This essay aims to continue a conversation initiated in the 1980s about the contrasting terms "peer" and "tutor." This essay begins with a brief history of the terms, and applies Kenneth Burke's concept of identification to peer tutoring to attempt to explain these contradicting terms. Burke's theory of identification exemplifies the collaborative nature of peer tutoring wherein the peer tutor acts as a rhetor constructing new meaning through interaction and conversation with the tutee. Ultimately, peer tutoring's, and arguably Burke's, purpose is to continue helping people collaborate, arrive at new understanding, and overcome differences.
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Joshua Clements (2024) studied this question.
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