31st March 2011 9:00
By Blue Tutors
We recently wrote an article about what Blue Tutors communicate to our tutors and students when we match them together, but we didn’t discuss what a tutor should do, and it’s something we’re asked a lot, particularly by new tutors.
The more experienced a tutor becomes, the more likely he or she is to have a standard procedure when first put in touch with a student. Some tutors send questionnaires to a student to discover why the student wants help, and which areas they might be struggling with, other tutors ask to see a sample of the student’s work to try and identify why the student isn’t doing as well as he or she would like. We should bear in mind that often students think they know what the problem is, when in fact it’s something else entirely.
A common procedure is to simply have an extended phone call with a student, or a brief meeting. This can help because both parties are able to establish their expectations for tuition, or also agree on the arrangement of lessons. Given that private tuition is so much about how well tutor and student get on, this kind of conversation is also a good ice-breaker before proper lessons begin.
Of course, in a situation where a student’s exams are imminent, these kinds of introductions are sometimes dispensed with. It’s not that the procedure before tuition is any less important, but students can be blinkered by the urgency of the lessons, and any time that isn’t spent actually learning can feel like wasted time. As a tutor you simply have to try and cope with this as well as you can, and appreciate that although your usual procedure might still be a good idea, a student’s emotional state has to be considered and managed.
As we’ve mentioned before, ultimately the tutor should take the initiative during the pre-first lesson procedure. It instils confidence in students if a tutor appears to know how to act, and what to discuss before lessons begin. It should be pointed out that appearing confident before lessons begin is no indication that the tutor can help, just as lacking confidence doesn’t indicate that a tutor won’t be able to help, but if a tutor looks like he or she is in control then the student will approach the first lesson in the best state of mind.