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Guide to Choosing a Tutor

4. What Qualifications Does the Tutor Have?

Knowledge of the subject matter alone does not guarantee that a tutor will have the ability to successfully teach students. There are many requirements to consider when tutoring a student, to ensure that they learn as quickly and completely as possible.

Tutors must know how to structure and deliver their lessons for each individual student, how to detect and correct a student's weaknesses, how to maximise the students' memory of the material, how to motivate their students to learn, etc.

One of the best ways to ensure that a tutor will be able to perform all these tasks effectively is to choose one who is a qualified teacher. A tutor who has a teaching qualification will have been trained in all the necessary aspects of making their students learn effectively. Alternatively, an unqualified tutor can sometimes become equally effective through experience and/or under the training and guidance of a qualified, experienced teacher.

When selecting a tutor therefore, while it is often best to start with a qualified teacher, you should also weigh up the tutor's past teaching or tutoring experience and on-the-job training as well.

Always bear in mind that being a native of a particular country does not necessarily guarantee a tutor will be an effective teacher of that country's language. Be very wary therefore, of visitors to Australia on a working holiday who undertake tutoring of their native language, they will usually prove to be very poor tutors since they will very rarely possess any teaching qualifications or skills.

Even less desirable still are foreign language tutors who may have studied the language abroad for a year or two, and then advertise the fact that they lived there. Again, these individuals will rarely possess any teaching qualifications or skills, and in addition will also lack a strong command of the language.

And finally, be sure to avoid tutors who refuse to discuss what qualifications they have or don't have. As was discussed earlier, you have a right to know.

©2005 Gloria Kaneko - All Rights Reserved