Possibility of Tutoring 'system'

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Renlaenderin
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Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:29 pm
Location: Düsseldorf

Possibility of Tutoring 'system'

Post by Renlaenderin »

Before i start i would like say that i am aware the word Tutor will be striking fear into the hearts of longer term practitioners, and i am also aware that it would be an extremely difficult endeavour, and that I am new and some people will consider suggestions from new people to be presumptuous. Having said that i will continue!

I wondered if there would be any (at all) support for the idea of members willingly offering to tutor one other member who is new to Theravada Buddhism. What i mean by tutoring, is to connect more personally, say perhaps through email or even through the PM system on the forum, and to answer questions of that person, and be mindful of thier progression. The reason i suggest only one per tutor is that it could potentially be time consuming and quite an effort. I would also suggest that people should be accepted (by a method i havent thought of yet), to be tutors, and this would prevent the spreading of deliberate bad advice from members who have joined souly for the purpose of trolling.

These are my considered benefits:
  • Better group cohesion, people would feel more supported and part of the process
  • Guided learning and help from someone further along in the process than oneself
Problems:
  • It would be quite vulnerable to people signing up just to waste time. Sadly there are a great number of people willing to waste vast quantities of thier own time in order to waste parts of someone elses
  • It could through a shortage of longer term members create a waiting list and make people feel excluded
In all honesty i think it would be difficult to carry off successfully, but were it possible, it would be absolutely invaluable. What are your thoughts?
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Alobha
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Re: Possibility of Tutoring 'system'

Post by Alobha »

Hi Ren!

I appreciate your main-idea of people watching more carefully for each other and getting together so that they can make progress on the path :smile: That's not presumptuous at all.

However, what would the criteria be to determine who can be a tutor/teacher and who can't ?
...
How about shifting this idea slightly and making a forum for kalayana mitta (noble friends) pals ? That would mean that people could just put up a request for some friend who watches over them and then those could just start pm'ing or whatever they want. This would implicate that people don't get teachers, but pals who are on par with them. I'd prefer it this way because the status-quo is that we all can give advice on the forums here - but introducing a teacher-pupil system might discourage "pupils" from participating in discussions and threads.

Kind regards,
Alobha
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Possibility of Tutoring 'system'

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

One to one email correspondence is very time-consuming. I prefer to use forums, as at least some other users can benefit from the dialogues. If you find this forum too noisy and distracting, you can post on my forums at My Opera.
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mikenz66
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Re: Possibility of Tutoring 'system'

Post by mikenz66 »

General benefit is a key issue. I think the exception is when one wants some advice about something personal and doesn't want to raise the whole issue in public. In that case it might be useful to post a more general question, observe who responds well, and ask them a more specific question by PM.

:anjali:
Mike
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Ben
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Re: Possibility of Tutoring 'system'

Post by Ben »

mikenz66 wrote:General benefit is a key issue. I think the exception is when one wants some advice about something personal and doesn't want to raise the whole issue in public. In that case it might be useful to post a more general question, observe who responds well, and ask them a more specific question by PM.

:anjali:
Mike
Well said, Mike!

Ren, I think something is happening in a non-formal manner already. Some of us have developed closer relationships with other members which can function in a mentoring or oversight capacity with regards to practice, study or other life-related issues. And I am happy for these types of relationships to manifest naturally. As you are new, it may just take a little time for you to find others here who can provide that type of relationship for you. If however you have a pressing issue that you do not want divulged on the forum then I suggest that you do as Mike suggests above.
kind regards,

Ben
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Renlaenderin
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Re: Possibility of Tutoring 'system'

Post by Renlaenderin »

It was just an idea really and i wondered what the response would be. As it happens i agree with your responses. I had already forseen there might be more problems than benefits. I do like the forum for kalayana mitta idea though.

I am planning on getting to know people better, sorry you haven't gotten rid of me that easily!
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mikenz66
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Re: Possibility of Tutoring 'system'

Post by mikenz66 »

Hi Ren,

Not a matter of getting rid of people. As has been noted, there's no problem at all with members communicating one-to-one. But for generic questions we'd encourage posting on an open Forum.

:anjali:
Mike
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Renlaenderin
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Re: Possibility of Tutoring 'system'

Post by Renlaenderin »

it was just a silly joke, don't worry.
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