Newly formed writing centers are forced to answer the question of who should work as tutors. Teachers and students are the two main groups considered for the job. Each brings its own set of pros and cons, and a writing center should base its decision on the type of school it is and the views of its students.

Teachers as Tutors

Teachers bring a lot of experience to writing centers, and could be very helpful to writers. If a writer is struggling with certain aspects of their paper they may want a teacher to help them and give them helpful tips. A writer may be more confident about their paper if a teacher has talked them through certain parts, because they expect that the teacher knows best.

While teachers are very helpful, they can also be very intimidating and misleading. Students do not want to feel like they are being judged, so it may be harder for them to show their paper to someone who is an authority figure. Most of the time students want informal, outside sources to look over their papers, rather than teachers who may be giving them grades.

Some teachers can also be misleading, because they have their own ways of grading and may do things differently than others. Teachers working in the writing center may try to get the student to change their paper in a way that is pleasing to them, but not necessarily to the teacher that made the assignment. Also, teachers may edit the writer's paper more than actually help them with their writing, which takes away from the purpose of a writing center.

When beginning a writing center it may also be helpful to look at the size of the institution. Teachers as tutors may not be very worthwhile in smaller schools, because the student population is smaller and more able to make individual appointments with teachers.

Students as Tutors

Student tutors are much less formal, and may make the people visiting the writing center feel more comfortable. Writers visiting the center can speak with peers about their papers while working together in a collaborative, rather than authoritative, way. Student tutors have a better understanding of the frustration felt by the writers coming into the center, because it was not too long ago that these tutors felt the same way. Student tutors can share their own experiences, while working with the writer in a less critical and judgmental way than most teachers.

Student tutors are less likely to focus on what an individual teacher wants. Students are much less biased about writing styles, and they do not usually have a set way of doing things that will influence what they tell students to do. Student tutors are trained to look at the organization of a student's paper, rather than the grammar mistakes present. Because student tutors are not professionals, they are less likely to point out all major mistakes and change the way a student writes their paper.

There are, however, problems with having students work as tutors. Students are not nearly as experienced as teachers, and it may be harder for writers to accept that a student in the same grade as them has enough experience to help them with their paper.

How to Train Tutors

There are many training methods that can be used in writing centers, with some being more standard than others. The following methods have been successful when utilized in our writing center.

Having a Class for Writing Tutors

Most current writing centers have a class they teach to their tutors. In this class, tutors learn about the writing center, its purpose, and its distinct set of guidelines. The tutor learns that they are not working in the writing center to edit papers or to make friends. The purpose of a writing center is to help students with their writing so that in the future they can feel more confident writing their paper without the assistance of others.

The class also shows tutors the different situations they may be faced with and how they should handle them. Ethical dilemmas, plagiarism, and the tutor's responsibility are all discussed in great length, so that every tutor feels comfortable while conducting a session. If the tutor is not confident, the writer will have a hard time getting comfortable and paying attention to the tutor.

The classroom is also a place for tutors to practice what they have learned, by working together on projects, editing sample papers, and writing papers of their own. The class prepares the tutors for what is to come and provides them with various methods and approaches to use in the writing center.

Media

Media sources can be useful in showing tutors the different situations they might be faced with during sessions. Helpful videos and illustrations allow tutors to get a clear view of how tutors should interact with the writers, make suggestions, and more. Writing centers can easily make their own videos to show tutors what not to do in a session, as well as ways to work with different students. An example of these types of videos can be found on the [[http://writing2.richmond.edu/training/tough/index.html][ Training for Tough Tutorials]] website made by the University of Richmond.

Apprenticeships

If a center already has tutors, it may want to consider training new tutors through apprenticeships. In these apprenticeships a tutor-in-training will be assigned to a tutor in the writing center. The tutor-in-training will act as an apprentice by going to the writing center appointments and observing each session that takes place between their tutor and different writers. While the apprentice may not interact with the writer, they get to see the ways in which their tutor addresses certain issues, such as a lack of argument or thesis, concerns about citations, and more. Apprenticeships work like the videos, except that the apprenticeship sessions are not set up and provide the tutor-in-training with more firsthand experience.

Books and Other Materials

Various reading materials will provide tutors with a clear understanding of the different approaches they can take to help writers with their writing, not just with their papers. [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312440685/sr=8-2/qid=1145836625/ref=sr_1_2/103-7944047-5090208?%5Fencoding=UTF8][ The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors]], by Leigh Ryan and Lisa Zimmerelli, provides tutors with helpful tips they can use in the writing center. It discusses how to cope with different writers, how to begin a writing session, how to help with the different stages of the writing process, and much more. Tutors need to have books that they can easily flip though, in case they have a specific question that needs to be answered. The easier the book is to read, the more likely the tutors will use it throughout their careers in the writing center.

Online sources can also be useful, for both the tutors and the writers. University of Richmond has created a website called [[http://writing.richmond.edu/writersweb/][ Writer's Web]] that gives writers and tutors resources to use while writing papers. Writers can use this page if they have a question about writing an introduction, how to cite sources, etc., and tutors can use it to answer different questions a writer may have. Online sources are easy to use if a tutor has easy access to a computer, because then they can print out pages for the writer or show them how to get to the site. It can sometimes be harder to do this with a book, unless the tutor is willing to loan or copy the pages for the writer.