What is your teaching philosophy?

If motivation is a strong desire to accomplish something, then the first step to motivate a student is to establish appreciable and desirable incentives. This is best accomplished by identifying a goal through an open conversation. Sometimes the student is unaware that they even wanted something until they have said it themselves. In other cases, the student has difficulty identifying academic goals because they might not strongly desire a high score. In both of these scenarios, a free-flowing conversation between tutor and student is the best way to elicit a goal that will incentivize the student. Even when a student strongly desires something or is clearly aware of what their goals are, it is very helpful to write the goal down and to form a plan for reaching that goal. Sometimes our personal objectives can be so great and effort intensive that we shrink before them. Developing a plan with many steps is an effective way to help students maintain motivation and focus. The sense of success from completing each portion of the plan will boost confidence and encourage further effort. Creating a detailed and multi-tiered plan will also help students manage distractions and challenges. Instead of being overwhelmed by the demands of the larger goal, the student can maintain focus by adopting a one step at a time approach. The tutor's job is to oversee the development and execution of this plan. A tutor cannot do the work for the student, but they can promote a resilient attitude towards challenges by providing encouragement. Reminding a student of their strengths is one way of encouraging the type of confidence that drives a rigorous work ethic. Tracking results and clearly linking progress with the student's efforts is an even more effective way of encouraging a student to keep going. A student's motivation and ambition are deeply personal feelings, but others can encourage their growth by inspiring a sense of personal competition. Nurturing this sense of personal competition requires clear goals, detailed plans, and consistent encouragement.