The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

The goal of this is to turn things around and place them as the authority on the subject. Simple
questions regarding the nature of the assignment are helpful for any tutoring session. But now, you can
ask simple questions regarding the nature of the discipline. When they tell you what class their paper is
for, don’t be afraid to follow that up with an “Ok. What is that exactly?”
Suddenly, they are thrust into the role of the teacher, telling you, the person they originally held
in the traditional professor role as “untouchable expert,” about things that they consider to be the most
basic. It helps to place the tutor and tutee on a level field. This is key to the writing center model. We are
not working in the traditional professor and student roles. We are peers helping peers. No one is supposed
to dominate or be the absolute authoritarian. And if this balance is to tip, it should be in favor of the tutee.
“Ownership of the piece is the writer’s and must remain so for the greatest growth in writing and revision
proficiency to occur” (McAndrew 73).
Showing them that they too are the expert gives them a much needed boost in confidence. They
may come in feeling that just because they are having trouble writing, they are no good at anything. This
technique quickly dispels any such thoughts. It gets the shy tutees to open up, and it gets the extroverted
started on one of their favorite activities: talking.
So much hinges on getting the tutee talking. They become comfortable in their environment, stop
focusing on distractions, such as the fact that they are speaking to someone they don’t know personally,
and begin working on how they can instead solve the task at hand. Just the act of them talking about
something they know gets their brain into the habit of formulating words from ideas. I imagine that would
only stimulate similar brain activity and make it easier for them to articulate whatever part of their study
they are trying to get down on paper.
Although it works wonderfully, the asking of simple questions is not just for breaking the ice at
the beginning of a session. Keep it in mind throughout as a way of perpetuating conversation if you ever
find things starting to slow down too much. But you should only use this in moderation and after carefully
reading the tutee’s body language, tone of voice, etc. You don’t want to break their train of thought or
take the focus away from their goals for the session. And you don’t want to give the impression you’re an
idiot, either.
In the end, it’s ok if you don’t know anything about the subject at hand. Just make sure you know
how to gauge the situation and help the tutee feel comfortable in their role as an equal in the session and
an expert in the subject.
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