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What skills and other things do I need to know as a Tutor?

I'm in UNI and I'm thinking of becoming an A-Level Tutor as a part-time job but if everything goes well, this would be my first ever job. I generally got great A-Levels so I'm not worried about my qualifications, I'm more worried about how to truly teach someone.

For example, I'm already thinking about stressing the importance of practice papers, exam questions etc. but what are some other important skills that I need to know to become a good tutor?

Reply 1

Fibonacci28

With my style of tutoring, I'm not really a revision advisor, they will be told by school to do the past papers etc. Where I come in is the help with the methods they've missed out on learning/don't understand.

So this may be we do some questions together so I can see where the gaps are, and then I'll try and split up the components of the question/teach any knowledge or understanding gaps.

So skills would be communication. Seeing if you can explain important topics multiple ways because not all ways work for everyone. Patience is really important. Admin and organisation skills are really important because when you have many students keeping them from clashing with each other can be really hard.

Reply 2

Lilyanne2

Original post by Nice_100

it's useful to talk to the prospective student to find out what they need, and what the expectations of their family are (usually, they will be the ones paying you). Try to tailor your advice and style to what the individual student wants - some people will benefit from short tests (and maybe past exam papers), others will learn far more from discussing things. In the early days of being a tutor, you might find it a little hard to adapt your style, but with experience it will become easier. One of the most important skills is to get your tutee to like (and respect) you.