3rd August 2018 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The dynamic between a tutor and student can be very interesting. Obviously the tutor is ‘in charge’ in the sense that he/she has a responsibility to ensure that the lesson goes well and the student learns. The tutor being an expert in the subject also lends a sense of seniority to the tutor’s role during the lesson.
There is an interesting idea to consider, however, which is that, socially, students can be very advanced, maybe more advanced than their tutor, and there are certain aspects of tuition which tutors should not try and hide from their students. Honesty is a very important part of a lesson and without it, students can lose faith in their tutor.
For example, tutors can be nervous, especially if they are inexperienced or if it’s their first lesson with a student, and the student is likely to notice this. There is no point trying to cover this up with false bravado. Even though the nervousness is not because the tutor is bad at teaching, it doesn’t help the level of trust if the tutor does not embrace the situation and even say “sorry, I’m a bit nervous”.
When the tutor makes a mistake in a lesson, it can actually be a great way to make the student feel better when they realise that everyone can make a mistake, it doesn’t make you stupid. As soon as the tutor tries to hide the mistake, the student will notice and have less respect for the tutor. Explaining the mistake, and why the tutor made it can be a great way to help the student learn.