Once graduated, lots of high school students think they’ll try their hand at the tutoring game. Particularly for those who score highly, it seems like a natural progression - you can understand the “I did well, I need money, I can help others do well, too!” mentality.

But there are some common mistakes we see each and every year - traps that tutors fall into that, ultimately, are to the detriment of their students. Here are some of those mistakes.

 

They’re not ‘student-centred’

For the most part, students don’t want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach; students want customised assistance that will help them - an individual - improve their marks and confidence as much as possible. This means that tutors need to be flexible, as students will have very different goals, abilities, and learning preferences.

This can be a struggle for tutors, and particularly inexperienced tutors who don’t have support around them. They might have a preferred way of teaching, and lack the resources or know-how to change their lesson structure on the fly.

"They might have a preferred way of teaching, and lack the resources or know-how to change..."

A more effective tutor, on the other hand, will be able to personalise content and activities to best suit their students. In this way, they have a more ‘student-centred’ approach, where they collaborate with the student, rather than simply teach at them.

 

They think it will be easy

Despite some common rhetoric, high school tutoring is not easy - assuming you’re doing the best you can for your students, at least.

Tutors will have different motives and strategies, so it’s best to test the waters with a tutor if you can before committing long-term. Some tutors might have achieved highly in school themselves, and entered the tutoring space only very recently. This is fine, but achieving high scores doesn’t mean you’ll be an effective tutor, and you should listen to your gut after your first session with them.

 

They project their own experiences

Understandably, some tutors have a tendency to rely on their own experiences for advice. The reality is, however, that students have very different circumstances and learning styles. If your tutor is suggesting study methods that worked for them, and won’t accept that those same study methods might not work for you, that could be a red flag.

"... students have very different circumstances and learning styles."

If you find that you’re working with a tutor who doesn’t seem to understand your learning style or preferences, it’s okay to move on and try a different tutor or program.

 

They don’t prepare

Some students will come with questions and work to do. Others won’t. Either way, the tutor should be prepared - that’s part of their job.

If the student doesn’t come with specific goals, it’s on the tutor to help identify and diagnose which areas require the most work. Tutoring isn’t just a transactional “here’s a question”/”here’s the answer” relationship; it’s all about developing rapport to understand the individual student’s needs.

 

They don’t provide structure

At the end of the day, students most likely invest in high school tutoring to improve their marks. And to improve their marks, they need to satisfy content knowledge and skills as defined by the curriculum - that’s what they’ll be assessed against, after all.

Tutors should know the relevant curricula for their subjects very intimately, but this is often not the case. What that results in is unstructured classes irrelevant to curriculum requirements. Whilst they may still be useful for knowledge-building, the content probably won’t be assessed!



If you’re looking for a structured, thorough, and flexible tutoring experience, TuteSmart is here to help! 🎓

Best of luck with your tutoring journey.