Tips for Tutors- 5 Key Strategies for Successful Tuition Sessions

The effectiveness of private tuition can be mainly accredited to the one-to-one teaching and learning that occurs. The tutor can get to know the student individually, streamlining the lesson to cater for their unique needs and abilities. This provides an opportunity for the tutor to try a variety of teaching techniques that might help the student to understand a topic effectively.

These are the strategies we’re going to discuss on this blog post, and I’m sure it will provide tutors some inspiration, especially when it comes to alternative and sometimes complementary ways of tutoring.

1. Build rapport and get to know your student well
Rapport is the glue that makes the tutor-student relationship productive. So, the main aspect of a tuition session is to be able to read your student and make them feel at ease. It’s recommended that you talk to them in a plain but respectful way and ask them about their interests and learning styles. Once rapport is established, students can easily open up, and they may even tell you their struggles, especially when it comes to academics.

2. Get an idea of the topic/concepts which will be a focus so you can prepare
The key to an effective tuition session is a well-prepared and individualised lesson plan, and this can only be accomplished when you know the topic/concepts that your student wants or need to learn about. That is why collaboration and communication are essential to your success since you’ll need to reach out to your student as well as their parents and map a better plan for learning.

3. Ask your students to prepare for lessons
While in class, or completing homework, students should be actively taking note of the questions or concepts they are struggling with. Ask your students to highlight, underline or write down the questions or concepts they are struggling with so that you can work through this with them during your lesson together.

4. Summarise each idea conceptually with an emphasis on when to use this skill
An effective tutor will always summarise each concept that they have discussed with their student. This will emphasise the importance of each idea and when they can use them in solving problems. Work with your student on understanding the language and when problems like this are likely to arise during problem solving. Link to real life situations if applicable.

5.Demonstrate a variety of revision techniques for your students to use for test and exam preparation
There are various revision techniques, but each student is unique, so one method might be useful while others may not apply to your student. That is why you should demonstrate a variety of techniques to your student and let them use the methods that are more suited to them. The important thing here is for you to show them several revision techniques that they can use for their test preparation.