Gary Lichtenstein's Ethics Of Peer Tutoring In Writing

When discussing the practices of Writing Center consultants in his piece “Ethics of Peer Tutoring in Writing”, Gary Lichtenstein begins a list of ethics for tutoring by stating, “I think all tutors and teacher will recognize the first ethic, the no tutoring relationship can develop unless a tutor gains and maintains the trust of a tutee (30).” This quote stresses the importance of establishing a good relationship with a student writer, even placing it at the top of a list of ethical issues on the topic of writing tutoring. It was made clear why this ethic rests at number one on Lichtestein’s list when I did observations of writing consultants at the University of Nevada, Reno’s writing center. Good rapport between a consultant and student is

Rapport building was every bit as important in these sessions, but for a different reason. Students who came in for these reasons tended to be student who were more nervous about their ability to write and do well on assignments. Lichtenstein writes, “Most students correctly perceive their writing as a reflection of their ideas, but incorrectly perceive their poor writing as a reflection of stupidity…students feel quite vulnerable approaching any outside source for help in writing — especially a peer (30).” This excerpt clarifies yet another reason rapport build is so vital, a student who is more nervous about their paper often needs rapport building in order to be comfortable sharing their ideas and going forward with the writing process. This was especially true for a student in one of my later observations, who was unsure of their argument for a history paper. The consultant made sure to converse with them before, ask about their ideas, and give them praise when the opportunity arrises. After the student receive praise from the person they came to for advice, they became for confident sharing their ideas and evidence. The session was more effective because after she felt comfortable explaining her argument, the pair got more work