DRAWING BOUNDARIES IN YOUR SOCIAL, ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL LIFE
Setting boundaries with people and systems in your life and career is an important part of self care. Without them, life, relationships, and professionalism become more difficult to manage and navigate. In order to help others, tutors should be able to set boundaries between their personal life and tutoring duties, as well as boundaries between themselves and students.
READ the following article about setting boundaries and reflect on these questions
- What are the benefits of setting boundaries?
- How have you set boundaries in your life that have helped you better navigate relationships and time?
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Open in new tab You can access a direct link to the article here: The Importance of Setting Boundaries
Boundaries in your Life
Before you can set boundaries in your work life, you can practice with situations in your life outside of academia. Setting boundaries in your personal life can be anything from saying no to last minute plans to take time for yourself after a long day, to telling your friend to stop bringing up that one embarrassing story from your 21st birthday, to asking your mom to stop calling you 3 times a day to check in.
READ through the following scenario and consider how you would handle the situation. Consider how one of your students might respond
Imagine you’re in the middle of a busy semester at school when a family emergency requires you to return home for the weekend. You decide to leave right after class on Friday afternoon to get home as soon as possible. You tell your roommate that you are driving home for the weekend and will be back on Monday. Your roommate replies, “Oh great! I need to catch a ride to the train station so I can meet my boyfriend in the city. You can drive me right?”
You know the train station is pretty far in the opposite direction of the route you need to take home. You worry you won’t have time to drop your friend off and get home in a timely manner and you’re already stressed about your family emergency.
What can you say to your roommate to let them know they can’t hitch a ride with you?
Boundaries in SWW Composition Program Tutoring
When working with students as a tutor, setting boundaries should be a priority. Because tutors are closer in age to students than the instructor, students may be quicker to trust or confide in a tutor. This can lead students to believe they are friends with tutors and therefore ask personal questions, or overshare personal information.
In these situations, it is important tutors let students know what is and isn’t appropriate in the tutoring setting.
WATCH “Personal Boundaries Explained”
To learn more, read the following article or visit the Resources Module
https://www.thesmujournal.ca/editor/the-importance-of-setting-boundaries
