Creating Learning Partners: A facilitator’s guide for training effective adult literacy tutors

Activity B

Ways to handle difficult situations

The next set of activities helps tutors think about how to handle difficult situations that may impact or influence learning. Several examples of actual situations tutors have encountered in other programs are provided. Tutors have the chance to brainstorm solutions or ideas as a group. The skills they develop through this process will help them problem-solve with their learners.

You may choose just one or a combination of the processes below, depending on what best fits the needs of your tutors and the resources in your program. There are options for training one tutor as well as for working with large groups. You may want to use the learning situations provided or might prefer to use ones that are more common in your program. Discuss with your tutors ways to work with learners in these situations.

Thought-provoking questions

Building on the belief that the tutor and learner are partners in seeking solutions, how can the tutor communicate that belief to the learner? How might this approach be similar to or different from other experiences of seeking or providing help?

Option 1 Reflection, use of handout, discussion
Why choose this option? This will work well if you are training just one tutor. You may also choose this option if neither you nor your potential tutors are comfortable with role-playing (as suggested in the second option) or if you do not have a tutor available to come in as a guest speaker (as suggested in the final option). Materials and equipment Handout 4.4: Learning Situations Slips of paper Box or container Preparation Review any policies and procedures your program has for handling situations involving tutors and learners. Review the Learning Situations handout, which is based on real tutoring experiences. Choose ones that reflect your program. Use your choices in the following activities. Make a copy of the Learning Situations handout and cut the situations into separate pieces. Be sure not to cut up the original handout or you won’t be able to use it next time! Put the cut-apart situations into the container. STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS Have tutors write down on slips of paper the situations that concern them. Have them put the slips into the container with the situations you have prepared. Have tutors take turns pulling a situation out of the box and reading it aloud. Discuss as a group possible solutions, ideas or approaches. Add comments that reflect your experience or your program’s policies. Be sure your tutors understand you are there to help them resolve difficult situations.

Option 1 Reflection, use of handout, discussion

Why choose this option?

This will work well if you are training just one tutor. You may also choose this option if neither you nor your potential tutors are comfortable with role-playing (as suggested in the second option) or if you do not have a tutor available to come in as a guest speaker (as suggested in the final option).

Materials and equipment

Handout 4.4: Learning Situations
Slips of paper Box or container

Preparation

Review any policies and procedures your program has for handling situations involving tutors and learners. Review the Learning Situations handout, which is based on real tutoring experiences. Choose ones that reflect your program. Use your choices in the following activities.
Make a copy of the Learning Situations handout and cut the situations into separate pieces. Be sure not to cut up the original handout or you won’t be able to use it next time!
Put the cut-apart situations into the container.

STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS

Have tutors write down on slips of paper the situations that concern them. Have them put the slips into the container with the situations you have prepared.
Have tutors take turns pulling a situation out of the box and reading it aloud.
Discuss as a group possible solutions, ideas or approaches.
Add comments that reflect your experience or your program’s policies. Be sure your tutors understand you are there to help them resolve difficult situations.

Variation

Another way to generate ideas about difficult situations that might be challenging is to create a collective story, adding creativity and possibly some humour to the exercise. Record the story on a flip chart sheet. You can suggest an opening sentence and each person adds a sentence as you go around the circle. For example, an opening sentence might be: “Jiri walked into the tutoring session at the library in tears.” Once everyone has added a sentence or two, you can identify the challenges that have surfaced in the story. You may opt to break into pairs or small groups to brainstorm how to respond as a tutor.