When I first started tutoring at the Bard Microcolleges, I thought my role was simple: help students understand the material. Break things down clearly. Help them get to the answer. But over time, I realized tutoring is about much more than the subject in front of you. It is about how people see themselves in relation to learning.
No matter the subject—whether it is math, writing, reading, or science—the challenge is rarely just the content itself. Many of the students I work with are not only learning new material. They are also unlearning narratives that have followed them for years. Narratives about what they are capable of. Narratives shaped by past experiences in school, by labels placed on them, and sometimes by systems that defined them according to their worst moments.
As a tutor, I am not just responding to a question on a worksheet or a paper. I am responding to a person who is actively trying to redefine how they see themselves.
One thing tutoring has taught me is that reading the word is never separate from reading the world. In his essay The Importance of the Act of Reading, Paulo Freire writes, “Reading the world always precedes reading the word.” I have seen this firsthand through tutoring. When a student struggles with a text, an essay, or even a math problem, it is not always about the material itself. Sometimes it is about confidence. Sometimes it is about fear of being wrong. Sometimes it is about feeling like they do not belong in academic spaces at all.
I remember working with a student who came into a tutoring session believing they were not a strong writer. At first, they approached texts as something separate from their own experiences and struggled to engage with the material beyond its surface meaning. As we worked together, they began making connections between the ideas in the readings and the world around them. They started identifying themes, asking deeper questions, and recognizing how their own understanding of the world could inform their interpretation of a text. The biggest change was not simply that their writing improved. It was that they began to see themselves as someone capable of contributing to academic conversations rather than just responding to them.
Students never walk into a tutoring session as blank slates. They bring their experiences, frustrations, insecurities, and understanding of the world with them. Because of that, tutoring becomes more than explaining concepts. It becomes about listening, building trust, and creating a space where someone feels safe enough to try.
I have seen what happens when that shift takes place. A student who once said, “I’m not good at this,” begins asking deeper questions. They start taking ownership of their learning. They begin engaging with ideas instead of avoiding them. Over time, they start seeing themselves as someone capable of learning and contributing, not just someone being judged. That transformation does not happen because a tutor gives someone the answer. It happens because someone begins to believe they are capable of getting to the answer themselves.
Isaiah Smith is a Bard College graduate with a B.A. in Mathematics and an incoming student in the Bard MBA in Sustainability program. He began his academic journey through the Bard Prison Initiative, where he discovered a passion for mathematics and education. Isaiah is a BPI Educational Fellow ’26 and a 2026 participant in Yale University’s NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates. His interests include mathematical modeling, sustainability, infrastructure, and educational equity. Through research, mentoring, and tutoring, Isaiah explores how education can expand opportunity and transform lives.
