Many people believe that the higher a tutor’s skill level in the desired subject, the better. But it is a mistake. For example, a holder of a doctorate in maths will not necessarily be better placed to teach a high school student than a student barely older than him.

Indeed, the fact of having too much competence sometimes harms the good synthesis of basic information. As a result, someone who is immersed in high-flying math all day will not necessarily be able to put themselves in the shoes of a beginner student, and may have difficulty finding the right words to explain to him what seems obvious to him.

In some cases, having a private teacher with less background can be beneficial. In addition, the pedagogy between the different levelsstudies (primary, college, high school, higher education) is quite different. So a teacher accustomed to teaching at a university will not be the most effective with college students.

motivation

Private tutors often come from very different academic and/or professional backgrounds. Some are teachers by trade, others do this alongside their studies or their job (which can be very varied).

For us, the role of a teacher is not only to teach , but also to advise, and in particular on orientation. We therefore believe that a private teacher with a course close to that which the student envisages is a superb opportunity to find out more about the pursuit of study or the targeted profession .

Of course, we don’t always know what we want to do later. In this case, a teacher with a more general background will be ideal, in order to have a global view of studies and opportunities in the world of work.

Her personality

We keep repeating it, but one of the fundamental aspects for a private lesson to be effective is to be comfortable  ! The state in which we find ourselves when we receive information has a great influence on the way we integrate/understand it. So it is imperative not to feel intimidated or embarrassed by your teacher.

Obviously, at school you don’t choose your teachers, and so you have to deal with it. But the advantage of the private lesson is that, precisely, one can choose. So even if it means choosing, you might as well select someone with whom the feeling goes well , and who will be able to put us at ease during the coaching sessions, right?

For that, nothing better than to take someone who looks like us. If he or she has done the same journey your child is considering, that’s already a commonality. But it’s even better if they share hobbies, a passion, a goal . For example, if your child is passionate about cycling, a teacher who knows about cycling can imagine exercises related to this area, to pique his curiosity and motivate him to progress.

Also, it is important that the personality of the private teacher matches the student’s expectations: does he prefer to be constantly boosted and have a dynamic teacher, or on the contrary have more autonomy and a quieter coach who is just there to guide him? This is precisely the subject of the next point.

His teaching style

Each private teacher has his own style of pedagogy, his own tips to help his student understand his lesson. But you can already get an idea of ​​how your child would like his school coach to help him.

He can be very active and give a lot of leads, or on the contrary more passive and only intervene more rarely according to needs. Likewise, he can use different formats for his sessions.

For example, some teachers prefer to start with introductory exercises before the lesson, for experiential learning, others start with the lesson before the exercises. We therefore leave your child the freedom to ask themselves what is their vision of the training they want to have .

Bonus: age

This point is a bonus, because it is not important for everyone. But it can have an influence on how some students feel about their coaching sessions.

It is often reported that a tutor who is too old would tend to intimidate some young people, and even accentuate the impression of school at home.

And if you know Les Progresseurs , you know that this is not what we want, to bring school home. Moreover, the gapgenerational relationship that can exist between a student and his private teacher can sometimes harm the feeling of well-being necessary for good learning (as mentioned above).

All these points should be kept in mind when choosing a particular teacher.

You are probably saying to yourself that it is difficult to know all this in advance when you hire someone. But the good news is that at Les Progresseurs , we do all the work for you !

We offer you a first telephone assessment (free of course) during which we ask you questions in order to determine the perfect teacher for you, according to all these criteria.

You no longer have to worry about anything, just contact us , and in no time you will have a private tutor at home who will have been selected to meet your expectations 100%.