. He was so resistant to changing anything in his paper!

I tried a few different approaches for suggesting changes, most of which included trying to word what I said in a way that would not offend him. The student started to get more and more defensive about his paper, and his comments to me became increasingly disrespectful. I finally had to accept that we were at an impasse. No progress was being made, so I made the call to end the session. I was scared to death that ending the session was going to make him even more irritated with me, but ultimately I think the student was very pleased that I was "giving him a way out" so to speak. I politely explained that it didn't seem like I was the best person to help him on this paper and that he was welcome to come back, but the current session was no longer being productive. The student got up and left without so much as saying a goodbye. I felt terrible when that session was over, but honestly I tried everything I could to turn things around.The student's reluctance towards being tutored was so strong that I just could not get him to consider making changes. So here is the moral of the story; try your best to encourage and motivate reluctant students, but accept that sometimes no amount of personal effort can counteract a student's bad attitude.

Early Composition Classes

I took English 1010 at Utah State from a nice, young graduate student. Many of the students called him Dr. so and so (I can’t remember his last name) and he would sheepishly reply, “Oh, please just call me Brady.” In retrospect the structure of the class reminds me very much of several concepts suggested by Freire. Of course I knew nothing of Freire at the time and as I was a first semester ride-my-long-board-to-every-single-class freshman, I thought first name basis in college was cool. It suited me quite well that my professor was down to earth.

One thing I thought my professor did particularly well that semester was scheduling two mandatory meetings with each individual student to discuss our writing assignments. One meeting was at midterm while the other was a week before finals. These meetings opened the door to build good rapport between teacher and student. However, because the meetings were mandatory, I am not sure they functioned that well.

When I reflect on good teachers I have had in the past, he is nowhere near the top. Unfortunately, the word forgettable comes to mind when trying to describe my English 1010 class. Though the reading material, I remember, was vaguely interesting, the conversations were not well conducted. Many of the students that should not have had the floor for more than a few minutes ended up talking for entire class periods. It was truly a good example of the disadvantages to giving Freire’s precepts full reign.

My English 2010 class was an entirely different experience. I took it as an independent study course for several reasons but mainly because I was living five hours away from Weber State’s Ogden campus. My professor, who I still regard as a brilliant and wonderful teacher, sent us packets which, ironically, we responded to online. It was during that awkward phase in the mid-twenty-tens when technology was still assimilating into and improving education. Now I am sure the entire course can easily function as an online class.

I remember being assigned an anthology filled to the brim with short stories, poems, and excerpts from popular literary pieces derived from authors all around the world and throughout various time periods in history. How we discussed the concepts was very similar to a canvas board. I remember being impressed by the assignments we were given and taking pleasure in reading them and responding to them. I knew at the time I wanted to be involved in education but I was not sure how. Once I was exposed to the works of talented authors throughout history, I began to develop a curiosity regarding why I enjoyed reading these works so much. From the pages of works by authors like Marlowe, Mary Shelley, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Oscar Wilde, Eugene O’Neill, Barbara Kingsolver, and Ben Okri, I began to discover a mysterious desire within myself to explore further into what these stories had to offer me. I would credit my successful English 2010 class as an assistant to my preexisting craving for good literature. I am not exactly sure why it was structured so well, but I would certainly argue that it was a good class.