What Makes An Effective Tutor?

Part 3: Addressing the Whole Story – the WHAT, HOW, and WHY of School

The struggles of nearly every one of our students can be broken down into three layers – what we at Launch Education Group call the What, How, and Why of school.

What – The What refers to the subject matter itself—the concepts being taught in school and a student’s understanding of that material. A tutor should look for gaps in a student’s knowledge that may plague the student again and again, stay attentive to the ways in which each particular student learns best, and adjust his or her teaching approach to best fit each student.

How – Beneath the What is what we call the How of school – all of the fundamental skills and study habits a student needs in order to succeed, from study strategies to binder organization to paper-outlining to time management. Often what seems like a struggle with subject matter is really a deficiency in basic student skills. In these situations, addressing subject matter only will not lead to sufficient improvement.

Why – At the core of every student’s success is his or her inner motivation and confidence. Students who don’t feel positive about themselves as students and feel less-than-hopeful about their chances of succeeding will begin to put in less effort. On the surface, this usually comes across as laziness or a bad attitude, but both work ethic and attitude can shift dramatically when a student’s confidence is enhanced. A tutor must keep a close eye out for confidence problems and work over time to build a positive attitude and optimistic outlook in the student.

Not all students are struggling in all three of these layers – but a good tutor needs to be skilled in recognizing all potential reasons that a student may be underachieving, especially when it comes to SAT test prep.