Introduction

If you’re interested in becoming a more effective tutor, seeking a tutor certification, or if you’re just starting out, then this book is for you. Our goal is to provide you with a practical foundational overview of the knowledge and skills necessary to be a supportive and capable tutor for adult students.

This book will cover the topics identified by The College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) as essential knowledge and skills for tutor instruction. CRLA’s tutor training program sets a widely accepted standard of skills and training for tutors as part of an internationally recognized Tutor Certification.

Upon completion of the book, tutors will have knowledge and understanding of the chapter topics and a foundational understanding of the CRLA tutoring philosophy. Guidance is also provided for applying the knowledge and skills presented in these chapters to a tutor’s interactions with students.

How to Use this book

Consider this Handbook your Intro to Tutoring 101. It covers the fundamental information and skills tutors must know to be effective and supportive in their role. Hopefully, it will guide your approach in your work with students and be a useful reference as you continue to grow as a tutor.

This book is organized into two parts. Part I lays the groundwork for our approach to tutoring, with basic definitions, the CRLA tutoring philosophy, tutoring ethics, and guidelines.

Part II introduces essential tutoring skills. These chapters need not be read in any particular order, so feel free to jump around to the sections that most interest you; however, each section offers an essential piece to a complete and holistic approach to effective tutoring. This handbook may be used to support a CRLA Tutor Certification training curriculum.

Each chapter provides some basic information on the topic, with real-world examples. In each chapter you will find questions for reflection, and helpful exercises in applying the concepts in tutoring sessions.