Longman Guide Chapter 1: “Why We Tutor”

Main Points:

This chapter serves as an introduction to tutoring and explains how writing coaches must balance between contrasts. For example, coaches must be flexible while still maintaining a handle on the session and knowledgeable without appearing to be a know-it-all.

The chapter also emphasizes how coaches have to trust that the writers that come into the center are able to write their own work and control their own work, with their support. Coaches must also foster a sense of trust in the writer in order for the session to be effective.

The chapter also emphasizes that coaches come from many different backgrounds and that their experiences shape their views of tutoring. It also profiles how different writers go about writing. This shows that there are a lot of differences in how people approach both writing and coaching.

What I got from the chapter:

What I took out of this chapter is that differences are important and necessary to tutor. I also got the idea that every coach brings their experiences into any session that they conduct. This is a good thing because, as illustrated in the chapter, every writer’s process is a little different.

Questions:

They outlined a best-case-scenario, where the writer comes in for multiple sessions at different points in a specific writing project, which as a coach I know doesn’t happen. Is that the only way to be effective as a coach?

What a beginning coach might need to know:

They would need to know the kinds of things that the coaches quoted in the text though that coaching was, because it gives an idea of what is not a great way to go about coaching from what they said they didn’t like about their tutoring experiences. They would also get an idea that it’s okay to put your own spin on things, which is important, because just like another writer’s process would not work for one writer, tutors need to be able to coach in a way that works for them and for the writers they’re working with.

Works best for:

This chapter would probably work very well for beginning tutors, as it gives a lot of encouragement while not glossing over how difficult coaching can be. It also encourages independence and creativity within sessions. It also includes a lot of quotes from coaches and writers, which puts the ideas being discussed into a more personable, accessible format.