Troubles in tutoring

One of the greater challenges that have crossed my mind so far in this class pertains to the vulnerability of the tutee. As a particularly sensitive person myself, especially when it comes to critique on my own writing, I understand the insecurities that can come with someone else examining your work and telling you you’re doing something wrong, or something is incorrect. I might find myself a little worried and hesitant to be clear in my explanations of what they might be doing wrong, or could be doing different, in fear that they might feel embarrassed or ashamed that they did this or that and shared it with someone else. 

I definitely have been reluctant in the past when it comes to helping people with their writing, even close friends, I never want to come off as harsh or make someone feel not capable of something they truly are. I often find myself disclaiming my comments with a reassuring ‘but I think you’ve done really well otherwise’. I’m not a harsh person naturally, but I can definitely feel that I am being that way, just because my way of articulating things might come easier to me than the person I’m attempting to explain something to. I don’t see it as the most daunting issue in tutoring for myself, but I know that this is something that lingers in the back of my mind when I’m working one on one with someone, and I’m sure I’ll get over that pretty immediately and create a natural and comfortable environment. I do think that I can combine my awareness of the vulnerabilities of the other to the improvement of the experience of the writer though, I can definitely help to make the process of seeing a tutor feel far less mortifying- this is what I hope to do.