• We do beneficial things, but I don't see a big improvement...

• It's difficult to make progress...it's not something that's a huge aspect of [the learner's] life...

• It's difficult to advance with only two and a half hours a week...

During an initial analysis of the data, a curious situation surfaced: almost all tutors stated that their learners had made little or no progress, yet these tutors also had made little effort to use the support and resources of the organization to encourage more learning. Given that people volunteer with a desire to help someone, this lack of contact with the organization in face of questionable progress seems contradictory.

It is important to note that learner "progress" is not measured by the organization (using tests, portfolios, etc), and that the tutors' reports of progress are subjective reports. Their learners could not interviewed for this study. The tutors' reports of how much progress their learner had made indicated some tutor dissatisfaction with the match. Only one tutor was completely positive about the learner’s progress (and notably this learner was involved in formal education outside the organization); all the other tutors gave a mixed report. Three tutors reported little progress; seven other tutors reported that they felt inadequate, lacked feedback from their learners, did not have enough direction in the tutoring, or sensed that the learner was not committed to the relationship or was not communicating their needs.

Despite tutors' poor assessment of their learners' progress, the tutors did not turn to the coordinators or use other resources in the organization for advice and support. Contact between tutors and the coordinators monitoring their matches is supposed to occur in two ways: tutors are asked to submit monthly progress reports, and coordinators are supposed to call the tutors to check in with them at regular intervals.

Tutors rarely fill out the monthly progress reports. One tutor stated: "It forces me to evaluate [the learner] and I don't want to". This tutor also commented: "It's constraining and silly. If I fill out a monthly report who beside me will know what's going on?". This rejection of "evaluation" indicates that tutors may not see their match as part of a larger organization that needs to keep records. More importantly, it may signal that tutors are uncomfortable with evaluating progress and reporting on the learning content of the match. The coordinators who receive the forms were also divided on the issue: one mentioned that it is difficult to note progress every month, and that since tutors are constantly changing during the match "whose progress is being evaluated?". Two coordinators stated that tutors need to know that their actions go beyond them, and that the forms assist both the coordinators and future tutors. The other coordinator noted that the forms only get done by those tutors who are dedicated to the organization, drawing an interesting distinction between tutors who are dedicated to their learners and tutors who are dedicated to both their learner and the organization.

Continued...