[Download] "Using Self-Disclosure As Part of Your Tutoring Strategy" by Writing Lab Newsletter # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Using Self-Disclosure As Part of Your Tutoring Strategy
- Author : Writing Lab Newsletter
- Release Date : January 01, 2008
- Genre: Education,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 59 KB
Description
As tutors, we want our tutees to interact with us during their tutoring sessions. In tutor training, we talk about how to ask questions and give feedback in order to increase interaction. Both of these strategies represent good ways to encourage tutee participation, but what else can we do? Research supports that engaging in tutor self-disclosure might be another way to increase interaction in a tutoring session. Paul Cozby defines self-disclosure as a person's sharing of personal and professional information about himself or herself in a believable way. These statements reveal information about the person that others are unlikely to learn from other sources and may or may not be related to subject content. Jacob Cayanus asserts that self-disclosure is one area of teaching that is often overlooked, even though it can serve as a powerful tool in the classroom when used appropriately. The research in this article specifically addresses teacher self-disclosure in a teacher-student relationship; however, it can be applied to a tutor-tutee relationship as well. The research shows that self-disclosure might affect how tutees classify us as being good or poor tutors in addition to how they interact with us. The purpose of this article is to review existing studies on self-disclosure and show how tutors can use self-disclosure effectively. Research demonstrates that self-disclosure can have an impact on tutees viewing us as being "good" or "bad" tutors. Sorenson's study shows not only that students make judgments about what good and poor teachers say, but also that what teachers verbalize will determine how students perceive them. In the study, students categorize disclosures associated with "good" teachers as statements that are positively worded and show care or concern. Students link disclosures that are negatively worded and demonstrate a lack of caring with "poor" teachers. Applying this to a tutoring context, tutors should engage in positive self-disclosures (e.g., "I think this is a great assignment to help you understand a different form of writing") and avoid negative self-disclosures (e.g., "I don't like teachers who don't have bulleted assignment sheets").