5th March 2017 1:00
By Blue Tutors
Preparation
The first thing a tutor needs to be is prepared. Firstly, know your material; this gives you the confidence and authority in the subject that you need to exude so a student believes that there is something useful they can learn from you. This respect is vital in setting an expectation of behaviour and commitment to things like homework. You need to not only know your subject inside out, but have a plan for each lesson as well as longer term goals so that you can evaluate progress. Good learning involves reinforcing and building on knowledge so even if lessons themselves are free flowing, there still needs to be an overriding structure, particularly when aiming towards a specific qualification or deadline.
Flexibility
You also need to be able to throw the plan out of the window. Every student is different and every situation is different; tutoring is a truly personalised process. You might be asked a question you did not anticipate and end up on a tangent, but if this demonstrates what you are teaching in action in a way the student is really engaged with, run with it! Equally, teaching two students the same syllabus will be very different, you need to be able to explain the same concept in many different ways, with innumerable examples, and use all of the different resources and teaching methods available.
Patience
As a tutor, you should be teaching subjects you have a significantly higher level in than you are teaching, and are probably naturally adept in that area. Conversely, most tutees are requesting help as it is one of their weaker subjects. That means you need to learn to be patient when covering material that might seem trivial to you but is a new and difficult concept for your student. The key to learning is repetition, so a tutor needs to be able to patiently go over the same material again and again.
Listening
Unlike teaching a large classroom of students, tutoring involves a personalized approach. Lessons should be a dialogue not a speech. It is vitally important to give the student space to not only answer but ask questions. The conclusions and rationale student come to themselves will stuck with them much longer. You need to be able to pick up on verbal and non-verbal signs as to whether the student is understanding the material you are covering and building confidence. If not, change tack. You also need to be willing to listen to feedback from parents and tutees alike to make sure you are also progressing your teaching and still serving your students well.
Trust
It is vital to build a genuine relationship with every student early on. Again, this will take a very different form for every student, but you always need to be open and honest. The student needs to have confidence in your abilities but also not feel intimidated or worst of all embarrassed to discuss things with you. It is helpful for many tutees to know that someone who has clearly mastered a subject has struggled in areas before and managed to overcome it so examples of your struggles are often useful to include. You should never lie to a student and if they ask a question you are not confident to answer, tell them, and get back to them in the next session. Once you have established trust with a student, it is easier to push them to newer ground without them closing off.
Inspiration
The best tutors inspire their tutees to enjoy learning and motivated them to commit to their education. For this you need a huge stock of energy and enthusiasm to get over tiredness, frustration and negativity students tend to have built up around a subject before deciding to enlist outside help. Sessions need to be fun, not an additional chore. Keeping a student engaged and motivated to study while giving them the organisational skills to manage their own learning is arguably the biggest contribution a tutor makes to their student’s education as it lasts long after sessions have finished.