5 Quintessential Qualities of a Good Tutor

13 April 2022
Teaching Tips
Post
LiveBoard Avatar
LiveBoard Staff

When it comes to finding a tutor, most parents look for professionals with experience and credentials. There is no room for compromise when it comes to these. However, many other qualities make a good tutor stand out among others. Not to take much of your time, we’ll furtherly go through the most essential and often neglected qualities of a good tutor.

The role of tutors may be underestimated sometimes. However, their work is significant and has a great impact on students. In fact, people learning something new regardless of age are like blank slates that need to be carefully filled in with knowledge and understanding. A tutor is someone who helps them reach their potential by meeting each student’s individual academic preferences.

With this in mind, today’s research aims to create an ultimate checklist for tutors who are just starting their “tutorpreneurship.”

Flexibility

As already stated above, professional tutors should be able to adapt their methods to meet each student’s individual needs. This mainly implies building a flexible tutoring methodology. Always be willing to adjust your methods, making them accessible to people of various professions, ages, and social groups to establish yourself as an adapting yet trustworthy professional.

It is preferable to be flexible on the following points:

  • Style
  • Timetables
  • Classroom assessment

Teaching style refers to the manner, technique, or approach to delivering lectures. Different students have different learning styles. Some of them may be visual learners who need charts and diagrams to understand the concepts. Others may be auditory learners who grasp things better when they hear them.

Online tutoring session with a young tutor

The flexibility of timetables means you need to be able to work around your students’ schedules. If you’re tutoring kids, this may suggest being available for weekend or evening classes.

An inflexible assessment style is one of the main reasons some students dread going to classes. They know that they’ll be graded on a curve, and there is no room for error. A good tutor should be able to assess their students fairly and reasonably. Not everyone is learning at the same pace as others. So, ensure to prepare several individual assessment methods that will be fair for every student and provide you with a better understanding of how every student performs during classes. An easy assessment option is available for professionals tutoring via LiveBoard. The platform has in-built “Quiz” feature that allows tutors to ask questions on the spot to check if the material is well understood by every student.

What’s more, you should also be open to changes in general. The educational landscape is constantly shifting, which means that what might have worked a few years ago may not work now. As a result, being adaptable will help you stay ahead of the curve and maintain a good reputation as a tutor.

Emotional Intelligence

Otherwise known as EQ, emotional intelligence is one of the essential qualities a good tutor should possess. It’s the capacity to be aware of and manage one’s own emotions and the emotions of others. Empathizing with students and developing stronger emotional connections creates an amicable environment. People with emotional intelligence are usually very successful in various fields, including tutoring.

How to develop an emotional connection with your students? In fact, various techniques will help you become a step closer to your students. 

Here are some of the tips:

  1. Make an effort to understand your students’ backgrounds, interests, and challenges.
  2. Pay attention to their nonverbal cues.
  3. Encourage them to share their feelings openly.
  4. Be patient with them, especially when they’re struggling.
  5. Show your students that you genuinely care about their progress.

Drive for Innovations

Online tutoring platform

Drive for innovations is among the crucial qualities of a good tutor. This implies that tutors should always be looking for more advanced ways to improve their teaching methods and skills. And what’s more, they should also be willing to take risks. Trying yourself in new fields is the only way to find out what works best for you and your students. There are no limits when it comes to innovations. You can start with small changes like trying out new online teaching tools. For instance, platforms like LiveBoard are designed to turn tutoring into interactive learning sessions. Create more visuals that will help your students easily memorize new lessons, and share your lessons with a broader audience to impact how people learn.

Patience

Are you still wondering what the qualities of a good tutor are? Well, patience is another must-have feature that should be in the armory of any professional tutor. Being patient is especially important when working with students that have learning disabilities or are struggling to grasp the new material. Patience is the key to ultimate success in such cases. Below you may find some tips on how to be more patient with your students:

  • Don’t take things personally.
  • Avoid reacting immediately.
  • Listen to your students carefully.
  • Give them some time to process the information and be open to any questions coming your way.
  • Explain things clearly and slowly. Note that sometimes you’ll need to explain the same things several times.

A good tutor is patient and adaptable. They know that each student learns differently, requiring a specific approach. 

Self-Development

There are many ways to develop professionally. Being a pro tutor means being a lifelong learner yourself. By continuously developing, you’ll be able to keep up with the latest trends in education and understand your students’ academic needs. For example, tutors can take online courses available in abundance on the market. Moreover, participating in conferences and webinars means expanding your professional network and cooperating with other great niche representatives. 

Entering a professional organization is also a great idea. There are plenty of organizations for tutors that provide their members with access to exclusive resources, events, and training sessions. 

The bottom line is that being a tutor is one of the most responsible yet rewarding roles. Hope today’s article helped you find out what qualities make a good tutor! Dare to be the best version of yourself and trust the newly developing world of innovations that are made to support you through each walk of your professional path. Do you have what it takes to be a great tutor? 

Share This