#546: Learning Through Service: How Tutoring Underserved Students Shapes Volunteer Tutors’ Perspectives on Equity

Tutoring provided by volunteers can help close the educational gap for underserved students. When accompanied by training or integrated into service-learning, tutoring can be educational and personally formative for tutors. In this study, 52 volunteer tutors provided online tutoring to underserved students for three months as part of a training program offered by a non-profit organization. Quantitative pre- and post-tests showed no significant changes in tutors’ sensitivity to injustice. However, qualitative reflections revealed a thorough understanding of educational inequity. Encounters with the lived realities of underserved students, such as a lack of parental support, left lasting impressions. Combined with guided reflections and exchanges during workshops, these experiences prompted the tutors to reflect on their own backgrounds and the emotions they evoke. Overall, volunteer tutoring, paired with workshops and written reflections, deepened knowledge on educational equity, fostered personal development through emotional engagement, and increased motivation to continue volunteering.