Joanna Marie, Negosentro | Tutors spend the most time with students who are essentially kids in their formative years and having the necessary skills needed for this all-important job is essential. A good tutor should focus on the needs of the individual kid entrusted to them; understanding the different needs and abilities of the various kids under them, since each is unique in their own individual ways. Some may learn faster while others may have difficulties grasping simple concepts but all need to be taught and taken care of, such that at the end of the day, all of them are at par in their academic work.
Tutoring is one of the most rewarding careers, but only if you are good at it. A good tutor should not only impact their students academically but motivate to being an all-rounded, well-adjusted human being. The following are the five essential skills of a good tutor:
Patience
Patience is perhaps one of the most important attributes in tutor job skills. Teaching is a profession that requires patience. Kids will get on your nerves, and occasionally, you have to repeat things several times before they are understood. A good tutor must understand that one student is different from the next and be patient with them through their learning difficulties while offering motivation and encouragement. Students needing extra help with their academic work need to be encouraged to overcome their struggles.
Passion
You need passion to be good at anything, tutoring inclusive. Good tutors have a passion for their profession and even more for their students. Passion is what separates the best tutors from the rest of the bunch. Passion motivates you to do more than just teaching your students. When a tutor has passion, patience will come naturally to them, and they will make extra efforts in their teaching. It reflects in how you teach and how you handle your students.
Adaptability
Good tutors adapt their teaching styles and approach to suit the abilities of their particular students. What works for one student may not work with another. Students respond differently to different teaching methods. Adaptability is one of the desirable qualities in a good tutor. A good tutor should then be able to adapt the ways they present information and teach their students the moment they notice that the approach they had earlier adopted is not working for their particular student.
Good communications skills
Teaching is one profession in which having good communication skills is very important. A tutor needs to pass knowledge to his/her student and to do this they have to communicate well and clearly. They should tell their students the expectations they have of them and communicate their progress to both the student and their parents. When one communicates well, their audience finds it easy to build a rapport and relate to them. Good communication builds a bond of trust between the tutors and their students.
Ethics
A good tutor must abide and follow the ethical standards expected of someone in their profession and position. No compromise about this. A good tutor knows what their relationship with their student is – student-teacher – and nothing more.
From their training and practice, they should know that ethics is utmost important in being a good teacher.
