Fostering Connections: Investigating Tutors’ Experiences in High Dosage Tutoring

Abstract

High Dosage Tutoring (HDT) is an intensive intervention focused on improving education equality through one-on-two math tutoring for vulnerable students. The intervention also focuses on the relationship between students and tutors, but barely any research has examined this relationship. This research explored how tutors experience the tutor-student relationship within the HDT-setting, by conducting 12 qualitative semi-structured interviews and 19 unstructured observations, with 12 participants. Results indicate that the tutor-student relationship is an important but diverse aspect of High Dosage Tutoring. Key components to a positive relationship are related to closeness, highlighting knowing students well and creating an open atmosphere. Socio-emotional components can also influence the tutor-student relationship, as well as how tutors perceive the role of sociocultural background. These results implicate more attention is needed for the role of sociocultural background and how this impacts the tutor-student relationship within HDT interventions. Future research should longitudinally assess tutoring relationships to grasp the causal relationship between tutor-student relationships, sociocultural background, and socio-emotional outcomes. Moreover, HDT should be studied in different contexts, to further understand the ecological context of the tutor-student relationship.