4th September 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
One of the things a private tutor will often have to deal with is their students’ overall well-being and stress levels. The spring and summer months are the worst time for this, as students are preparing for exams and waiting anxiously for results. This is one of the areas in which the role of a private tutor is very different from that of a teacher; teachers see a classroom full of students at a time, and usually don’t get to know their students’ personal issues in any great detail. Tutors may go for a session which turns out to be as much counselling as it is teaching.
It can be very difficult to strike the right balance between ensuring that students are prepared for exams, and allowing them space to share their anxieties. One of the most positive things a tutor can do to help is to give practical advice on dealing with stress which will help the student and make them more likely to succeed. Of course the most effective way of reducing stress levels is to ensure that a student is well prepared in advance. This means devising a reasonable and long term revision strategy, which covers the necessary points and doesn’t involve cramming and long hours. Last minute cramming is one of the most stressful things a student can go through, so avoiding it in the first place is obviously desirable.
However, some students will not have been so well prepared, or may have more significant gaps in their knowledge which a tutor needs to address. This will involve a more intensive work schedule, and it is essential that tutors keep an eye on the stress that this may cause their students. Tutors must assess each student, and ensure that they are not setting unreasonable goals for themselves. Whatever the work plan is, it must be achievable. Further, tutors can advise on food and sleep, which are both key to keeping stress at bay. Students who are working intensively may feel that they need to say up late to revise, but in reality the more intensive the revision, the more important it is to get a good night’s sleep. In order to cope with a rigorous schedule, tutors should emphasise the importance of regular, healthy meals and a regular, reasonable time to go to bed. It is in this way, rather than through a panicked, punishing schedule, that students will do the best that they can.