17th August 2018 9:00
By Blue Tutors
So many students spend their school life worried about getting things wrong. One of their biggest fears is being asked a question in the classroom and getting it wrong. There is more pressure than ever on students to do well in their studies, but often they try to conceal that they’re struggling because they are embarrassed to admit to their teachers, friends and parents that they might, in their eyes, fail.
Concealing problems with a subject can spill over into tutoring. Lots of tutors experience a situation where their student is scared to say that they simply don’t know something because the student thinks they should know it, and worry what the tutor will think. The funny thing is that the tutor will almost immediately discover the lack of understanding; there really is no hiding place in one-to-one tuition.
It’s a great idea to have a frank conversation when a tutor thinks that a student is trying to cover up a lack of understanding. Tutors have a job to do. What the student has done in the past, and what has led them into the current situation is immaterial, and once the student understands that the best way forward is to be completely honest with their tutor then the lesson can be so much more effective. There should be no recrimination.
This conversation isn’t an easy one to have. Even if the tutor can create an environment where the student feels comfortable saying that they don’t understand, the student might still be worried that the tutor will confess everything to the parents. Obviously parents are interested to know how their son/daughter is doing, but there can be a certain amount of confidentiality in a lesson, and when talking to parents saying something constructive like “we’re really clearing up any misunderstanding of this topic” is very honest and also comforting for the parents.