Tutoring

I'm interested in seeing the different student responses to tutoring. I work in a tutoring center, and I used to work for 2 different tutoring centers, and I've seen numerous different responses. Some students latch on to a tutor. They begin to feel that they cannot function on their own. Then a tutor has to sort of break a dependence because a tutee can't get tutored forever. Some students defend their intelligence. They are so defensive that they can't actually get any help. Others are so hostile that they too cannot receive help. And then there are ideal students. They know they have something intelligent to say but that they could improve. They try to learn something new each time they come so that eventually they will no longer need to see a tutor. This makes me wonder what the role of the tutor is. How does a tutor help a student see that seeking help is not necessarily a weakness? How does a tutor help a student get the most out of what they are learning without creating a dependence? I'm sure some of it has to do with personality and enabling, but I'm also sure that a tutoring center's mission statement has to play a part as well.

Some tutoring centers want their students to be dependent because they want the income generated from returning students. Other centers are free, so they want independent students so that they can serve as many people as possible.

I think it is important to work to help students become independent learners. If people are willing to try new things and willing to take risks, their work becomes much more interesting.