The Benefits of Private Tuition
The benefits afforded by private tuition can be enormous. You will have the advantage of a whole teacher to yourself, with their lesson plans and strategies of teaching designed just for you! It seems impossible to doubt the enormous benefits this will offer.
In a classroom, one teacher may be faced with around thirty pupils, each with different abilities, different rates of learning, and individual strengths and weaknesses; yet despite this, for the majority of the lesson the teacher will be forced to treat his class as if it contained just one student. He or she will orate from one end of the classroom, unable to gauge how effectively each pupil is assimilating the lesson. The lesson plans will be designed to fit the needs of the average pupil; and the teacher will proceed at a rate suitable for the average pupil.
In this environment it is all to easy for a bright child or adolescent to fail to grasp one particular point, as the swathe of teacher talk washes over them like the unrelenting tides. It is unlikely even the best of teachers would spot the particular point of misunderstanding cast on the countenance on one pupil, hidden amongst so many other faces. To draw attention to their lack of understanding can be intimidating for the pupil: everyone else is silent, so they must have understood.
Do I want to draw attention to myself? All too often the misunderstanding goes unexpressed and unaided. The obvious benefit of one to one tuition is that the tutor can tailor their teaching style to the abilities of their student. They will be able to gauge the level of the pupils understanding, and, more importantly, track down the sources of misunderstanding, and deal with them effectively. Away from the bustle of the classroom, the student will feel more able to voice their difficulties; and having just one pupil to deal with, the teacher will be more capable of resolving them.
Compared to the conflicts of the classroom, fraught with distractions and intimidations from other pupils, the relaxed environment of tutor and student can be a safe haven of erudition. A tutor will be able to focus their teaching on a particular area: the pupil may be very competent in mathematics overall, but be deficient in calculus, with this specific weakness undermining their whole confidence in the subject. Maybe they are highly literate and proficient in English language, but shy away from public speaking. The syllabus may demand some oral work (foreign languages certainly do), so it would be a shame if this particular and minor deficiency detracted from their overall grade in the subject.
Even if the pupil is performing well at school or college, it is highly likely that some private tuition will give then the edge over their peers. For it is their friends and contemporaries that they are competing against – many of who may already be receiving tuition. In an age where extra tuition is almost becoming the norm, it may be necessary to join in, or risk being left behind. Here at A Star Tutors we believe that advantages are fine, as long as they benefit you!