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Chapter 8: The Many Hats Tutors Wear

The Many Hats Tutors Wear

Writing consulting is dynamic work that requires flexibility and emotional intelligence. As Leigh Ryan and Lisa Zimmerelli describe in “The Many Hats Tutors Wear” in The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors, tutors regularly shift between different roles, or wear different “hats”, in response to the needs of each session. These roles include:

  • The Ally: You provide emotional support and encouragement, building trust and validating a client’s concerns. This role requires empathy, patience, and the ability to make students feel understood.

  • The Coach: Like a sports coach, you remain on the sidelines, guiding without taking over the writing. You help writers build their own skills by posing questions (adopting the “expert reader” role), suggesting strategies, and prompting self-discovery rather than supplying answers and being too directive.

  • The Commentator: You offer perspective on the writer’s process, helping them see the bigger picture. This includes identifying recurring issues, clarifying goals, and pointing out how current revisions will serve them in future writing.

  • The Collaborator: Sometimes, a session becomes an exciting exchange of ideas. Collaboration can be energizing, but consultants must be mindful of their innately authoritative position and be careful not to dominate. The client should remain in control of their work, and the consultant must avoid inserting too many of their own ideas.

  • The Writing Expert: Clients often assume consultants are authorities on writing. Often, consultants do have stronger skills thanks to their training and innate interest in writing theory and practice. Still, when consultants reach the limits of their knowledge, they should model how to look up information or consult others, including utilizing library resources and the WC book bank.

  • The Learner: Clients will often bring in topics consultants may know little about. In these moments, consultants can embrace their role as curious readers. Asking clarifying questions not only improves the paper, it teaches writers to adjust for an unfamiliar audience.

  • The Counselor: Occasionally, writers will share personal struggles that affect their academic performance. Consultants can listen and validate these concerns, and also refer students to appropriate campus resources. When the content of a session raises safety concerns, consultants should bring it to their director’s attention.

These “hats” are not fixed roles but flexible approaches. Consultants often wear several hats in a single session, depending on the situation and the student’s needs, culminating in what the University of Wyoming Writing Center calls the ‘consulting persona.’

Adapted from Leigh Ryan and Lisa Zimmerelli, “The Many Hats Tutors Wear” in The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors, 7th ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.


How have University of Wyoming consultants developed their ‘consulting persona’ over time? 

Barbara B.

“As a writing tutor, you are a diagnostician, figuring out what kind of help the client actually needs (which sometimes isn’t what the client says they need). You conduct tests (“what do you mean here?”), come up with a diagnosis (“you seem to use words that don’t mean what you intend”) and offer remedies (“the best writing is clear and simple; big words aren’t always the best choices”).

Every consultation is unique. It’s a mix of the client’s personality and mood with mine, it’s finding a match between what the client thinks they want and what I think they need. Finding the right tone to create a connection between us is the key to success for me.  But it always has to be grounded in compassion and kindness.”

Virginia H.

“If I’m being honest, it took me awhile before I felt confident and comfortable in my persona as a Writing Center tutor. At first, I was terrified to be too pushy, and I would nervously try to read every sign from the client and base my feedback on that. Over time, I realized that I could be friendly and helpful while also being helpful and constructive. I could maintain a consistent personality and adapt my feedback based on each person’s needs. Now, I am kind and friendly, supporting the client and verbally recognizing the work they’ve done well. During appointments, I like to let the clients tell me their first impression of their writing after we read it so that I don’t seem like the villain; often, they point out the things that I notice. If they don’t point out something that probably needs to be addressed, I then tell them what I see. If they don’t seem interested/engaged, I take a step back. Often, though, they respond with enthusiasm and make the changes I suggest! I recommend deciding what consistent personality you want to have, and then adapting your level of feedback based on how each person responds.”

Hailey M.

“Working at multiple writing centers has helped to build confidence and authority in my tutoring persona. Explaining the same concepts to students from diverse backgrounds, disciplines, and writing experience has taught me to adapt to each consultation and find new ways to frame advice based on each student’s unique needs. Both at a small, interdisciplinary liberal arts college and at a large research-based university writing center, I’ve found that effective tutoring is largely about translating what you know into something that works for the student in front of you. My role is to provide my informed opinion to guide students in making their own decisions about their work.”

Anne W.

“There is considerable overlap between the work I do in writing center consultations and the work I do with clients in counseling. The biggest crossover between the two roles is the emphasis on providing clients with the necessary tools to help themselves. The goal of a consultant should be to foster students’ autonomy and help them build skills that will improve not just the project they are working on but their future writing as well. As consultants, we often see the student’s “problem” before they do. The “easier” option would be to jump in and fix the problem ourselves, but in doing so, we take away an opportunity for a client to learn and be autonomous in their decision-making.”

Gregory B.

“I find the notion of a consulting persona to be a little misleading. I have seen consultants who feel that they need to completely reinvent themselves when they step into the writing center. It is obviously necessary to remain professional and collegial in appointments. However, I would challenge you to think of times in school when you are interacting with your professors and other classmates as very similar to your work in the Writing Center. We often codeswitch whether we are talking to parents, friends, coworkers, children, etc. In this way, we also change and modify our behavior at work. I do not lay my personal burdens on my clients, and I do not expect them to share those things with me. However, they may have significant personal struggles with writing. When a client shares a vulnerability around their life or writing ability with me, I listen sympathetically and try to act within my role as a writing tutor to help them overcome these challenges. Sometimes, a client simply needs to vent that the particular assignment is ‘dumb’ or ‘confusing’. As a consultant, I can show sympathy to their plight without adding to the issue.

I have also had clients come in who need help on things that are sometimes writing adjacent or have nothing to do with what I am there to provide. I once had a client come in asking how to print a paper from his computer. Although this is not what a writing center serves to do, it is important for us to maintain positive relationships with the community we serve. Therefore, I aided him to the best of my ability. This small help allowed him to print off his document which was worrying him and it also allowed us to get to more writing centric work within that consultation. I have often had to engage in many different tasks and wear many different hats. The rule of thumb I have always used is asking myself, “Is this role constructive?” and “Do I feel comfortable and qualified in wearing this ‘hat?’” Without fail, adherence to those two questions has allowed me to function as a better tutor within the writing center.”

Erin B.

“I developed my consulting persona through the tried and tested route of trial and error. Getting experience is not only the best way to develop your consulting persona—it’s the only way. While there are things that I always maintain no matter the appointment (positivity, energy, asking questions, offering suggestions) it’s important to remember that sometimes you need to tailor your approach to what your consultee responds to. Because of this, I don’t exclusively identify with any one style of consultation. Some people need you to take the lead, while some people need you to just be a sounding board. What a consultee needs can be established through questions like What are your goals for this piece? What do you want to work on today? Etc. Keep an eye out for their actions during the consultation—do they seem excited to talk? Reserved? Confused? By combining what they tell you with what they show you, you can figure out how to approach them. Do they have specific, pointed questions? Then it’s probably okay to let them steer the appointment. Do they shrug at you and grunt? Start from the top and give more direct comments! Each consultation is different, which is part of the challenge and part of the fun of being a writing center consultant. Be flexible and adaptable, and your persona will develop as you gain experience.”

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