Re: selecting tutors

[stephend@GVSU.EDU (DENISE STEPHENSON)]

Mickey,

I have a similar though less extreme situation. Last year we hired a tutor who 
was only 17 at the time. A couple tutors who knew her from the honors program 
had similar difficulties with her to those you describe as your tutor responses.
Though she was at the bottom of the bucket of those we hired, we needed more 
people. At the beginning of this year there were problems among the tutors about
her, but not much with students. She didn't seem to have nearly as great a need 
to show off to students needing help as she did with her peers. I realized that 
things were getting out of hand in terms of attitudes against her. So by the end
of the semester she was in my office for a conversation. I asked her some 
questions and she was quite aware of how people regarded her. I pointed out how 
important it is that the writing center have a congenial atmosphere. I told her 
she had to work on getting along better with her peers. And she has! Some of 
them still harbor their old feelings a bit, but whenever I get a chance I point 
out her growth. I think she may even apply to be a lead tutor next year. I'm not
exactly clear what I'll do about that, but we'll see when the time comes. 

No, it hasn't been the easiest of situations. But I think it's been a good 
learning experience for many of us--myself included.

Denise Stephenson
stephend@gvsu.edu

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: selecting tutors
Author:  wcenter@ttacs6.ttu.edu at Internet
Date:    3/21/97 10:33 AM


Help...I'd really appreciate hearing some thoughts on the following 
problem that just sprung up here. For our peer tutoring staff, there's 
a training course that students first have to enroll in for a 
semester, and we interview applicants to select the group that seems 
most appropriate. Part of the selection process is an interview in 
which I and several of the peer tutors meet with three or four 
applicants at a time. We chat with the applicants for a bit and then 
let them work as a group to talk about a paper they've been given in 
advance. We watch their group skills, listening skills, approaches to 
working with the student who wrote the paper, etc. After each group 
interview, the tutors and I talk about the group and do a first 
selection as to who from that group might be invited to enroll in the 
class. We almost always are in total agreement about the
applicants...  until yesterday.....
     
One of the applicants is 15 (!!!!!). During the group interview, we 
thought her comments were insightful, and she seemed attentive to 
others, interested in their contributions, listened well, etc. So, 
while some of us didn't know her age (and I was sitting there thinking 
that undergrads are getting to look like infants...and feeling very, 
very old), two of the peer tutors did (as they've been in classes with 
her). After the interview, as things were breaking up, the girl asked 
if peer tutors are paid, and when we said yes, she said that this 
might be a problem if she's selected as she is only 15. Several of us 
sort tried to swallow our amazement and deal with the question while 
the two peer tutors who knew her seemed really turned off by 
that.Afterwards, during our assessment, those two tutors said they're 
in classes with her and disgusted by her incessant need to let 
everyone know how brilliant she is, how she skipped 7th, 9th, 11th, 
and 12th grade, etc.
     
OK, finally (if you're still with me), we had a major sticking 
point. Several of us think she could make it as a tutor (with
reservations about how she'd work with older students), but the others 
are drawing on classroom experiences, noting that she was restraining 
herself in the interview. So, what would you do? Select her for the 
class? (Being in the class doesn't guarantee being selected for the 
peer tutoring staff, but it's a small class and one inappropriate 
person could disrupt the group dynamic...a lot.) Wait for her to grow 
up a bit? See the class as a place to help her mature and learn a bit 
about how to collaborate? Rely on her demonstrated skills in the 
interview and conclude that she might be a great tutor..after a 
semester in the class?  
     
Any advice would really be appreciated. 
-- 
Mickey Harris
harrism@omni.cc.purdue.edu