6th July 2018 9:00
By Blue Tutors
When you ask a tutor which part of Tutoring Standards’ pedagogy they found it most difficult to get used to, they will probably say holding the space. The idea is simple: ask the student a question and wait patiently for an answer. The answer might come instantly, but it might take the student some time to think carefully and give their answer. Another option is that the student won’t answer at all, and will be anxiously waiting for the tutor to break the silence.
For anyone who hasn’t tutored properly before, this can be intimidating; they are aware how difficult students can find the method. Many of our tutors’ first experiences of the method was at Oxford and Cambridge as students themselves, and it can be terrifying. For a 15 year old who has only ever been taught in a classroom setting it’s a shock. For the first time ever students are being asked to think about something and being given time to do so; something which is so difficult for a classroom teacher to do.
What’s interesting is that after a few lessons (albeit difficult lessons for both tutor and students) students begin to really enjoy the correct way of tutoring. For the first time in their lives they are being given the space to learn in an ideal way, and it’s fun. Once the fear of being ‘tested’ is taken away, students realise that the tutor is genuinely trying to help and not catch them out.
We always say to tutors that they should really push through those first few, potentially awkward, lessons because once students start to feel comfortable it’s such an amazing way to learn. Sometimes we forget that learning is genuinely fun, and for someone who doesn’t find it fun, it’s usually because they’re not being taught properly. Take away peer pressure, competition and the other anxieties we have when we’re teenagers, and there’s little which is more enjoyable.