Hope, happiness, and reciprocity: A thematic analysis of preservice teachers' relationships with their reading buddies

Abstract Tutoring is an important and effective means of helping young readers and writers who are experiencing difficulties. However, little is known about what kinds of relational qualities might accompany successful tutoring or how we might identify them. To address these issues, we analyzed the reflective writings of tutors in 10 tutor‐student pairs classified as “very successful” or “less successful” by student achievement assessments. Results suggest that very successful tutoring pairs were deeply engaged in the human activity of caring and reciprocity. They also expressed a deep commitment by envisioning their students’ futures in a hopeful manner and engaged in continual revision of their teaching. Less successful tutors had more conflicted relationships. Results suggest that helping tutors with strategy instruction and developing strong positive relationships with those they tutor may increase benefits for children.