John Gethin
History and Humanities Tutor
For A-Level/GCSE/IB/General Interest
My Approach
My Pedagogy
A slightly pretentious word I know, but "my approach to education", just wouldn't fit in the button on the left. Essentially, I believe that a tutor is providing a service to a client, and must therefore be prepared to adapt to the client who is in this case the student. I work for the student first and foremost (although I am aware that it is not typically the student who is the fee-payer!) I cannot abide with an authoritarian approach to education where the student is somehow expected to be obedient to the teacher.This might be necessary when a teacher is in charge of 30 or more pupils, but I do not think it appropriate in the far smaller group work we do online. I want to encourage students to be inquisitive, and confident enough to develop their own lines of enquiry and explanation. Indeed I believe these skills of autonomous thought to be essential for the subjects that I teach.
I use the Scribblar virtual classroom environment for my tutorials.
The platform allows us to communicate in real time, using its microphone functionality to hold conversations as we go along.
The interactive whiteboard allows me to upload all manner of documents that can then be annotated by both student and tutor as the lesson proceeds using a range of tools provided by Scribblar for highlighting, marking etc...
There is also an "assetts tab" in which documents can be uploaded and downloaded by student and tutor for use offline and after the tutorial. This might include, for example, homework essays produced by the student for me to mark, or revision guides for students to use in their own time.
The Scribblar classrooms are set-up for use by up to five students simultaneously. Most of my tutorials are one to one but I have no objection to small groups of students approching me and spreading the cost of their online tutorials between them.
Online
Tutorials
Did you know?
If you look on Wikipedia it will tell you that the word "pedegogy" refers to the Ancient Greek practice of a slave who would "lead" the family's children to school. There is a lesser known alternative derivation, that proposes the word comes from the philsopher Aristotle's teaching practice. Aristotle did not like conventional classroom teaching and much preferred holding discussions with his students as he "led" them around the cloisters of his school called the Lyceum. I much prefer this derivation!