Tips for Tutors

In all successful teaching and learning relationships, the relationship between the tutor and student must be built on trust and mutual respect. The main focus of the lesson is tailored to one person’s needs, interests and abilities, so the tutors understanding of each of these aspects is paramount. This also 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 (including interests and preferred learning styles)

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 their academics.

1. Get an idea of the topic 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 concepts that your student wants to work on 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.

1. Teamwork

Ask your students to highlight, underline or write down any questions or concepts they don’t understand. This way, you won’t waste time trying to assess their prior learning and get straight to the concepts and ideas they are struggling with. If all questions are similar, you might be able to create a summary together after helping them work through the tough questions.  

1. Summarize each idea conceptually with an emphasis on when to use this skill

An effective tutor will always summarise each concept they have discussed with their student. This will emphasise the importance of each idea and when they can use them in solving problems. It could also be useful to link each concept with others that are relevant or may be used in parallel.

1. 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 method that is more suited to them. 

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