Should I be a Tutor?
KIS Summary:
- Breaks down the roles and expectations that people have of tutors.
- Provides a list of traits that will help you be the best tutor you can be.
- Additional advice given to anyone who is just starting out as a tutor, and how KIS Academics can help you.
⭐️ Why Parents & Students Love KIS Tutoring
If you are a hardworking student and interested in becoming a tutor, it is a great job option to consider. This will provide you with an insight into what you can expect from a tutoring position, the largest responsibilities and duties, as well as what type of personality is best suited for the role.
Table of Content:
- What does a Tutor do?
- What are the Biggest Responsibilities and Duties of a Tutor?
- What kind of Person is Best Suited for Tutoring?
- Any Advice for New Tutors?
- FAQs
What does a Tutor do?
The role of a tutor is to assist in the learning and development of knowledge of students. Each tutor is required to personalise lessons to the needs of each student to ensure they attain what they are aiming to gain from tutoring.
For instance, some students may be struggling with understanding concepts in class, therefore requiring their tutor to break down those concepts for them. Alternatively, some students may be finding schoolwork extremely easy, and would like to be further challenged in tutoring, so they will ask tutors for more challenging questions to practice.
Therefore, tutors are required to gain an understanding of the academic level of their students, their goals, and what the student would like to attain from tutoring. This way, they can effectively personalise lessons so that they are beneficial to the student.
What are the Biggest Responsibilities and Duties of a Tutor?
Personalise Lessons
As previously mentioned, a tutor’s role is to personalise lessons for each student. Consequently, a significant duty of a tutor is to determine what each student requires, and what their goals are, in order to determine an effective strategy to address those during lessons.
Maintain Communications with Parents
Communicating with parents/guardians of students about the progress of students during the tutoring period is another large responsibility.
This is pivotal to ensure all concerns are addressed, all questions are answered, and their expectations of tutoring are met. It is also important to communicate and receive feedback from students to identify what may or may not be working for them to ensure you can adjust your methods to best suit them.
Checking in on Students
A tutor is also responsible for constantly checking in with students to see how they are doing at school, and if their requirements for tutoring have changed. Notably, they may find some content easier and require more challenging work for that chapter, whereas other times may need to receive a further exploration of concepts covered in class to have a better understanding.
What kind of Person is Best Suited for Tutoring?
Passion for the subjects you studied
If you find that you enjoyed studying a particular subject in school, and have a huge passion for it, maybe consider tutoring that subject!
If you are passionate about a particular subject, this will make you enjoy your job as a tutor, whilst also allowing your students to enjoy receiving lessons. This is vital as this greatly contributes to students grasping concepts better and having a greater drive to learn.
Good Communication Skills
One of the most important qualities of a tutor is communication, and the ability to deconstruct concepts to a level that students can understand.
This means that simply doing extremely well in a subject doesn’t automatically mean you will be a good tutor. It is more important to be able to have a deep enough understanding to be able to teach your students concepts, and answer any questions or provide clarity on a particular area, that makes you a good tutor. This can only be achieved through clear and simple explanations which can only be achieved through good communication skills.
Leadership
Tutoring significantly involves taking charge and showcasing leadership qualities. Notably, leaders are people who effectively guide and provide inspiration to others, which tutors do. They effectively provide feedback and help students revise their work to ensure they achieve their academic goals.
If you're a student and keen on getting a tutor, you can browse Australia's top-scoring tutors here.
Adaptable
Being able to quickly adapt to new situations is a pivotal quality of a tutor, because every student has unique needs and ways of learning that you will have to adjust to. You cannot use the same teaching style on every student.
Patience
It is important to be patient, as the majority of students who receive tutoring are struggling in school and require assistance with understanding the concepts, or working on their skills. Consequently, this requires your patience as you significantly break down concepts, and move through content at the student's pace to ensure they are keeping up with you.
They might not get your explanation at the first try, so you need to have the patience to try again and again, in different ways of course, until they get it. Losing your temper is never productive in this instance.
Any Advice for New Tutors?
If you find a tutoring position interesting and believe you possess the aforementioned qualities of a tutor, here are some tips before you start!
- Revise the content of the subject you would like to tutor and ensure you have a good understanding of the syllabus, as well as how it is assessed. Read up on the syllabus and the most updated study designs.
- Be patient and flexible with students. It is important to ensure students feel comfortable with you so that they feel safe enough to communicate their needs. This can be achieved by building a good rapport with students by being open yourself, and sharing your personal experiences to develop a friendly and relatable relationship.
- Gather resources for the subject you will be tutoring. KIS Academics is great because it has many resources available to tutors to use! But it is always good to gather some additional resources on your own too.
If you're looking for tutoring instead, here are Australia's best tutors!
Conclusion
Being a tutor is not an easy job, so make sure you have the aptitude for it! If you're looking for more resources on tutoring, check out these KIS Academics articles:
FAQs
How do I start getting Students?
If you are ready to start tutoring, the best way to go is always word-of-mouth, or you can publicise on FaceBook community groups.
To make advertising easier though, you can consider joining a tutoring company like KIS Academics.
How much should I charge?
That depends on a few different factors, like your experience, your grades, whether you're offering in-person or online tutoring etc. Find out how much average tutoring rates are in Australia in this article.
What makes a good tutor?
The best tutors are always the ones who genuinely care, and are able to explain concepts in a digestible fashion. In most of our reviews, many students praise their tutors for going above and beyond.
Can I be a tutor if I did not get a high ATAR?
Absolutely! As we mentioned, having good grades is not a good indication of whether or not you'll be a tutor; it is ultimately your ability to explain concepts in a digestible manner.
Of course, we cannot lie, it might be easier to get students if you achieved a high ATAR; but never let that stop you from trying to be the best tutor.
Written by KIS Academics Tutor Sandrine Maximus, for HSC Legal Studies, Maths and more! Sandrine is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Actuarial Studies and Information Technology (majoring in Data Science) at MQU. You can view Sandrine's profile here and request her as a tutor.
Want personalised study guidance to help drastically improve your marks? A private tutor from KIS Academics can make the biggest difference!