Alan

I am a passionate believer in education in the true sense of the word! Over the decades of professional experience, I have discerned that the key to success is an effective tutoring relationship that fosters meaningful, two way communication. This is of course more readily developed within a one-to-one teaching context. A one-to-one tutoring collaboration is both professionally satisfying for the tutor and highly effective for the student. The simple reason for this is that it enables the teacher to genuinely meet the individual needs of the student in a way that can not happen within a classroom context. I have and continue to internalise this teaching dynamic to the point of it underpinning every thought, utterance, social interaction, relationship and indeed my very being in the world. I trust that that is sufficient input "About Myself"

Tutoring Experience

I have been a teacher for all of my professional life and have taught a wide range of academic subjects in schools, colleges and organisations. I was the Head of Psychology at Abingdon College for 10 years. During that time I taught academic and applied psychology up to degree level to both young adults and mature students. Following on from this lecturing career, I have written and delivered numerous professional training courses. I have combined such training delivery with host tutoring English and professional English to international students - most notably to humanitarian aid workers who needed to pass the extremely stringent ICRC English assessment, with 100% success rate I might add! I continue to offer A Level and above Psychology and Professional English online. I have also very recently developed a series of personal and business development courses to be delivered both ONLINE and within a classroom, workshop context. Although until the societal lockdown is lifted these will of course be exclusively ONLINE.

Tutoring Approach

My approach is fundamentally student - centred. Due to the current lockdown situation ALL LESSONS NOW HAVE TO BE ONLINE. I have used Skype for many years but I am now transitioning to Zoom. My extensive experience of one-to-one teaching has allowed me to develop a truly bespoke approach that is so much more effective than teaching within a classroom. With one-to-one teaching it is possible to identify exactly what a student needs in a very short space of time and then meaningfully guide and facilitate appropriate learning from there. The key is to genuinely tap into the huge learning potential that is present within every student through positive reinforcement and a modern take on the Socratic Method, i.e. asking and responding to challenging questions that facilitate independent thought. It is also crucial to enable the intrinsic motivation that comes from developing knowledge, evolving understanding and meaningful application to the student's individual experience. With this in place, students are free to fly towards achieving their true potential!