The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

active problem solving and critical anlaysis. In an effort to create a more liberated classroom, Freire
created a space where students and teachers actively taught and learned from one another, utilizing
problem-posing as dialogue. This theoretical approach is an excellent way to begin a session because it
allows the student to answer your question through analysis and problem solving, and as the tutor, you are
engaging in learning how the tutee forms arguments or supports their thesis because problem posing
questions require them to answer more that yes or no.
I found that beginning a session with a series of problem posing questions enabled the tutee to
determine what they were most concerned about in their writing. Problem-posing questions can help to
avoid yes and no answers by asking, “What specifically would you like to work on today and why?” By
asking the tutee to decide what to address during that session and why it is important to them, you as the
tutor are helping the tutee to understand that they possess a sense of power, agency, and responsibility for
the tutoring session. In cases when there is limited time and a long paper to tackle, I suggest asking the
tutee to pick one or two paragraphs to focus on instead of tackling the entire paper. In cases such as a
drop-in session, where I have never worked with the tutee before, I might suggest that we look at their
opening paragraph, thesis statement, and their first full supporting paragraph for that particular session.
By limiting the focus of the session to a workable portion of the paper, there will be fewer enticements on
the tutor’s part to take over and revise or edit for breadth. In a session where the student decides to focus
on their thesis statement and only one to two paragraphs I would problem pose with them asking, “Where
is your thesis statement located in this passage” or “How could you re-state this thesis in order to make it
more clear?” Questions like these open up the conversation, enabling the tutee to begin explaining their
ideas as a means of exploring their own writing.
A Multi-faceted approach: Minimalsim, Reading Out Loud, and Collaboration:
Jeff Brooks discusses several potential scenarios in his essay on minimalist styles of tutoring,
ultimately advocating a hands- off approach to tutoring. In his essay, “Minimalist Tutoring: Making the
Student Do All the Work” Brooks argues that, “the tutor should take on a secondary role, serving mainly
to keep the student focused on his own writing” (169). Brook’s style of minimalist tutoring advocates
informing the student writer about ways to improve themselves as writers, and not simply improving the
product or text. While Brooks advocates an overly extreme level of minimalist tutoring, his focus on the
process of writing and not the product or text is an important and necessary goal for tutors to embrace. I
found in my sessions that embracing Brook’s style to a less stringent degree did prove helpful during
many of my tutoring sessions. One way in which I accomplished a level of minimalism was to make a
conscious effort to listen more and talk less. I would begin with a problem posing question such as,
“What do you mean by this statement?” or “How can you expand your thesis statement so that it is more
specific?” After asking, I forced myself to sit back and just listen, both allowing and in some respects
forcing the student to talk out the answer to the question. If I felt the need to prod the student to explain
further, I would limit myself to asking another leading question such as, “What do you think this thesis
statement suggests you will be covering later in your paper?” Another approach to minimalist tutoring I
have utilized is to ask the tutee to free-write for a few moments as a means of developing their thoughts
on a specific aspect of their writing. In a case where I feel a student would benefit best from quiet
exploration into an aspect of their paper, I have suggested they take a short period of time, only 2-3
minutes to do some exploratory writing, giving them space and a bit of privacy by excusing myself for
that period of time. Although free-writing is a tool that teachers often utilize in a classroom situation, it is
also a method that can be used in the tutoring session as a way for struggling students to generate some
beginning thoughts and ideas of their own.
Reading out loud is another way in which a tutor can foster a sense of ownership in their tutees. I
admit that in many cases asking a student to read their paper out loud can be awkward at best. However,
explaining to the tutee that hearing their paper read out loud enables them to both maintain ownership of
their text while allowing them to hear their own language style, conventions, and voice often succeeds in
encouraging them to engage in the process. Reading theorist Cathy Block argues for a metacognitive view
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