The Etiquette for English Tutors

Home tutors or English tutors for this matter, provide support both for the child and the parents. These professionals are engaged when the parents deem that their child requires additional help in his studies - a help which, in most cases, can’t be provided by the parents themselves due to time constraints.

It is for these reasons that establishing mutual trust and respect between the parents and the tutors is crucial. If you’re an English tutor, allow us to share with you a few tips on the etiquette for tutors, on the point of view of an English tuition centre in Singapore.

Set boundaries. As a tutor, your first order of business is to set up an appropriate learning space and personal boundaries. But, in addition to these, you should also set English as the primary means of communication, upfront. An exception is using a native language sparingly when elaborating a particularly difficult topic.

Do not spoon-feed. Spoon-feeding practices tend to impede self-learning. So, instead of excessively providing the child with definite answers, allow him to discover his mistakes and use these opportunities to encourage him to come up with his own solutions. As the saying suggests, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Don’t force new concepts. Although it’s acceptable to use other materials, it’s important to teach the child what he is interested in learning. For instance, if the student hired you to learn a specific lesson or practice a certain skill set, it’s crucial to instruct accordingly. As it turns out, the “customer is king” concept applies to English tuitions in Singapore, as well.

Promote cultural sensitivity. In some cases, an English language learner is from a different cultural background thus, has a different set of values and perspectives from their tutors. If you’re in the same situation, it is important that you are being mindful of the cultural environment you are in and act accordingly. Better yet, you can be selective about your students.

Don’t do the work for the child. As part of avoiding spoon-feeding practices, you should never complete your student’s work on their behalf. Otherwise, you are cheating your student out of valuable skills practice, of which you are paid for in the first place. What you can do is to avoid explicit error correction and instead, ask your student to scan for their mistakes on their own.

Do not mentally and emotionally stress the child. On top of all these, never use harsh and demoralizing words to the child. You are paid to provide support whenever your student experiences difficulty in school and not to add on his stresses. It’s crucial to empathize with the child and if you’re contributing to his emotional and mental stresses, you can inflict long-lasting consequences upon him.

To conclude this article, it’s important to trust your own judgment. Exercise caution and set clear expectations to eliminate issues in the end.