Hiccups and Nightmares:Some Problems in Tutoring Role Play Exercises

Interpersonal skills training is commonly carried out by skilled tutors who provide feedback and guidelines to trainees, based on their performance in role played interactions. Unfortunately, such tutoring sessions do not always go as planned. The result may be minor “hiccups” which impair the smooth flow of the proceedings or a “tutor's nightmare” where all appears lost. It can be very unnerving for the inexperienced tutor who encounters problems such as a role player who dries up or a course member who resolutely refuses to accept feedback. In this article we describe 13 of the more common tutoring problems, together with our suggestions concerning ways in which they may be handled. These suggestions are not intended to be prescriptive, but they may provide trainee tutors with something to fall back on whilst they are developing their own ways of handling tutoring problems.