Tutor-Private Teaching and Learning

Learning is not at all a bed of roses and a tutor knows it better than anyone else. There are lots of difficulties on the way of getting knowledge. They can be of a different kind, but the main one may be a child who is taught by a tutor, that is, a pupil himself. In teaching practice such a child is usually called a difficult child.

Whom can we name a difficult child?
So, who is he? Is he someone who is always cheeky and rude to everyone, who is irresponsible and undisciplined? Does he break windows or burn his hated books in the fireplace? Nothing of a kind. The difficult child is the child who is unhappy. He is at war with himself and in consequence he is at war with his parents, his teachers at school, his tutor and with the whole world.

Who and what can make a child difficult.
A child is almost always made difficult by improper treatment at school and at home. The conditioned, repressed, submissive child can be met in every corner of the world. He lives in every town, in your street, next door to you. The difficult child is prone to obey, he is afraid of any criticism. He desires to be conventional and correct, that`s why he can`t stand his mistakes. He accepts what he has been taught without question. He never asks questions and has no idea how to do it. It seems to be quite convenient for his busy parents and for a tutor who is indifferent to his pupil, who doesn`t care much about the results of his work. Such a tutor is sure that his main and only duty is to give some useful information and nothing more. He isn`t able to see the way his pupil hands down all his complexes and fears. Or he just doesn`t want. He turns a deaf ear and blind eye to the child`s problems. An unqualified tutor takes it for granted that a child should be taught to behave in such a way that the adults will have as quiet a life as possible.

What can prevent a child from becoming difficult.
Home plays many important roles in the life of a growing child. It gives him love, sense of security, it educates and defends him. If a child lives in a broken home or with heartless, indifferent parents he may turn more to trusted adults outside the family for ideas, knowledge and love. In this situation a tutor`s personality is the first to be mentioned. If a tutor is frankly honest with his pupil, honest without moralizing understand and trust will thrive.

There is a problem that every person faces sooner or later. This problem resolves itself into a few important questions: What is education for? Why study? What way of learning is more efficient? Most of us will be quick to answer. It is a common knowledge that education helps us cope in the modern rapidly developing world where we are to add money up, to fill the tax declarations in, to read maps and street signs. No doubt, we are speaking only about the lowest level. It is a first step on the way to getting education. On the next level everything is getting more complicated, because one should think of some kind of job that will give an opportunity to succeed in life.

We still live in a very competitive society. Competition has been the driving force behind improvements in most areas of our life. The existence of competition has always meant to do things quicker and better than others do. If a person wants to be a successful competitor he is to decide what way of learning will assist him to achieve a long-held ambition and to rise to the top of a chosen profession.

Certainly, there is no right or perfect learning style. Everyone is, to some degree, a mixture of various learning styles. If a teacher at school fails to find out a pupil`s domineering learning style, a tutor is a person who can help in such a situation.

To be properly enjoyed, the process of learning shouldn`t be organized in big groups. If a child is usually surrounded by other children at a primary school, a senior pupil is always accompanied by his fellow students, it is no longer learning in anything but name. Other students may crowd child`s meandering impressions with their own, they may mislead him and obstruct his view.

If a tutor works with a person things seem to be different. A student is able to stop and go on, to have his own pace, he can be open to all impressions and let his brains take all the information from what he sees, hears or reads in a company of his tutor. The work eye to eye with a tutor is particularly important while learning a foreign language.

Learning a foreign language is not just a matter of memorizing, it is closely connected with our personality and culture. Quite an important factor is a tutor`s personality. The atmosphere during the lesson is determined by a tutor, who sets the tone by choosing the types of exercises and topics, suitable for a certain pupil. A qualified tutor can catalyze in his pupil the irresistible wish to obtain knowledge, to do it every day and everywhere, to learn something new and to become something new.

A person can get knowledge in smaller or bigger groups, the number doesn`t matter. If a tutor is in charge of the process, one`s getting knowledge turns into learning for the sake of learning and afterwards for the sake of one`s successful future. What else can be more important…