Developing Leadership Skills

This section is a work in progress and needs expansion. If you have anything to add, please email the director.

As writing tutors and college employees, you are student leaders. Sadly, the K-12 system in the US doesn’t always do a good job of teaching and supporting leadership. The following readings are about how you can build your skills to be an effective and confident leader and mentor.

Mentoring

You are now a seasoned writing tutor. You have experience, insight, and leadership skills. You can provide substance and continuity in the Writing Center. You can help new tutors to learn the details of the job and to understand and apply Writing Center principles and practices. You can praise them when they do well, reassure them when they falter, and kindly help them to stay on track. You are a crucial link in the learning process. You remember what it’s like to be new; now’s your chance to help others through this stage. Do your best to be a strong mentor. Always strive to be a good example of focused, friendly professionalism, and when you help the new tutors to learn, you, yourself, will learn more and more each day.

Mentoring Details

You will be mentoring others and continue to experience mentoring yourself. Part of our co-learning ethic is ongoing co-mentoring, which means guiding and learning with and from any tutor, new or returning, whenever opportunity allows (really everyone’s a mentee and a mentor, even the newbies!). But do pay particular attention to your assigned mentee and the other new tutors who are in their first quarter in the writing center. This makes sure each new writing tutor has a clear support system in place.

The first two weeks

• Participate in orienting new tutors by touring/orienting them to the WC (especially our reference & handout resources), as well as the other centers, having them observe your tutoring sessions, going over workshop materials & observing of the workshops, and meeting with them to answer questions and dispense wise advice.
• Participate in two initial co-tutoring sessions with the new tutors (after observations and conversations have occurred). Your role is to help them learn the process, not, of course, to evaluate. In the first co-tutoring session, take the lead but have the newbie participate as a partner, a true co-tutoring. In the second session, let the newbie take the lead, but—unlike observations when you stay out of the session and let the tutor on duty work out the details unless he or she asks for help—feel free to take part in the conversation to help the newbie and the writer have a successful session.
• Show new tutors how to access and use the resources on the WC website, wiki, WC Online, and Canvas.
• Provide training to new tutors as needed in writing center policies and practices.

Mid-quarter

• Plan to do co-observations with fellow tutors in week 5-6 of the quarter. See Canvas for details. You’ll observe and be observed, share your notes, and sit down with your fellow tutors and share what you see and what you learn from each other.

Throughout the quarter

• Check in with your mentees regularly and see how they’re doing. If you notice they’re struggling, or if they ask you for help, offer to observe or to be observed. Everyone should get and give feedback to each other, not just writers.
• Gently remind each other of due dates, policies, and homework. Be accountable to each other.
• Actively participate in training sessions both as a learner and in leadership roles to help guide new tutors and enrich the training for everyone involved.

Readings

How to be a leader: Advice for college students on developing leadership qualities: from Cengage Brainiac

Tips for Students: Leadership Qualities — Staying On Target: by Tami Strang

5 Issues You’ll Face as a Student Leader: by Allison Crist

The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership: from The Student Leadership Challenge