Leslie
Stelzer
Learning Assistance Center:
Peer Tutoring
I’ve learned many valuable things from working at the Learning Assistance Center. Not only does this job earn me money and allow me to provide a service to my fellow students, but it also has taught me how to be more responsible and how to manage time better. I’m thankful to have found a way to interact with the student body in such a productive manor. Working as a Peer Tutor at the LAC has given me the opportunity to attend different seminars that will help me be a better tutor and a better student. These trainings have helped me to prepare for graduate school, fill out a résumé, handle myself in a professional setting, as well as be prepared to act if there would happen to be a concerning situation anywhere on campus. Tutoring has taught me to constantly be evaluating your work and looking for ways to improve yourself. I’ve learned about leadership, and how your approach to being a leader can alter the way the person or persons you are leading react. Below is my reflection on the leadership theories that we discussed in one of our seminars. It has proved to be valuable information: information that I plan to carry out in my work as a tutor. I plan to take this information and all the other valuable lessons that I have learned at the Learning Assistance Center and use them to become a better tutor, student, and professional.
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I’ve learned many valuable things from working at the Learning Assistance Center. Not only does this job earn me money and allow me to provide a service to my fellow students, but it also has taught me how to be more responsible and how to manage time better. I’m thankful to have found a way to interact with the student body in such a productive manor. Working as a Peer Tutor at the LAC has given me the opportunity to attend different seminars that will help me be a better tutor and a better student. These trainings have helped me to prepare for graduate school, fill out a résumé, handle myself in a professional setting, as well as be prepared to act if there would happen to be a concerning situation anywhere on campus. Tutoring has taught me to constantly be evaluating your work and looking for ways to improve yourself. I’ve learned about leadership, and how your approach to being a leader can alter the way the person or persons you are leading react. Below is my reflection on the leadership theories that we discussed in one of our seminars. It has proved to be valuable information: information that I plan to carry out in my work as a tutor. I plan to take this information and all the other valuable lessons that I have learned at the Learning Assistance Center and use them to become a better tutor, student, and professional.
LAC Tutoring
Fall Semester
Spring Semester
If my first semester at the Learning Assistance Center was about learning, this second semester has been about improving.
I really worked to take what I learned my first semester and tried to use that information to better myself at tutoring. I would answer more open-ended questions, I would talk less during the sessions, and I would not let my difficulties in one session carry over into the next.
Overall, I feel really good about my progress as a tutor, and I’ve actually accepted a position as a Peer Tutor Mentor for the next semester! I’m very excited to have the opportunity to work with, talk to, and evaluate my other mentors so that we can all improve as a service for the University of Cincinnati. In the next semester, I obviously hope to continue to better my tutoring skills. I’m so thankful to have found an on-campus job that allows me to work so closely with and to help out the student body.
While I’m helping others, I also get to review the information myself, which is really good practice for me, as well! Especially in Spanish, I’ve realized that I’m able to understand the newer information better because I am constantly reviewing the old stuff. There are so many great aspects to this job, and I can’t wait to see the opportunities the new semester brings!
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There are various leadership theories that come into play in a professional or even natural setting, and especially in a setting like the Learning Assistance Center. “The goal of any organization is… to sustain its existence by improving performance. In order to meet [needs]…, organizations must continually increase performance... Strategic management theory focuses on the strategy and politics of organizational leaders. When we look at the sustainability and performance of organizations from this perspective the leadership style in organizations plays major role,” (Arslan). In order to improve and meet the needs of the student body, it’s necessary for the Learning Assistance Center to constantly evaluate the way things are led and organized within.
In McGregor’s Theory X and Y looks directly at the motivation and values of the employees and how that affects the way work is done. “Theory X and Theory Y are terms coined by Douglas McGregor to express the belief that managers’ behaviors are shaped by their assumptions about the motivation of their subordinates,” (Connor). Understanding that the behavior of the workers depends on the leadership style of the advisors is crucial to ensuring that the workers also have an effective leadership style with their students. This is why it’s necessary to analyze different leadership theories and discuss which ones will be the most effective in our specific roles.
In theory X, supervisors assume that their employees don't want to work, need to be forced and threatened to get things done, need supervision, and have to be enticed and bribed in order to do work. Due to this, supervisors adopt an authoritarian management technique. This means that the supervisors pay very close attention to how well things are being done and have a hard handed control in every aspect of work. In studies where Theory X is used, ‘the study’s main findings were that leaders with more X hypotheses get lower results concerning employee-judged leadership and quality aspects and, to some extent, lower results concerning health outcomes,” (Larsson).
Alternatively, in Theory Y, a more participative style of management is adopted. The workers in Theory Y like to work, are self-motivated, and don't need as much supervision. They are responsible and seek to work hard and make everything run smoothly. Theory Y is described to be more applicable in work settings, because it gives everyone a little bit of say in the decision making and makes everyone more of a "team" as opposed to "a queen bee and her worker bees." Everyone is encouraged to speak up and help to improve all of the processes of work.
As a staff member of the LAC, I think that we’ve attempted to adopt a Theory Y management style. With the many GROWL sessions... Click the link to read more!
There are multiple leadership theories that are helpful when performing as a peer tutor in the LAC. Out of all of these, I have found that Lewin’s leadership style helps me the most. Kurt Lewin (1890-2947) was one of the fathers of social psychology. “Lewinian Field Theory stressed that behavior is a function of the person and the environment,” (Wheeler, L). Essentially, he studied how the way a leaders acts influences how the group will react. Lewin’s theory of leadership discusses three types of leaders: autocratic, laissez-faire, and democratic.
According to an article by Vugt, “autocratic style leaders will do whatever they feel is necessary to provide the common good. They decide which group members should contribute how much without asking anyone for input.” An autocratic tutor would be the strongest influence in a session, making a majority of the decisions and telling the student what to do and how to do it. While it may be an efficient method of leading because of the ability to speed through work, demanding leaders leave the group feeling unmotivated. “Leaders who behave autocratically.. discourage subordinates from participating in decision making,” (Eagly, Alice H). In the LAC, this could lead to the student “checking-out” and feeling as if they are attending just another lecture. Our goal in the LAC is to provide a more personal method of learning, and for this reason the autocratic method should be avoided.
“A laissez-faire style leader does not have or seek control over group members, so they are free to decide for themselves what to do,” (Vugt, Mark V). In Lewin’s experiments, he found that people “…under laissez-faire leadership [become] less work-centered,” (Wheeler, L). While it may seem that the laissez-faire leader would be a fun person to work under, it is not a very efficient method of working. Without structure and motivation, not much would get completed with a laissez-faire tutor. The student may ask questions, but mostly I believe they would be not sure how to progress through a session without being provided structure or guidance. In the LAC, some structure is necessary to make the best use of our time with the student.
“In contrast, democratic style leaders will involve group members in the decision-making process,” (Vugt,Mark Van et al). Democratic leaders provide some structure and delegate tasks while allowing the group to have a say in how things operate. They collaborate with the group, so that everyone feels involved and motivated to work for a common goal. In the LAC, allowing the student to be a moving force in their own education is helpful to improving their learning experience. It is our goal as a tutor to become “obsolete,” so that the student may learn to educate themselves in the class in a way that works best for them. A tutor that leads sessions democratically will most likely see a student become more motivated and passionate about understanding the course work and improving their outlook... Click link above for more!