Author Steve Sherwood made some compelling points about tutoring as art. In fact, we teach tutors to be artisans, concerned mostly with "skill, rules, imitation, and service." We offer professional development workshops, checklists, articles, and occasional conferences to cement these lessons. Tutors need these lessons, and they're all we can offer, because we don't know how to teach "surprise, circumstance, improvisation, and flow."
The parallels to teaching writing are evident: We teach writers about thesis statements, topic sentences, organization, and support. We encourage writers to take risks, but we can't exactly tell them how. In some cases, we can model artistry--but just as jazz can't be successfully copied, neither can those inspired moments of writing and tutoring.
As I read the article, I was struck with the idea of letting go. Letting go is so hard to do, but we can't do our best work, we can't lose ourselves, until we do. So often, we feel we need to be in control, and to let go of that control is dangerous. But it can also lead to our most creative experiences.
Have you ever felt like an artist when tutoring? What led to this experience? Do you think there are ways to nurture artistry, even if we can't teach it directly?
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I thought it was very interesting that Sherwood was comparing tutoring to an art. I do not consider myself creative or artistic at all, so it was neat to see tutoring in that light. I have never thought of myself as an artist when tutoring, but several times I had to be innovative and improvise.
ReplyDeleteWhen tutoring, we never knows what different questions or issues will come up. We can only do so much preparation and planning as tutors. All kinds of students with different papers come to the writing center. Each student is on a different level in their writing, and has a different learning style. When mentoring them, we have to find ways to foster their own ideas and thinking (as opposed to just telling them what to do).
We have to meet the students where they are at and tailor our tutoring style to meet their needs. When I am helping a student, I find myself thinking of different ways to help a student. Sometimes I phrase things in a way that does not make sense to the student, and I have to think of another way to explain it.
I don't think we can directly teach tutors to use artistry. In the same way, we can't directly tell someone how to tutor someone. On the contrary, everyone has to figure out their own tutoring style and actually tutor someone to get experience.
Some ways to nurture artistry would be to allow for time for play, or relaxation. I'm reading a book called Play by Stuart Brown for one of my classes, and it is all about the importance of play. He mentions that play has been clincally proven to promote creativity, and imagination.
One way we can "practice" using artistry in our tutoring is by not being afraid to step out of the box. We are so used to being technical and following the rules for writing, that it can be difficult to get away from that. It is important to remember that we are dealing with the student's own, personal creation, and we never want to take away from that. We can also promote artistry by encouraging creativity and knowing that every tutoring session is different unique.
When I think of art, I think of music. I played the violin for four years in school, so music is an art closer to me than, let's say, painting or sculpting. When I think of tutoring as an art form, I think back to my days of sight reading. For those of you that may not be familiar with playing an instrument, sight reading is when you are given music that you have never seen before, and then you play it on the spot.
ReplyDeleteTutoring,for me, is actually a lot like sight reading a piece of music. When you sit down to begin a tutoring session, you never know exactly what is going to happen. A musican who sits down to sight read a piece of music is familiar with playing, as well as the "basics" such as how to read music, tempo, rhythm, and the like. Tutors are familiar with things like thesis sentences, paragraph usage, and supporting details, but as far as the specifics, we don't really know what is going to happen.
Artistry is one of those things that we can't really teach, but I do think that we can encourage its development. As tutors, we can share our ideas with others. We can also share our successful and our not-so-successful experiences with other tutors so that we can all learn and grow.
Art is the expression of the human soul. Art reflects truth, understanding, imagination and ideas outside of time. Art is not just found in the work of painters, architects or musicians. Art is found in every corner of human existence. As a nursing student, I am learning the art of caring for people. In nursing, there is always a set structure of procedures that you have to follow. In addition to this structure though there is also a level of care, that must be provided to each patient individually, that goes beyond taking their vital signs and helping to treat their ailments. Providing this level of thoughtful and improvised holistic care is what makes nurses artists.
ReplyDeleteAs a fairly new tutor I have discovered that tutoring is a similar to the art of nursing. You must anticipate the unexpected, calmly approach any situation, improvise when necessary and go with the flow accordingly. As tutors, we can be taught how to routinely host a tutoring session or how to address the basic requirements in course assignments but the true art of tutoring cannot be taught. The true art of tutoring can only truly be discovered through experience. The article comments upon the fact that the best tutoring sessions come from the tutor’s ability to “let go” and be open-minded to cultivate the creative ideas of the student. As a result of letting go, each tutoring session may have a slightly varying outcome. This variation allows artisan tutors to become artists. The beauty of writing lies in the unique perspective of the writer that it expresses. The beauty of tutoring lies in the unique perspective that can be shared between tutor and student writer. This perspective not only helps to paint a picture with words but can foster an innovating insight into the human soul.
Artistry can be nurtured by the wiliness to share our experiences and learn from the experiences of others. It is by understanding the “art styles” of others that we are more aptly discover and express our own.
Krista, I absolutely love your analogy; I relate because I also used to play a musical instrument. I like comparing tutoring to artistry, because I can see how they share a lot of similarities. I have always felt in our professional development meetings that we were just learning the basics, how to use the core tools. When it actually comes to using the tools that we have all been taught to use, it is interesting to see that each tutor does it a little differently. We all have our own styles and perspectives to contribute.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I like about art is that the rules are so loose. Sometimes the simplest piece can be captivating, and other times I am impressed by the complexity of art. This is like tutoring because sometimes the simplest thing, like explaining what a thesis statement is, gives a lightbulb moment to a student. Other times, a session is very complex.
I think we have all talked about the fact that each tutoring session is very unique and, as a tutor, learning to flow with that can be a very beautiful thing.
A large part of the artistry of tutoring is being able to think on your feet – knowing the procedure, and then being able to quickly decide if it is something you will be using, tweaking, or completely revamping for that particular tutoring session. Reading the article and considering the author’s focus on tutoring as a fine art made me think about the fact that writing itself is an art. With that in mind, it seems obvious that assisting people with their creations would also, in its own way, be artistry. Like in Krista’s comparison of tutoring to sight reading music or Cathy’s perspective of tutoring being like nursing, I agree that there are many layers to working with a student on his or her writing and that it definitely takes a lot of improvisation. The basics of thesis statements and semicolons can be relatively simple to explain; when you try to expand upon the less tangible elements that make a piece of writing good, however, such as the atmosphere the author creates or the cadence of the narration, as a tutor you are often forced to leave the roadmap behind. That is where art comes into play.
ReplyDeleteIn general, I would agree that the art of tutoring is not something that can really be taught. It can certainly be learned, though, and I think a helpful way to begin that learning process is by observing other tutoring sessions. How do different tutors approach specific problems or topics? What do tutors praise, what do they pick up on, what do they brush over? When I first began working in the WC, I was always nervous because I had no idea what to expect. Now, I still do not always know what to expect, but I find that exciting rather than nerve-wracking because I have gained experience in knowing how to react to and work with whatever arises. I love those occasional tutoring sessions when, instead of me explaining something, the student and I have engaged in a dialogue about some aspect of the paper that leaves the student exhilarated about the writing assignment.