Hiring tutors

[Jim Bell <jimb@unbc.edu>]

Good luck in hiring your tutors, Jacqueline. By coincidence, I hired two 
tutors last week and held tutor training for them and someone from the 
commmunity yesterday (Sunday). Although our selection process is pretty 
extensive--half-hour interviews by two people, two pieces of writing, 
etc.--I was amazed at how easily Shona took to student-centered tutoring 
and how difficult Steve found it. Slowly, on my Sunday mind two related 
glimmers: Is it fair to hire cash-starved students to do a demanding job 
that they really have no idea about? And couldn't you, as a second stage 
to the interview process, hold a mini-tutor training and see who caught 
on (and the students could see if they liked being tutors)? More 
complicated, yes, but maybe more efficient and effective in the long run.


Jim Bell				Ph. (604) 960-6365
Learning Skills Centre			Fax (604) 960-6330
University of Northern BC		email jimb@unbc.edu
3333 University Way
Prince George, BC
Canada  V2N 4Z9                    =====-=-====-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


On Mon, 5 Feb 1996 writingctr@kean.ucs.mun.ca wrote:

> 
> Oh, Jim, you've had some kicks in the gut this week, haven't you? I'm
> sorry.
> 
> I've been thinking about whether or not some tutors are unteachable,
> because three of the people I hired in the fall were very resistant
> to learning student-centred methods. The short version of the story
> is that I don't think they were unteachable. However, in very frank
> discussions with me, discussions as unconfrontational as I knew how
> to make them, two of the three decided that they weren't able to do
> what I was asking them to do, at least not at this point in their
> lives, and they resigned. Some people have a huge investment in the
> traditional, hierarchical structure of organised instruction, and
> feel they have a lot to lose by adopting student-centred approaches.
> These two people who resigned decided that it would take too much
> out of them to make the journey they'd need to, to become student-
> centred. Maybe they'll go through their lives, continuing to support
> and recreate hierarchies. I hope not, of course. Anyway, this wasn't
> the time for them, and I respect the effort it took them to say so.
> They weren't effective tutors, and the Centre will run more smoothly
> without them. 
> 
> I hope your present crop of tutors are all enthusiastically student-
> centred. I'm hiring replacements for those who resigned. Wish me luck.
> 
> Jacqueline Howse
> Coordinator, Writing Centre
> Memorial University of Newfoundland
> writingctr@kean.ucs.mun.ca
>