Tutoring as an Interpersonal Communication Process

Question 1

Welcome back from the break, everyone! I want to start…

Answer 1

…by thanking the first group of presenters for all the insight and effort that they poured into their work, sharing all that valuable information with us.

Question 2

We are going to switch gears away from presentations for moment…

Answer 2

…and get into the first of two modules for this session - this one covers “Tutoring as an Interpersonal Communication Process”

Question 3

One theme I’m sure everyone noticed…

Answer 3

…in the original orientation training was that of how we as tutors can become better communicators, both in terms of communicating academic concepts and in terms of supporting students on a more holistic, human level.

Question 4

This module aims to…

Answer 4

…get into both in far more detail than in the orientation training class.

Purpose: And while much of what this lesson contains is fairly common sensical, we cover this topic to encourage you to think about how to make communication principles actionable in the tutoring environment.

Question 5

So without any more ado, let’s crack in. As we are all aware…

Answer 5

… the recipe for effective communication requires two ingredients. It requires an active listener, and an effective speaker, with each participant playing each role in turn.

Let’s start by looking at some strategies for playing the first role, that of an active listener in tutoring sessions.

Question 6

We start with this clever quote here from…

Answer 6

…ancient Roman stoic philosopher Epictetus, who argues that “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”

His figurative point is well taken: effective and active listening is the primary foundation of fruitful communication: we can communicate without speech; there can be none without listening

Question 7

Now I read this and think “Okay, Epictetus. That’s clever and largely true. But…

Answer 7

…what are some specific active listening strategies that I can employ?” Epictetus said very little about that, but fortunately, we have some guidance in interpersonal communication literature. So what are actionable tips to listen actively and effectively?

Question 8

Well first off, before any listening is attempted…

(Minimizing Distractions)

Answer 8

…we must establish the proper conditions for good listening in the first place. This means…

Minimizing distractions in the learning space. Does anyone have tempting distractions that they personally struggle with in their life of study?

Question 9

All good examples!

Answer 9

Of course, we have the elephant in any 21st century room: our mobile devices.

Research shows that many people in the modern world consider themselves to be excellent “media multitaskers” but neuroscience has shown that humans are actually quite poor at it.

Ultimately, we want to do what we as humans are natural with, that is monotasking, with our students. This means giving them and their concerns priority focus, not only as a matter of learning but as one of basic human respect.

Question 10

One solid piece of non-verbal communication to indicate interest/focus/respect, is…

Answer 10

Eye contact.

We’ve surely all heard this at some point in our lives; it’s almost cliche, and of course we don’t want to overdo it.

There’s a very big difference between periodically making eye contact to show interest and the psychopath stare, a well-documented phenomenon wherein too much prolonged eye contact becomes unsettling to the subject of that eye contact.

So as with most things, this is a question of balance; too much and it’s disturbing; too little and it communicates a lack of interest/engagement or attention

Question 11

Another piece of non-verbal activity that may communicate that we are not giving students the fullness of our attention is…

Answer 11

excessive note taking.

Naturally, the key word here is excessive. Of course, writing notes/making drawings is often necessary to aid the tutor’s or student’s understanding.

But the act of note-taking is VERY neurologically complex, with greatly increased use of the hippocampus (memory structure)

Unconsciously, we realize this fact, and often respond by assuming that those who take notes while communicating, are sacrificing their ability to listen fully.

As with the last point, this is about balance. We should take notes when necessary to clarify, refrain when it’s not, and work to recognize the difference…

Question 12

Effective communication is typically efficient communication. Taking some time to…

Answer 12

…recognize key words that have significance in interacting with a student is vital if we don’t want to get bogged down in details that fail to address the student’s needs.

Can any of you think of examples of when you’ve worked with a student and a key word has jumped out of their mouth that signaled a specific need of the student to you?

Examples: If a student is using phrases like “rushing”, “hurrying”, “falling behind”, “short on time” a lot, it may indicate that they struggle with time management techniques; we as tutors can share some strategies for that very concern…

Question 13

Oh look! It’s our old friend…

Answer 13

…Socrates! We’ve already discussed how helpful it can be to ask open ended questions in order to facilitate student insights and metacognition in the learning process.

But we also shouldn’t overlook the power of that practice to communicate respect to students, as it signals interest in getting their input as educational peers. Hence, this habit has a positive emotional effect, beyond a simply andragogical, teaching benefit.

Question 14

One habit that offers very little benefit for communication, however, is…

Answer 14

…over-use of “throw-away phrases”.

These would include things like “Uh huh” and “I see” and “Mm-hm”.

Of course, I stress that we should avoid “overuse” because we all say filler words from time-to-time, to buy ourselves time to process/think. However, doing this ceaselessly indicates much the same thing as absorption in our phones: That we are not really paying attention.

We should try to become aware of how much we use filler, to avoid coming across as disinterested, much like condescending Wonka here.

Ah, classic meme…great meme, poor tutoring practice…

Question 15

One great way of indicating that we have in fact been paying attention is…

Answer 15

…to paraphrase what students have said back to them occasionally.

Why do this? What would make this practice effective or helpful?

1) It communicates absorption of the content of student speech

2) It allows students insight into how their efforts to communicate are being perceived

3) It exposes gaps in our own understanding of the student’s message, which gives a chance for clarification

This practice is often used very effectively in tandem with socractic questioning:
Example: “Before, you said you that you didn’t recognize the quadratic formula from class. So what are some other methods you have covered with your instructor that might apply for factoring a trinomial like this one?” (Notice the one-two punch of paraphrase into socratic question…)

Question 16

Now, anyone whose ever been to a holiday gathering with extended family is aware that…

Answer 16

…once personal judgement calls enter conversations, communication begins spiraling into an inevitable breakdown.

When we pass character judgements, we apply labels; almost no one likes being labeled in this way, and so they begin shutting out further messages from the labeler.

Importantly, we can appear to be applying these labels even when we don’t mean to. Example: When we ask students “Why haven’t you read the textbook?” I’m not directly calling the student lazy, but the implication is there.

Of course, I really have no idea what the life circumstances of the student in this example are. So it is not only fair but honest with myself, to refrain from attributing students’ struggles to their personal qualities.

Question 17

Being empathetic is one of…

Answer 17

…the most valuable traits of successful tutors. And being empathetic is a matter of consistently asking ourselves, as we listen, “what must this situation be like from the students’ perspective?”

We’ll cover speech in more detail a bit later on, but we should also strive to speak empathetically: “That must be difficult, yes…”, “I’m sorry that has been your experience of this class”, or “I can see how this new concept can be confusing.”

One of the least empathetic things I’ve heard from tutors is the statement which effectively says “This concept or problem is simple.” By failing to see how challenging new concepts are to the uninitiated, we come across as egotistical and demeaning, which is corrosive to our student-tutor relationship and to the power to communicate productively.

Question 18

A final way to ensure powerful listening is to use…

Answer 18

…our full toolbox of non-verbal communication tools. Generally speaking, the most effective non-verbal communication practices for listening fall under the heading of “open body language”.

Open body language has its origins in our evolution; when mammals want to appear non-threatening/non-threatened, they expose areas that are biologically vulnerable (stomach area, front of neck…)

when they feel threatened, they do the opposite, covering and closing off vulnerable areas in “closed body language.”

What might be some good examples of open body language we can use to signal ease and comfort in the tutoring setting?

Question 19

All great examples! Others might include…

Answer 19

1) crossed arms (protection of organs) vs. spatially open to interacting

2) pinching nose or rubbing temples (protection of brain) vs. hands off of face (openness to ideas)

3) leaning back (aversion to encounter) vs. leaning forward (acceptance of and interest in the encounter)

Question 20

Alright. Now again, all of that may seem common sensical, but…

Answer 20

….hopefully the discussion provided you with some actionable strategies for listening actively while tutoring.

Question 21

We are now going to listen to what I think is a particularly novel and interesting take…

Answer 21

…on ways to listen actively in conversation, from Celeste Headlee, a renowned journalist from PBS

Question 22

As the video plays, please feel free to fill in the first half of the video worksheet assignment.

Answer 22

For each tip that Headlee offers, write down a quick sentence or two describing her main point.

Question 23

[after video] Alright folks. We are now going to partner up, as we did last week…

Answer 23

…and answer the follow-up questions for the video. We’ll come back together to discuss our responses in about 10 minutes.

Question 24

[after partner activity] Alright, everyone! Lets regroup now…

Answer 24

…and share out some responses to these questions.

[cover each question; affirm responses]

Question 25

Alright, great discussion all! I am glad to hear that you all got something out of Headlee’s talk and that…

Answer 25

…it could serve as such an effective springboard for discussion.

Question 26

Since we have given the art of listening its due diligence as the foundational skill in communication…

Answer 26

…let’s take a look at the flip side of the effective communication coin: strategies for speaking well in the tutoring context.

Question 27

So often, we feel in our culture that if we don’t have something to interject, verbally…

Answer 27

… then we are not justifying our presence in that situation. But here we see Plato echoing Celeste Headlee from the video: that talk should always be necessary and substantive, never cheap and/or purposeless.

Question 28

Let’s look at some key ways that we can make sure our speech…

Answer 28

…contributes something valuable to the tutoring session:

Question 29

We can start by being patient with ourselves, allowing our minds…

Answer 29

…time to generate thoughts that contribute meaningfully to the conversation, without feeling the pressure to simply “fill dead air”.

Rushing into speech can cause us to miss critical details in assignment prompts and problems

Example: I almost always take time to read an entire draft of a student paper and digest it before providing any verbal feedback

Students will always have more patience if you take a little time to ground your thinking than to take up a whole lot of their time using fillers, or feeling anxiety over not knowing what to say to give proper guidance

Question 30

Along the same lines is the concept of rechecking our understanding of the message of students before responding.

Answer 30

This is where many of our good listening practices come in, because doing this helps us to confirm the fruits of our active
listening.

In the tutoring context, we might misunderstand a student’s concern if we aren’t rechecking our own comprehension.

Example: A student is confused about when it is appropriate to solve triangles using the law of sines. But I’m not sure if I heard law of sines or law of cosines. Taking time to recheck my understanding of what I heard or to check with student for clarification would keep us from wasting time covering the wrong method.

Question 31

A good rule of thumb is to be asking ourselves the question: What is the most efficient way of explaining a concept, given this student’s prior knowledge? Sometimes, less is more, meaning that we should…

Answer 31

use as few words as possible while being as detailed as necessary.

It can be the difference between “Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell…” and
“The mitochondria is a double-membrane bound organelle that governs the functions of cellular respiration and energy production.”

We can see that the main difference here is in the length of the verbiage used, which, of course, can be confusing if explanations are too lengthy or complicated.

Question 32

Another strategy for effective speaking that falls along the same lines is to…

Answer 32

…use only vocabulary appropriate to the understanding level of the student.

The vocabulary we use often threatens to be either too basic, too high-level, or too removed from the definition/application.

For example: it doesn’t help a calculus student to use the expression “Constant multiple rule” or “Trig substitution integration” in a vacuum, if they haven’t covered those rules/methods yet, or without direct examples in the context of their work.

Question 33

Effective speech not only avoids confusion but also vagueness…

Answer 33

We do this by trying to give specific guidance wherever we can.

Good examples:

1) student asks how to improve time management. We give specific goals for them to shoot for: creating master schedule to eliminating time leaks/time sinks

2) If a student asks how they can reduce anxiety on their next presentation or next high-stakes exam, we wouldn’t just say “Well don’t be nervous.” We could instead recommend mindfulness or breathing techniques, appropriate to the type of anxiety they are experiencing

Question 34

Again, sometimes less is more. We can make strategic use of pauses/silence between sentences/phrases, to…

Answer 34

…emphasize points, to allow the student adequate time to think/process, or to feel comfortable interjecting with questions.

I once had a military history instructor who was very knowledgeable but who spoke incessantly, without pausing even to breathe.
I think he did this to keep his train of thought from derailing. It ultimately didn’t matter if he kept the focus of his message; we students had tuned out because we couldn’t keep up with his frenzied pace.

This problem can be avoided if we consider silence and speech not to be diametric opposites, but as tools that complement each other.

Question 35

We want to avoid interruptions in the tutoring space, whenever possible. We all know that interrupting can…

Answer 35

…seem disruptive and like dictation (rather than collaboration), two impressions that oppose the comfort level we want to maintain in the tutoring environment.

Additionally, interruptions are one way that our implicit biases come out; people from marginalized groups tend to be interrupted more often, as we mentioned in orientation.

There are, of course, exceptions to the no interrupting guideline:

1) if the student is getting too far off topic or eating up too much tutoring time with detailed/repetitive speech

2) Bonus points for anyone who remembers the other major exception to this rule from orientation training…
BINGO! - If we hear bigoted or offensive speech in the tutoring center. In each case, interruption, though conducted professionally, is appropriate and necessary

Question 36

The next guideline for effective speaking is fairly straight-forward; we want to avoid sending mixed signals between our body language and speech.

Answer 36

What are some common examples of this body language/speech disconnect?

Examples: “that will be a very interesting topic for your presentation” (while yawning)

“No problem, take your time…” (while tapping pen or foot impatiently)

“It’s wonderful to see you in the lab again!” (while frowning/scowling)

Ultimately, we want to be aware of the consistency of our actions: in clear communication, body language reinforces speech; it doesn’t contradict it…

Question 37

Finally, we have the importance of effective paraverbal communication. Who remembers what paraverbal means from orientation class?

Answer 37

Paraverbal cues are messages we send through speech, but which don’t come as part of the content of that speech.

Key examples include:

Tone of voice
Volume of speech
Rate/pacing of speech
Word Emphasis

Verbally these three sample sentences say the same thing, but paraverbally, their messages are totally different, due to huge divergences in word emphasis.

With the wrong tone of voice, “You’ve made so much progress! (genuine)” becomes “You’ve made SOOOOO much progress!” (dripping with sarcasm) That’s obviously an extreme example but the import of regulating our paraverbal messaging is clear.

Question 38

Okay, fantastic! Thank you all for being great listeners as we covered that module together…

Answer 38

(you see what I did there, haha)

Are there any questions about tutoring as an interpersonal communication process before we break and then move into our next round of presentations?