Tori Pollvogt
Tutoring Philosophy
02/08/2016
My tutoring philosophy is encompassed by time, a pivotal part of both writers’ and
tutors’ practices and processes. While writing and time go hand in hand, time is especially fragile
for a tutor in the Ott Memorial Writing Center. Since tutors are given an hour max with the
writer, and most commonly only a half hour per session, there are many tactics and skills tutors
utilize to accomplish what they individually believe defines a successful conference. I personally
try to focus on four main values, all of which work together, and are easily remembered by the
acronym TIME. I find these tasks can be reasonably enacted even in short sessions, and if
implemented, make for the most successful appointments. These values are the transfer of
knowledge, the use of interpersonal skills to form relationships, the instigation and enforcement
of metacognition, and lastly, the establishment of ethos. I truly believe that all four of these
values work together to create an atmosphere of mutual respect that allows for collaboration and
growth to take place, and that is why it is so important to me to try and accomplish these four
tasks in even the shortest of appointments. Therefore, I progress with a brief explanation of why
it is important to implement these values, and how I aim to exhibit each value in day-to-day
practice as a tutor.
The first value is the transfer of knowledge or “knowledge transfer.” While this may
seem like an obvious step in a conference, it is important to keep on our minds as tutors so that
we can make sure we are not only transferring our knowledge to the writer, but that we are also
listening and incorporating the knowledge that they are transferring to us. I find it most valuable
to give the writer ideas and advice they can build or expand upon as opposed to only sharing my
personal opinion.
The second value is the use of interpersonal skills to create a relationship with the writer.
It is extremely important to create a relationship with the writer because it not only builds trust,
but it generates a more comfortable environment for brainstorming and collaborating. It is very
practical to achieve this in any length session, and I consider it one of my strengths. It is also
vital to greet the writer so to immediately create this environment and as a result have a
successful conference.
The third value, metacognition, is definitely the most challenging to achieve in a thirtyminute session and even difficult sometimes to achieve in an hour. However, even simply just
instigating or enforcing metacognition instills the concept in the writer’s mind and can
subconsciously aid them in the writing process. Metacognition is so important because the writer
should not only be able to show their understanding of the prompt, meet the needs of their
specific audience, and fulfill the requirements of the genre, but they should also begin to notice,
describe, and deduce their patterns of error as well as think about the necessities of the paper in
their revision processes. I believe that metacognition is a useful tool for everyone, but especially
for writers and tutors. As a tutor, I believe the use of metacognition is extremely helpful because
if we are fully aware of our own thought processes, we can elucidate information for the writer
and therefore communicate easily.
Last but not least is the establishment of ethos. Ethos ties in with the other values in the
sense that it is based on the relationship I establish with the writer, the knowledge that I am able
to transfer to them, and the level of communication we are able to achieve. Ethos is significant
because we as tutors want the writers we work with to have beneficial and productive
conferences so they continue to return to collaborate with us.