Dave

Full-time professional mathematics and economics tutor, with a near perfect record for assisting students to A/A* grades. Having completed a PhD at Cambridge developing a new method for modelling and optimising the educational development of young adults, I pride myself on not only targeting top grades for everyone I work with, but also helping my students become well-rounded, organised, and resilient learners able to cope with the demands of higher education and beyond.

Outside of tuition, I am a keen sportsperson, having represented Great Britain at World Championship level, and also won the 2019 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. Throughout my tuition career I have mentored many talented young athletes alongside supporting their educational development.

Tutoring Experience

Private tuition has been my job for the past 14 years. When I first started, it was a flexible job fitted around my competitive sports career, now it is a full-time job where I pride myself on achieving the highest results possible.

Before becoming a tutor, I worked in a centre designed for students recently released from Young Offenders institutions. Though the academic difficulty was below my capabilities, this job taught me the importance of identifying what held students back and creating an environment where they could not only ask syllabus related questions, but also freely discuss their goals and concerns for the future. Though the centre closed long ago, the importance of removing barriers to educational development has stayed with me ever since.

Since becoming a tutor, I have taught everything from 11+ Maths to Cambridge University Postgraduate Economics. Though most of my work has been one on one, I have also taught at several Summer School programs, such as the Oxford Royale Academy. Over time, my specialty has become GCSE and A-Level content.

Tutoring Approach

Literature on educational development often dissects the term into four key concepts: self-efficacy, self-concept, growth mindset, and self-regulation. My doctoral work developed a method for modelling the dynamic interaction between these, and identifying which may act as a catalyst in different individuals. I constantly scan for issues which may be holding a student back (e.g. organisational skills, low perceived chance of success, etc.) and address these. The wider goal being to create a well-rounded, organised, and resilient student with a genuine interest in their field rather than just a rote ability to regurgitate formulas/terminology they don’t thoroughly understand.

How this is best done varies from student to student. But in the first instance I aim to help my students develop a well-structured process for covering the syllabus in an order which enables them to build on and develop recent content, while always understanding the wider purpose of the learning. Maths, as an example, is a very progressive topic meaning the order of content coverage can affect a students ability to engage with new content. Economics, as another example, is very graph intensive, and so understanding and discussing what they build towards prevents them becoming just another rote memorization topic. I have developed online resources which I share with all my students to help them manage this process.

One of the most popular concepts in educational development is Len Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. It suggests all students have content they perceive too easy to learn anything new from, and content too far beyond their reach for them to be able to engage with. In the middle of these is content students can engage with, but still provides development for them. One of the great benefits of one-to-one tuition is the flexibility it affords tutors to vary their pace/difficulty to ensure students can remain in their Zone of Proximal Development. I constantly engage with students and regularly ask them to talk concepts back to me, not only as a means of revision but also a way of assessing whether the difficulty level I set is appropriate. Done regularly and accurately, this achieves the maximum possible rate of development.

My approach to lessons is always upbeat and aimed at raising a students belief in their ability to learn and develop (growth mindset). I aim to create a comfortable and enjoyable environment where students can ask for help on the syllabus, and can pursue interests beyond the syllabus if we have sufficient time before exams. For example, I tutor both maths and economics for many students, and many of my students ask to apply their calculus knowledge from maths to the profit/revenue/costs graphs in economics as a way of deepening two fields of knowledge simultaneously. If there is sufficient time, I always enjoy seeing such curiosity emerge.

The online resources I create include: model essays document, online video lectures, spreadsheet for tracking the syllabus coverage, spreadsheet for suggesting online worksheets, spreadsheet for plotting past paper performance, essay feedback document, accounts management document.

My hourly fee includes all online resources I develop, any essay marking, answering any questions students may have outside of lessons, providing progress reports to parents if requested, and any travel expenses.

I’d love to answer any further questions you may have on my approach to educational development and how I may be able to assist you, please do not hesitate to get in touch.