How can we prioritize, promote, and protect student stories?
The most important aspect of implementing a tutoring plan is listening and incorporating the student’s voice in the creation of the plan. Skill assessments and diagnostic reports are common indicators, but numbers without context are rarely useful. I have learned from my own mistakes, and when I formed lesson plans based only on stale data, the tutoring sessions were also rigid and not fully enriching for the student. I realized it was because they were not present in the process. Thus, effective tutoring prioritizes the student’s story in developing shared accountability toward a learning outcome and personalizes the instruction to best elevate potential.
An individualized approach begins by determining the desired result, aim, or goal, then establishing what evidence will indicate progress and forming practice plans to grow into the goal. Instruction occurs bi-directionally during tutoring sessions, and the guiding question in my mind is “what technique awakens personal agency, empowerment, and determination?” Gains in these areas lead to academic success and a positive self-concept that mobilizes innate talents and abilities throughout life. Therefore, in commitment to those aims, it is also the responsibility of the tutor to, as Jean Piaget asserts, “acquire sufficient knowledge,” and formulate methods that will achieve the desired outcome (Piaget, 1970, p. 12). In this way, listening helps us break through the limits of our knowledge and lean appropriately on the knowledge of lived experience as articulated by our students, families, and caretakers. Based on the needs and experiences described, we can generate a plan in alignment with goals. In fact, there are many possibilities for how to innovate education and tutoring programs according to what we learn from listening to personal stories.
The focus of tutoring is to foster excellence in all aspects of a student’s life. According to Piaget (1970), a “schoolteacher is constrained to conform to a set program and apply methods dictated” by policy (p. 13). Tutoring is the counterbalance; tutors are not constrained to conform to anything but the best interest of the student and the revelation of potential. We emphasize a positive self-concept through critical reflection and awareness, and value skills that appropriately look for and connect context clues. As such, social aptitude, confidence, and empathy are supported by literacy skills which translate to daily life. For instance, in reading, we practice seek-and-find tactics to engage with focused curiosity, ascertain key facts and details, and make relevant inferences. Additionally, writing invites a full expression of the student’s inner voice and helps to connect to purpose by considering the audience and the impact of words and communicative intent.
Tutoring is an opportunity to support the whole person by pouring into the student and drawing out their abilities and dreams. However, our practice is limited by what we know. One of the best ways to learn is to listen, ask questions, and apply the knowledge gained. Thus, by understanding our students’ stories, we can bring their voices into tutoring and create learning plans and programs that are truly impactful.
References
Piaget, J. (1970). Science of education and the psychology of the child. Orion Press.
