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St. John’s facultymembers
are referred to as “tutors”
rather than “professors”
to signify that it is not
their chief role to profess
or lecture but to guide stu-
dents through the program
of study. Most hold doctor-
ates in particular fields,
but all teach across the
curriculum. In seminars,
tutorials, laboratories, and
preceptorials, tutors shape discussion by asking questions, supplying help-
ful examples, and encouraging students to explore the implications
of their own statements. During class, tutors actively listen as students
work through the difficulties of a text or scientific proposition, raising
questions along the way but allowing students to arrive at answers for
themselves. Not surprisingly, tutors often find that their own questions
and understandings are deepened, and even transformed, by this process.
Who are
St. John’s
tutors?
Teaching outside their
fields of expertise
allows
tutors to approach the
curriculum in fresh ways
and keeps them asking
thoughtful questions. It
also ensures that tutors
focus on their students’
education. By attending
weekly meetings with
colleagues teaching the
same classes and
participating in faculty
study groups, tutors gain
competence in the full
spectrum of the liberal arts.
Tutors are available to
talk with students
at
almost any time—not
only during specified
office hours. In addition,
through the “Take a
Tutor to Lunch” program,
St. John’s students may
invite tutors to join them
for a lunch paid for by
the Dean’s Office.
Guiding students in the
art of conversation,
tutors model ways of
approaching difficult
and abstract material.
Without specific agendas
or methods, they allow
the subject matter to
channel the discussion,
improvising as they
gauge the understanding
of everyone around the
table. Most often, this
process results in greater
insight than students
could gain on their own.