Subtle Perceptions of Power in Tutoring

Who am I?

Hi, my name is Kyle Choi and at the time of writing this blog post, I am a new tutor at DePaul University’s Writing Center. Working in this department has been an incredible experience so far and I truly feel I have learned and grown a lot from holding this position.

My Research Topic

For my tutoring inquiry project, I decided to research the subtle perceptions of power in tutoring. This involves the differences in power dynamics between tutors and tutees and the ways individuals may perceive and react to them. I chose this topic as I’ve always had an interest in topics like sociology, psychology, and philosophy.

What is Power?

Within the context of a writing center, power can be described as the differences in power dynamics between tutors, us, and tutees, those that we help. This relationship can be seen as similar to one between a student and a teacher in an academic setting, though not to quite the same extent.

An example of this perception of power dynamics is a tutee believing that their tutor is more knowledgeable than them, hence making them less likely to speak up and disagree with their tutor.

Why This Matters

I believe having an awareness and understanding of power dynamics matters in developing our interpersonal skills. Perceptions of power can have a large range of effects on how we interact and communicate with others. A perfect example of this is the differences in the way we socialize with our parents or supervisors compared to our friends and classmates.

But Power Isn’t Inherently a Bad Thing!

Now of course, there are a lot of examples in history where power has led to corruption, but power does not have to be harmful in the right hands. At the end of the day, perceptions of power will always exist and are simply a part of the society we live in. And while we probably can’t eliminate all the negative effects, we can always strive to be more adaptable and approachable with those we work with.

Ways Our Perceptions Can Be Impacted

Through my research, I learned about many different factors that can have an impact on an individual’s perception of power.

One large factor in perception is the setting. A scholarly article by Sara Cushing Weigle and Gayle L. Nelson, “Novice tutors and their ESL tutees: Three case studies of tutor roles and perceptions of tutorial success,” brings up the idea that setting has an impact on perception. In the context of a writing center, tutees may see themselves as similar guests in a foreign household, which can be especially apparent if it is their first visit. They may also see tutors, us, as those who live in the household, hence the ones that set the house rules (Weigle and Nelson).

Some other factors can include but are not limited to, language background, gender, and personality (Weigle and Nelson).

Ways Perceptions Can Manifest

An individual’s perceptions can manifest in many different ways, such as body, verbal, and written language.

In “Writing Comments on Students’ Papers” by John Bean. Bean discusses the ways students may perceive written feedback for their writing. Students misinterpret their instructor’s written comments which creates a huge effect on writers, especially negative ones. These effects can be amplified by students seeing their teachers in a position of power or authority (Bean 318).

A scholarly document by Ken Hyland, “Student Perceptions of Hidden Messages in Teacher Written Feedback,” discusses ideas similar to the ones presented by Bean. The article not only builds off of them but also introduces new ideas, such as preconceived notions of writing generated by middle and high school. These notions can create a framework that can affect the way students perceive their instructors and their feedback (Hyland).

What can we do?

As mentioned earlier, there are many different factors in perceptions of power within tutoring, the majority of which I didn’t even have the chance to mention.

Additionally, there is not a singular approach we can take to this. This is because everyone is different and comes from a different background. Hence, people react differently to each factor. Some may have huge reactions to one scenario while others may not even notice it.

The best thing we can do as tutors is to simply be adaptable and able to work with anyone. Simply being open-minded and understanding that there is a lot we may not know about a situation we are in can help take not just us, but also our tutees a long way. By doing this, we can create a better experience and appointments for those we help, especially for those who may be greatly affected by their perceptions of power.

References

Bean, John. “Writing Comments on Students’ Papers.” UCWbL

Hyland, Ken. “Student Perceptions of Hidden Messages in Teacher  Written Feedback.” Studies in Educational Evaluation., vol. 39, no. 3,  2013, pp. 180–87, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2013.06.003.

Weigle, Sara Cushing, and Gayle L. Nelson. “Novice Tutors and Their ESL  Tutees: Three Case Studies of Tutor Roles and Perceptions of Tutorial  Success.” Journal of Second Language Writing., vol. 13, no. 3, 2004,  pp. 203-25, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2004.04.011.