7th November 2014 10:00
By Blue Tutors
Many parents hire tutors for their children to ensure that they receive the top grades that they are aiming for. Students may have been high achievers throughout their school careers, and want to make sure that their exam performance reflects that. For these students tutors need to make sure that any weaker subject areas are covered, and then they are free to work on expanding their students’ knowledge and enjoyment of their subject. In these cases, tuition is often really enjoyable for both the student and the tutor, and allows both to explore the subject in detail. But what about students who are really struggling? How does this change the lessons, and what approaches should tutors use?
The first thing to be said is that tutors who only want to teach high flying students probably shouldn’t be tutoring at all. Our job is to provide tuition that is tailored to the individual needs of our students, and we need to respond appropriately when we take on students who are experiencing multiple problems with their studies. Any number of tutors can help challenge academically able students, but the real challenge is finding a way to increase the understanding and enjoyment of students who are struggling and disheartened. This is a job which requires patience, and the ability to view problems from the point of view of a struggling student.
In order to help students who are finding their studies difficult, it is necessary to build up a good teaching relationship based on trust and mutual respect. Struggling students may have become used to feeling inadequate, or may have been ignored by their teachers for some time. In these cases the tutor must establish a more positive working relationship before they can tackle the student’s academic problems. Tutors often find that the problems are related – struggling at school leads to a lack of confidence, which leads to more struggling and the inability to ask for help. Showing students that you have faith in them, and creating opportunities for them to succeed is vital. It’s at that point which tutors can begin to work on academic problems.