Adherence to the roles and responsibility of a tutor is very important because it is the basis for making the tutee successful. I think developing good listening skills and positive feedback are a couple of the most important roles as a tutor you can develop. In my past experience I finally realized that listening and trying to figure out what the tutee was really having the problem comprehending was maybe not my assumption of what I thought was the problem. Communication is the key with any relationship and tutor - tutee is no differant. What a person says and what you hear are not always one in the same. Giving positive feedback on the tutees successes, even the small ones, will continue to help them grow and gain the confidence they need to become independent.
Anonymity is what I would add to the ethics, as a tutor I am in no way responsible for the success of the tutee and would not claim to be so. The tutee is ultimately responsible for that success my guidance has only assisted them in being the best that they can be.
I agree entirely. I too stated that communication is key. Where you used anonymity, I used humility; which in itself are virtually the same things.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading your post, I noticed that you put anonymity as something you would add to your own personal code of ethics. I thought the exact thing when I wrote my post. So I could not agree more with that. I think people that boast about helping someone else is being selfish and very unprofessional. We are not here to do the work for the student, only guide them with their own ideas. To take credit for what they implemented, is like plagiarism, very wrong.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is very important to reflect on the PROBLEM that the tutee is having... often it isn't the subject matter at all. Sometimes note-taking, prior knowledge and even organization are problems that they face. It is our job as tutors to help them be successful. We must remember, however, that just because we give them the tools doesn't mean that they are going to use them. The Anonymity that you mention is important to our successes as tutors as well. When a student is successful that is one thing, but if we are helping with one problem and another rises to the surface, we don't want to be coined as 'not being useful.' It is important to look at this as a job where we show the way, but can't make the other party go that way.
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