A Level

The Role of the Tutor in Independent Learning

As students progress up the levels of education, the ability to be able to channel and shape their own  learning, rather than being spoon-fed by teachers, becomes a highly desired skill. During A-levels, teachers are less likely to hold their students’ hands, and encourage them to take responsibility for what they learn, and what work they do. By the time university rolls around, lecturers will assume all students can take their own notes, find their own background research and reading, and organise their own assignments. In order for students not to jump in at the deep end when they reach the first year of their degree, it’s best to start working towards independent learning as early as possible.

However, when you’re in classes that rely heavily on teachers, it can be hard to get an idea for how independent learning works: if you’re taught everything, and not given freedom to decide what you learn, starting this process is intimidating. This is where private tutors come in: they can provide the structure and the starting point for any students looking to develop this skill.

Tutors are there to help support whatever it is your child is learning at school. Whether this is going over past material, current topics, or exploring further information depends entirely on each individual situation, but this form of learning can be applied to anything. Tutors act as a bridge between the student learning alone and learning in a classroom environment, so there’s no better way for any pupil to spread their wings, and begin to go it alone.

Speak to your child’s tutor first off, and discuss that this is something you’d both like to develop. This way, your tutor can adapt their teaching methods to fit the end result. Instead of tutors supplying the answer to troublesome questions and queries, they can instead supply the tools for the student to find it themselves. These tools include where to find resources, how to speed read, the best way to take notes, and how to develop opinions that are thoughtful, well-reasoned, and supported by evidence.

Rather than the student leaving the classroom environment and muddling through large reference books and academic essays on their own, the tutor can act as a guide, signposting them through the process, without babying them or taking away their independence. Your child’s student can point them back in the right direction when research starts going off-piste, and this extra guidance can be the difference between getting buried in books, and triumphing over troubles.

As the majority of private tutors around the country, and indeed all of them doing online tutoring on MyTutor, are university educated, their independent learning skills have been honed to a fine point. They can form their own notes and channel what direction they want their education to take, so in terms of finding someone with the experience needed to help your child succeed in this area, there’s no better place to look than tutors.

Written by JC (Guest Blogger)

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