Tutoring as Conversation

Recently, I have been reading a book related to composition pedagogies (Tate, Rupiper & Schick, 2001) which talks about the idea of the writing tutorial center as a place, in the words of Eric Hobson related to "cultural conversation and negotiation from which knowledge emerges”  (p.170-171) I like this kind of metaphor because it relates to the anxieties that I have as a tutor for ESL students. While the tutor is sometimes expected to "disseminate meaning"  and even "plan" the educational experience, I lately prefer to think of the tutoring relationship as that of a conversation between different cultures and perspectives. Knowledge is not being delivered from one "knower" to another, but is constantly being negotiated. Does this lead to a kind of epistemic relativism? From my own experience, it is more about continually readjusting my style as a tutor to match the specific circumstances of the learner, as well as allowing myself to learn about how to resonate with that learner. Without going into the specifics of what is being taught and learned, the process of what gets to be the focus of learning is always being negotiated.
   To give a simple example, in my tutoring session this morning, I focused on the grammatical point of modals, particularly future "possibles" using if-would statements. I did this by teaching the basic uses of modals through a grammar book, followed by an example of an article on the future of human evolution in National Geographic which talks about how humans in the future might manipulate their bodies in the wake of genetic and biomedical engineering advancements. Hence, I tried to combine a lesson on grammar with an actual topic of relevance. However, the topic then shifted as the student started to talk more conversationally when we discussed experimenting on animals. This topic seemed to hit a chord with the student, because we then started discussing how animals are used in experiments and whether it is ethical or not. In my mind, I shifted my understanding of the learning away from something purely grammatical and toward something that is related to the student's interests and context, being a person who buys products that use animal experimentation. In this case, the topic of "what is to be learned" shifted away from formal "rules" of grammar and toward a more free-form conversation
   Some might suggest that this approach goes too far away from the original intention of the lesson. However, the point is that the lesson has a particular trajectory: teaching some mechanical rules followed by an application in an article, followed by a conversation that is improvised based on some of the topics that come up (directly and indirectly) from the lesson itself. Ideally,the three stages might be combined, and this is where some kind of dialogue is a useful way of constructing the topic. However even this process can be free flowing and not necessarily planned.
   I find it quite intriguing that the "meanings" made in tutoring sessions are never controlled or predicted. Rather than seeing learning as an offshoot of some "central branch" of knowledge, could all learning itself just be never-ending branches that intersect in some places and fan outward ? The lesson plan is not designed to impart core knowledge but rather to create the optimal conditions for improvisation to take place.

Tate, G, Rupiper, A. Schick, K (2001), ed. A Guide to Composition Pedagogies. New York: Oxford University Press