Thursday, September 17, 2009

Student Support and Counseling

Tutors often play a counseling role in volunteer programs, and some use administrative volunteers or paid staff to provide student support.  Some call this person a Persistence and Transition Specialist.

At last week's program management workshop sponsored by VALF, the question came up from a tutor, "How much time should I spend talking with my student during the tutor session?"  What do you think?  Add your comments here.  To post a comment, click on the word in small print below "comments" and share your thoughts on this.

To get readings on counseling, go to our wiki.

2 comments:

  1. I believe that how much you talk to your learner depends on a few key considerations:
    -What are the learner's goals? If it includes developing their conversation skills, I would advise that you start and end every session talking and include additional discussion during your formal lesson.
    -Do you want to build a relationship with the learner? It should be a major priority to create a learning environment that is conducive to learning. i.e. safe, inviting, warm, a place where mistakes can be made with no negative feedback, and a place that the learner wants to return each week. What better way to create such an environment than to get to know each other, reduce stress and anxiety, and make learning FUN!
    Remember, learners vote with their feet and you don't always get a second chance.

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    Replies
    1. This should be a great thinking if you want to make a strong bonding with your learner.. It will make easy to get some valuable knowledge

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