
Matthew
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: McGill University - Bachelors, Music
Music (Performance, Composition, Production), Dance/Movement Arts, Visual Arts, Meditation, Nature
What is your teaching philosophy?
The most effective way to teach is not so much to 'teach,' but to 'guide.' The role of the teacher should be not just to present information and encourage regurgitation, but to guide students to the questions that they can ask themselves and to different entry points into a problem so that their knowledge and understanding can be self-sustaining.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Talk and get to know the student. Do some kind of creative activity together - free word association, stream of consciousness writing, something of that sort. I would certainly want to get a sense of what they are having trouble with in the relevant academic subject, but it is important first to establish some kind of connection with and understanding of the student as another human being. In medicine they say 'treat the patient, not just the symptoms.' For me, in teaching this means - 'know the student, not just their learning difficulties.'
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
By guiding them to search for new entry points or new ways of approaching a question or problem to figure out what works for them. By cultivating curiosity. I try to answer questions with different questions whenever possible as to avoid just dishing out answers to problems.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
By highlighting their 'aha!' moments, and reminding them that they never know how close the answer is to them. It's important to hold in one's memory the moments when something that felt SO difficult suddenly made sense.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
Break it down to the simplest parts necessary and build from there. Everything can be broken down into manageable steps/chunks. Often, difficulties arise from not understanding one small part of a whole, and once that is sorted out, the pieces can come together.