The effects of transient tutors

Hillside High School junior Erika Harbin and Duke freshman Lauren Walsh could make a do-gooder's soul prickle with goosebumps. With smiles and giggles they start each tutoring session easily chatting about life: gossiping about friends, discussing their families, triumphing over Harbin's climbing grades, and planning for her next academic challenge. Even though Harbin originally came to Project CHANCE, a Duke student-run tutoring program, simply looking for academic help, the pair has become so tightly bonded that the high schooler sees Walsh as more than a tutor; she is a mentor and confidant.

"This is my friend," Harbin says, leaning against her math and science tutor and nudging her with an elbow. "She's not just my tutor, she's my friend, too."

In the few weeks that Harbin and Walsh have been working together, their tight relationship has so invigorated the high school student that she is confident more tutoring can only help her. "We'll tutor all our lives-or until she leaves college," she says.

But what happens to Harbin if Walsh's schedule doesn't allow her to tutor next semester? Will she simply fall by the wayside or will she have to create a relationship with a new tutor? Or will she miss her friend but simply adjust and continue her academic life uninterrupted?

"I think it's a concern we all share...," said Betsy Alden, the service learning coordinator at the Kenan Institute for Ethics. "[Tutoring] isn't just something you do to fulfill a course or make yourself feel good. You're working with real people, and there are real ethical concerns."

Alden explained that many of the tutees in the service learning programs-classes that combine academics and community service-are children who have been abandoned by parents, guardians or other "trusted" people, so the program works to ensure that they do not feel further abandoned when they no longer see their tutors. To combat this, the Kenan Ethics Institute encourages tutors to not only talk to their kids about the duration of the relationship, but to also keep in touch with them after the sessions end. Additionally, many tutors continue to work with the same students year after year; about 25 percent of last year's service-learning tutors still work with the same children.

Through Learning a Lot From Others, a Duke program based in Walltown, Duke senior Genevieve Daftary and Riverside High School junior Miya Mitchell have developed a similarly continuous relationship: They are starting their fourth year of working together.

"She has gotten to the point where she likes coming just to pal around with me," said Daftary, co-director of the Community Service Center. "It's past the point where she needs me to sit down with her and make her do her homework." Mitchell called Daftary her best friend and sister, emphasizing that the tutoring aspect of the relationship is secondary to the friendship: In addition to motivating her to work, Daftary helps her think through her problems. Mitchell added that with past tutors, she has not worked as hard because she was not as devoted to them.

Tutees seem to understand that while the tutor-student relationship is transient, they can still soak up the academic help and friendship while it lasts. "I think they understand [that the tutoring will end], but they are excited to have someone interested in their lives for that period of time," said Claire Shippey, a guidance counselor at E.K. Powe Elementary School. "It's more detrimental when a tutor is not committed-if they don't show up, miss a session."

Associate Professor of Education Joseph Di Bona, who requires the students in his introductory education class to tutor, added that adjusting to the disappointment of a relationship ending is an important lesson of life. "When [the tutors] leave it's like 'parting is such sweet sorrow'... but that's built into anything," he said. "It's part of life, getting used to the ups and downs."

Although there may be a changeover in tutors from year to year, the permanence of the tutoring programs can prevent too much inconsistency. Senior Matt Alexander, president of CHANCE, noted that one student had participated in the same program throughout her high school years. As her tutors graduated or stopped volunteering, she would work with the other tutors with whom she became familiar by seeing them in the program.

Daftary added that the schools can count on the established programs to lend an air of consistency. "Even though it may be a different person each semester, it's still a Duke student," she said. "It's not like any school is just left hanging. A set program means they're there every year and the student will still have a tutor."

And despite the fantasies of tutors, not all students are looking for mentors; many simply want extra help with their schoolwork. "I mean, he was my tutor and I was his student," explained Joseph Alston, a sophomore at Jordan High School. "You can have that distance and still have a good working relationship."

Chris Shapperd, a junior at Hillside, said he goes to CHANCE purely for the academic help. "It's free tutoring, that's pretty good, and it's at Duke-they're pretty smart," he said. Kyle Richardson, a Jordan senior, added that he did not care whether he became friends with his tutor, as long as he received help with his homework.

Jewel Young, a freshman at Hillside who had four different tutors in middle school, said she views tutors as simply supplemental teachers. "They show up for just a short period...," she said. "My main concern is academic help, but I wouldn't mind a relationship."

Of course, some tutors are not looking to form relationships but want to keep everything at a business level. "It's difficult during the tutoring relationship if you are too close," said Brandon Craven, a Duke freshman who believes tutors must find a balance between camraderie and authority. "It can be difficult to get them to listen to you if you're their friend.... You need a certain level of respect for learning."

D.J. Bolden, a Duke junior who tutors for America Reads, agreed that business should come first. "Our purpose is to help them so they can pass the statewide test and grades, and I feel like as long as we've done that, we've served our purpose as tutor and that's a good feeling."

Still, Bolden acknowledged that once academics are settled, close ties can enhance the experience for both students and tutors.

"You build up a type of friendship that is more than a mentorship," he said. "These kids look up to college students and it's a friend-to-friend relationship. They trust you and talk to you. Problems might go beyond tutoring; they might talk to you about problems at home."

In finding the balance between authority and friendship, everyone agrees that students must like their tutors in order to gain from the experience. Many students said they had been unable to work for past tutors they had disliked. But when students enjoy time with their tutors, the short weekly sessions add excitement to an otherwise routine school day. "Students get connected with tutoring," Shippey said. "They get excited to see their tutor coming in."