I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the last couple of months. I believe good tuition is a mix of all three, but what is the distinction between them, and what should a parent look for when employing a tutor?

In a nutshell,  teaching is the bit where we assess a child’s current understanding and create lessons that will plug any gaps and allow the student to progress onto their next steps. It’s a permanent cycle of Plan, Do, Review, with continual informal assessment at its core. Assessment doesn’t mean testing – there is plenty of that at school – it’s a process of watching, listening, and conversation. Teaching is about knowledge and understanding

Coaching is about encouraging the student’s self-belief and sharing skills that will prepare them  for the specific challenges they face, whether that’s external exams, or other targets set with them and their parents. You help learners understand how to learn, so they can apply those skills independently.

In my opinion – and I know from conversations with other tutors, that different tutors have different viewpoints – mentoring is the least hands-on of the three. It’s allowing the student the security of having someone they can chat through their ideas and their progress with, someone who will help them stay on track with their studies and gently steer them in the right direction.

So where exactly should your tutor fit in?

Well that’s a conversation to be had at the outset, and then reviewed as the student’s skills, and confidence increase. Some parents simply want a teacher – someone who will cover a curriculum and set homework to  support its delivery. In fairness, if that is what you are after, I’m probably not the tutor for you. Many parents don’t know exactly what they want though beyond simply helping their child and want advice about how best to help them and that’s where the coaching and mentoring often come in.

I’m going to speak about the ‘C’ Word.  No. not coaching, the other, nastier word. Society has largely moved on, into a post-Covid era (that said,  I still choose to run a Hepa filter when it’s windows-closed weather) but our youngsters do so having missed huge chunks of education, having experienced the frustration of online learning whilst sharing the bandwidth and devices with siblings and parents working from home and, crucially, having missed out on the kind of social interaction that promotes good mental health and self-esteem. We can’t ignore the impact that Covid has had. Tutoring in the post-Covid era is very different. It involves continual, informal assessment of knowledge and understanding, but it also needs intense of attention to emotional literacy, self-efficacy and general confidence (this is the bit I find most interesting), so that when our students leave, they are ready to tackle their exams, the next challenges, and to feel good about their prospects for the future.

So, after all these musings, what next? How will this affect the tuition I offer?

For the most part, not very much, coaching and mentoring has always been an integral part of each session, but I will be offering regular coaching and/or mentoring calls as a separate service, for those youngsters – and adults – who just want to check in from time to time, for a chat, reassurance and pointers  for what do next. These can be weekly, monthly, or on an ad hoc basis, subject to availability. So, if you are interested in this area of support, please give me a shout.

I’m always ready to listen.