A Tutor for Everyone, English Style.

A square room in the learning center of the Harrisburg Area Community College

(HACC) Lancaster Campus fits ten people comfortably. There are ten computers inside,

standardized black boxes with monitors sitting on top of them. A group of students work on a

variety of projects, some using their laptops, some using the computers provided by the campus.

A green lanyard with black letters: HACC Lancaster Tutor, allows students to identify the tutors.

Conversation is hushed and usually limited to assignment related queries. It is quiet enough to

hear typing, almost quiet enough to hear thinking as students stare at word processing screens.

On the walls are large white-boards and motivational posters that explain English concepts

students might struggle with. Posters about metaphor, irony, personification and poetry hang on

the walls in neat black frames. By far the biggest banners on the wall are the one that list the

rules governing behavior. A larger banner defines how tutors can help and what would be

unethical practice. A slight frown or groan indicates frustration and a young woman wearing the

lanyard turns her head toward the direction of the sound in expectation.

My first experience with student-tutors was in the summer of 2015 when I applied for a

job after completing English Composition with an acceptable grade, which allowed me to apply

for the student tutor position. My motives were four-fold; I wished to earn money through the

work study program, I sought to improve my writing skills and knowledge of grammar

mechanics, I thought it would look good on my resume, and to be honest I thought it would be an

easy job that would allow for the completion of some school work. My general idea of the

tutoring process was that a student would come in with a nearly complete essay, I would correct
a few mistakes, make a few suggestions, and then send the student happily on their way. I

learned there was more of a commitment involved, at least if I wanted to truly be helpful.

Tutoring Techniques

The learning center promotes a multi-faceted approach to tutoring because the situation

changes depending on the student. Some students are overly demanding and need handouts,

prompts, and points to research as well as encouragement to work on their own. Students who

lack confidence need morale support, resources, and Socratic Method. Early ESL students tend

to require directive instruction, conversation, and grammar lessons. And many more students

need instruction in essay organization, thesis, and sentence structure. A multi-faceted approach

to applying tutoring techniques is the best solution to a tutors problems, each approach serves a

different purpose and can provide one more tool for the tutor’s kit.

My research on tutoring techniques led me to a study by Mackiewicz and Thompson,

which suggests that problem solving in writing is a humanistic endeavor open to notions of

effectiveness that can be defined in multiple ways. There is no single right answer or set of

moves. While standards exist, they are less clearly defined than seen the technical sciences

(Mackiewicz and Thompson 55). This statement implies that tutoring can be employed using a

variety of styles and measure and that an awareness of the situation is needed to judge what

techniques are most conductive to student comprehension. The study described several

techniques tutors can use to help encourage thinking among students; such as, directive

instruction, scaffolding, and pumping. These three methods were the most used by successful
tutors (65). Pumping, which is simply asking questions, was found to be the most common

cognitive scaffolding strategy for helping students (68).

There was a tutor who relied on the strategy of consistent question asking so much she

frustrated a few students. One of my sources, going by the name, Big Daddy, as he is large,

strong, and intimidating until you get to know him and realize he has a relaxed nature and a

winning smile, told me that questioning method often frustrated him. It wasn’t the most desirable

way to learn for him, as he preferred a more directive approach (Daddy, Personal Interview). My

other source, a young man named Gibson, who is a regular at the learning center as well,

confided that he did not prefer the Socratic method of instruction. Both students begrudgingly

acknowledged some value in the method, despite frustration in dealing with it (Theobald,

Personal Interview).

Scaffolding is another commonly used technique by tutors at the learning center. In the

discussion of scaffolding Mackewiez and Thompson referenced Lev Vygotsky’s zone of

proximal development. In tutoring, this translated to helping the student more when the student

indicated a lack of understanding and then offering less assistance as the student gains

understanding, letting them work independently (Mackewiz and Thompson 57).

I spoke of scaffolding techniques with a fellow student tutor by the name of Jake Fuller.

Jake is a tall and skinny young man with a clean-cut demeanor who is seeking to be a future

youth educator. He informed me that what he found most frustrating with students was the ‘blank

stare’ they give when they don’t understand something (Fuller, Personal Interview). While this

may seem emblematic of a need to simplify the instruction, and it often is, sometimes the low

knowledge base of students who come to the learning center is a challenge. I once observed a

tutor instructing an ESL (English Second Language) student as to what a cow was. I have
experienced myself a student researching surrogate mothers who thought surrogacy was a

disease and was angered to be contradicted. Sometimes students get offended when asked to

research online or at check a dictionary.

The process of explaining writing concepts to a struggling student can become a grind,

especially when the student doesn’t appreciate scaffolding methods. Tutor training illustrated

how difficult enlightening a student can be. I was paired with Jake Fuller, the fellow tutor I cited

earlier, in a two-player puzzle game. Jake held the pieces to the puzzle, a variety of laminated

paper shapes, and I held the blueprints. As the holder of the blueprints, I gave Jake instructions

and he attempted to build exactly what the blueprints showed from only those instructions. I was

only allowed to give instructions, and forbidden to see his progress. My first impression was that

this should be a rather easy game, as I had worked with him for one semester already.

Unfortunately, not being allowed to look at what he was doing and the limited time frame

hindered our performance. My ‘clear’ instructions weren’t quite understood. The puzzle of a

swan looked more like a science fiction fighter plane at the end. I think Jake gave up on my

attempts at specific instruction and made something creative on his own. Different puzzles were

tried with less limitations, enabling us to communicate more and generally get closer to the

puzzle we were supposed to complete. The exercise demonstrated the power and limits of

communication in tutoring.

Sometimes, communication through analogy helps with understanding. One time I tried

to explain how to organize a paper to a woman who was not understanding the process. I drew

outlines, I explained how a thesis worked, I marked the whiteboard furiously in multiple attempts

at explanation. Finally, I asked the student if she had ever watched Family Feud. Then I

explained thesis as the headline topic and the sub-topics as all the related things that come under
the topic. That look of ‘eureka!” was all I needed to see; she didn’t even need to tell me she

understood. It’s amazing how explaining something in a fresh way, even a strange way, can

reach students and expand the building behind the scaffold.

Socratic Method is strongly encouraged in the learning center. In both training and my

interview with him, Professor Smith encouraged the use of scaffolding to get students engaged in

the learning process. In my time at the learning center I have seen how it works. A student walks

in and asks for help with a paper. The student sits with the first available tutor (I’ve rarely seen a

student need to wait at the learning center.). The tutor asks about the assignment and often asks

to see the assignment prompt before the assignment. The reason for this is the importance of the

prompt. The tutor is primarily interested in assessing the student’s understanding of the nature of

the assignment, whether it’s a reflective essay, a story, a critique, an annotated bibliography, or a

research paper. If the student can’t produce the prompt, tutors will explain that the situation is

not ideal yet work through it anyway. The nature of the assignment can sometimes be discerned

from the student’s explanation, but then the process is more difficult and many more questions

must be asked. Think back to the puzzle exercise and the need for effective communication.

While Professor Smith prefers a Socratic approach to learning, mostly question based, he

acknowledged there are times when a directive approach needs to be used. Sometimes ESL

(English Second Language) have such early grammar and vocabulary skills that they need

outright direction, a lecture on grammar, or an offering of handouts and resources. (Smith,

Personal Interview) I have seen student-tutors use the white board in order to provide help with

sentence structure to native speakers confused about punctuation uses, or to outline verb tenses

for an ESL student.

 I have observed ESL students from the Middle East who needed directive instruction, not

for an essay, but for fill in the blank questions in a grammar primer. The questions were fill in

the blank and word bank questions relating to grammar. ESL students often need to take

remedial course to develop basic language skills that native speakers take for granted, and when

struggling with these courses they come to the learning center for help. This couple struggled

with concepts related to verb tenses and word order, as well as proper punctuation and uses.

Many of the questions were mechanisms native English speakers took for granted. The wife

looked at the tutor and ask, “Is this the right one? Is that one right?” to which the tutor replied,

“Which one do you think is the right answer?”

An assignment that provides multiple choice answers lends itself to the tutor being

abused. The tutor must retreat after explaining a concept and the student must choose the right

answer on their own, though sometimes the student are more interested in having the right

answer pointed to than working through the exercise. Sometimes the tutors see if the student is

using the right answers and stay to provide praise if the student picks up the workbook idea. But

eventually the tutor must remain strong and tell the student the rest of the assignment is their

responsibility, as the concept has already been explained. Even if that earns the tutor an annoyed

look, best practices demand the tutor not provide answers for workbook assignments.

Reflections on Training

Being a proficient tutor requires instruction. Tutors need to learn how to professionally

engage with students, how to lend an empathetic ear, how to use appropriate questioning
techniques, how to lead students to develop their own ideas, how to deal with less than optimal

student behavior in a professional way, how to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a

student’s accomplishments, and how to match the appropriate tutoring strategy to any given

student.

Tutor training included lectures and presentations from Lori Corradino, the campus

director, and Timothy Smith, the assistant director of tutoring and testing and adjunct professor

of English. The presentations explained problems that student tutors would likely face. It was

emphasized that most interactions tutors have with tutees would be positive, professional, and

nonconfrontational, but that student tutors needed to be prepared to handle cases that were less

than ideal. New tutors who had questions on handling a specific circumstance would raise their

hands and ask questions. Tutors who had some experience at the learning center shared problem

solving strategies that worked for them.

Part of Tim’s presentation was about tensions student-tutors would face when interacting

with students. It was made clear that some students would expect tutors to be miracle workers.

There would be two clearly defined cases of this: students who expect tutors to fix an assignment

at the last minute and students who expect tutors to make their work perfect. In the first case,

without time to assess the needs of assignment there is little a tutor can do to help. In this case

tutors often politely chide students on better use of time. It’s common to get an “I know, but…”

from the student, but any grace is a matter between the student and the professor and is beyond

the tutor’s ability. In the second case, the rules of the learning center are posted to remind tutors

that they are not responsible for student work and that a student cannot ethically monopolize

their time to write an assignment. I’ve learned from personal experience how clever students can

be in pulling assignments out of tutors. Sometimes students can become quite demanding of
ideas, research, and answers from student-tutors. In this case, scaffolding techniques are best

used, but at risk of frustrating the student. I was told by one tutor that sometimes students want

the quick answer but the tutor needs to have a thick skin while being as nice as possible.

Training emphasized that the Learning Center was not a drop-off service or a place where

tutors proof-read papers. In my interview with Professor Smith, he reiterated that proof-reading

is not a practice that helps students. While students are more than happy to have a human

grammar-checker, this also creates dependency on the ability of another to correct their work, or

worse, make their word choices. It defeats the purpose of the student-tutor, which is to help the

student become a better writer themselves. Grades were emphasized as a secondary outcome, not

the main goal. The main goal of the learning center is in the title of the building, after all. It

explicitly states on the wall of the learning center that students are responsible for their own

grade and that the learning center is not a proof-reading service. Students can brainstorm with

tutors, but they need to come up with their own ideas. Ultimately, the tutor can only serve as a

guide. The assignment is the responsibility of the student (Smith, Personal Interview).

The writing tutors specifically were introduced to an article: The Idea of a Writing Center

by Stephen M. North. The article was something English tutors specifically were asked to read

because of its relevancy to misconceptions tutors of English who work in a writing must break.

The surprising thing about this article was how distinctly it tied into the theme of the learning

center not being a proof-reading service. In the article, North expresses his frustration with the

notion of the writing center as a place where students go to get their papers fixed (435). During

our training, assistant director Smith emphasized how important it was for tutors have an

awareness of this issue and how it relates to the true purpose of enhancing the learning

experience over the secondary result of improving a students grades.

 Other issues addressed in training included lectures on the balance between being

friendly and accessible while keeping conversations focused on schoolwork. It’s not uncommon

for students to release their frustrations about their life, their professors, the school, or simply go

on about their personal life. The tutors were taught to re-direct the conversation back to the

original purpose of them being in the learning center whenever possible. While it is good for

students and tutors to become friends, at the learning center the peer relationship must be

secondary to the professional relationship.

Reflections on Tensions

Sometimes students will mistreat tutors or other students. Frustration with classes or

finals can lead to outbursts. However, the campus director, Lori Corradino, is quick to put an end

to any signs of violence with the support of campus security. These outright confrontations are

rare though.

Most problems tutors experience with students manifest from a student attitude which

takes out frustrations on professors, other tutors, and problems outside campus. While life is

unfair and everyone has struggles, a victim mentality is not helpful or conducive to learning. To

overcome difficulties, a student must take control of the situation. If they simply stay in the ‘it’s

not my fault mindset’, then they make no progress going forward (Burns & Sinfeld, 54).

When interviewing and in the training process, Professor Smith spoke of the dangers of

student-tutors becoming a counseling service for students. While morale support and

encouragement is important, that encouragement needs to stay in the realm of schoolwork.

Problems such as drug abuse, money and family problems, and mental problems need to be
referred to a professional counselor. There was also the issue of students trying to get tutors to

speak poorly of professors they didn’t like (Smith, Personal Interview). While in the English

room I overheard on several occasions students attempting to bad mouth a professor, tutors

respond to this by either redirecting students to their work or simply ignoring the comment.

Tim Smith ultimately encourages the use of best practices, which is a matter of

continually review and following the rules of the Learning Center, “It’s a matter of being

conscientious and maintaining that goal of best practices by continually reviewing best practices,

staying abreast of thing, and within the daily tutoring sessions to be conscientious of, and aware

of where those lines are” (Smith). He explained that tutors should always focus on how they can

help and not send students away without offering the help they can give. They should not simply

proof read papers, but offer to help with grammar by providing resources, handouts, explanation

of concepts, and even lessons. Books and papers are available if the tutors themselves should

have trouble remembering a concept off-hand. The ethical implications of simply proofreading

or writing papers for students is important to Professor Smith, “Ultimately if you go away from

best practices and you write a part of a student’s paper for them … those students may come to

expect that down the road” (Smith).

As Professor Smith explained this, I thought about the discernment student-tutors

needed to display to hold to best practices. In all cases, student-tutors need to first discern what

level of help a student needs before helping. Doing an assignment for a student doesn’t

demonstrate discernment. Even though students may sometimes make it difficult for tutors to

stay professional, it is never a good idea to abandon best practices because it is easier. Student-

tutors must be tight-rope walkers, scaffolding where a student needs help.

 Tutors Reflect on the Joys & Frustrations of Tutoring

In order to be productive in any task, one must manage the highs and lows involved.

Those who work in the field of instruction have their fair share of both. Tutoring involves mot

only managing student problems, but also building a professional rapport with the students who

are being taught. Effectiveness of tutoring techniques depends upon not only the ability to handle

frustrations, but on a sense of appropriate humor towards the tensions faced on a daily basis.

And some of the student-tutors have an odd sense of humor, Henrietta Applebaum is one

such tutor. Henrietta is a graduate from HACC where she received her associates in invasive

cardio-tech. She has been a student-tutor of English for several semesters. Last semester, on

election day, she dressed up as Hillary Clinton while Jake Fuller dressed as Donald Trump to the

amusement of students and tutors alike. The tutors kept the impressions comical and inoffensive,

sticking to general impressions that were amusing; in the process, they deflated the election day

tension. I spoke to Henrietta during her last semester of tutoring at the Learning Center. Her best

experience in tutoring was meeting a student who had gone on to receive her Bachelor’s in

nursing. The student thanked her personally for her involvement, and told her that it was thanks

to her she made it that far. It’s those kinds of moments that tutors live for (Applebaum).

While overall Henrietta describes student tutoring as being a joy and a pleasure because

of her desire to help people, there are also bad experiences. Henrietta had a student for two

semesters that she described as needy, condescending, and overly talkative about drug use in her

personal life (Applebaum).

Unlike the political candidates they impersonated for one day, both student tutors have a

calm, settling manner about them. Jake has a way of talking that calls attention to his voice and a
subtle sense of humor that matches Henrietta. He related the same tensions that Henrietta related

about dealing with overly aggressive students. Jake reflected on a student that had a research

paper due in a day and had not even written the intro. She asked him what she should write for

the intro and when he refused to write an intro she asked what student tutors to get paid for in a

way that utilized a derogatory four letter word beginning with F. Some of the frustrations of

being a student tutor included blank looks he received from students when explaining an

assignment, students who use their phone during an explanation, and students who refuse to

engage with questioning. He related that students often came to the learning center with

absolutely no work done, which was a frustration for him because it’s easier to guide them if

there is some effort devoted to the project (Fuller).

While he has a desire to see students get good grades, he felt that sometimes students

didn’t bother to read the poster on the wall and were too forceful about wanting a quick

correction of a paper over a session that led to their improvement as a writer. He emphasized that

the learning center doesn’t proof-read, but students still come to the learning center asking for a

grammar correction of their papers. I asked him if a student had ever asked him to do research

for them. A student came to his mind who would arrive with a research paper prompt who

wanted him to find articles. Jake’s response was to show him where to find the articles, and from

there he found articles on his own. Jake admitted to sometimes editing papers for people out of

convenience or friendship and said it was a habit he had to break. As for his main tutoring

strategy when students have little to offer, Jake describes how to write an introduction, the basics

of thesis, and how to organize and essay. He’s glad for posted tutor guidelines because it helps

him navigate away from the temptation of doing too much (Fuller).
 Personal Reflections

My personal biases towards students who choose to tutor and at least one particular

college that supports them were confirmed by my research, which corroborated what I learned

from my training, my observation, my experience, and my interviews. The methods I observed

tutors using with students were identical in many cases to the research I mentioned. The use of

Socratic Method and pumping questions is very common among tutors at the HACC learning

center. Tutors are also very quick to offer resources and instruct students on good study habits.

My own reflections and observations are consistent with Henrietta’s in the best moments,

as I have witnessed several students grow and have been able to observe their mastering of

concepts. Yet, while rare, I have also witnessed the difficult moments, and have dealt with

students who have difficulty taking responsibility for their work. Student-tutors at the HACC

Lancaster Campus Learning Center are invested in the students they tutor because they often

meet the same students many times a semester or through multiple semesters. In this way a

rapport may be established in which the tutor can see the results of student growth. Students and

tutors grow together.

In my observations for the field study, I have noticed tutors often have a calm and

friendly demeanor. This is an essential asset in dealing with students who may feel rushed,

frantic, or overwhelmed by their coursework. This calm demeanor is in no small part due to

management that selects student-tutors and offers constant support for the tutoring team. An

exceptional academic support culture has been cultivated. Because of the walk-in service, the

comprehensive training, and the professional atmosphere HACC provides, I think the Lancaster

campus of HACC should be a model for how all colleges offer tutoring services.
 Works Cited

Applebaum, Henrietta. Personal Interview. 14, April, 2017.

Burns, T. & Sinfield, S. (2004) Teaching, Learning & Study Skills: A Guide for Tutors. London:

Sage Publications

Daddy, Big. Personal Interview. 14, April 2017

Fuller, Jake. Personal Interview. 15, April, 2017

Mackiewicz, J & Thompson, I. (2014) Instruction, Cognitive Scaffolding, and Motivational

Scaffolding in Writing Center Tutoring. Composition Studies, 42.1, 54-78 Retrieved

from:

https://www.uc.edu/journals/composition-studies.html

McClelland, Janene. Personal Interview. 14, April, 2017

North, S.M. (1984) The Idea of a Writing Center. College English, 46, (5), 433-446 Retrieved

from:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/277047

Smith, Timothy. Personal Interview. 21 March, 2017

Theobald, Gibson. Personal Interview. 14, April, 2017