Science is one of those subjects that you can group in with maths, Latin, and several others.
The subjects in this group are often slated as being boring and/or pointless.
This is especially true at GCSE level, when students are starting to think about what direction they might like to take for their careers.
At this point, telling a student that they have to study a subject even if they don’t consider it relevant for their career path is like telling them that they have to take an exam every day of their lives.
However, regardless of whether or not your students are interested in the subject of science, there’s a lot you can do as a GCSE science tutor to ensure they pass their exams.
In fact, it’s often more rewarding when you take on a subject who appears totally disinterested in the subject, since you can be the one who shows them just how fascinating it can be when taught in the right way.
If this sounds like you, why not sign up on the Superprof platform?
With Superprof, students will come to you and you can teach either online or locally.
What Skills do you Need?
So, what skills do you need to be a great GCSE science tutor?
While it might seem like a given that if you’ve got a great academic track record with the sciences or relevant qualifications, you’ll make a great science tutor, this isn’t always the case.
There are many skills and traits that tutors might need to deliver engaging classes, regardless of whether they teach English, science, or French which include the following:
- Adaptability
- Curiosity
- Approachability
Adaptability
As a tutor, you must first and foremost be adaptable.
What does this mean?
Well, unlike a teacher leading a classroom of 20+ students, as a tutor you will be working one-on-one with your students.
When you work closely with just a single student, you have to be able to adapt to their learning needs.
For example, in one class with student A you might find that they do best when you use video in the lesson or explain concepts with gestures and images as they are a visual learner. In another lesson, you might find that student B prefers to drill calculations and tackle increasingly difficult problems in order to improve.
As a result, you need to be flexible in every lesson you give, and willing to adapt your lesson plans to suit the specific student’s needs. This is what students often can’t find in a classroom environment: learning that is tailored to them as an individual.
If you can provide that tailored learning experience to each of your students, you’ll not only find that they are able to make progress in the subject, but you might be able to command higher rates in future as the word spreads about your accommodating approach to teaching.
The downside to this is of course that you’ll probably end up spending a lot of time outside of classes planning your classes according to your student’s individual needs.
The reality is, even if you don’t want to commit the time to creating highly personalized lesson plans, you have to be adaptable to some degree anyway. If you aren’t, your students may soon become demotivated, especially if they’re really struggling to come to terms with the way you teach the material.
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Curiosity
While curiosity might seem at odds with what most students think of science as taught in schools, it could be the secret weapon that sets you apart from other tutors.
Any tutor can show up and deliver the material they have planned, but how many can do so while ensuring the class is engaging?
If you are endlessly curious about maths, it will inevitably rub off on your students.
To cultivate this sense of curiosity, the best thing to do is constantly ask questions. Ask the kinds of questions that you don’t already know the answer to, as these can lead to fascinating discoveries.
You also have to be well-versed in the sciences, reading up on new journal entries whenever you can and generally immersing yourself in the literature.
That way, you can instill this sense of exploration in your students, who will likely have many questions of their own, which you can answer together through your classes.
Approachability
As a tutor, you need to come across as approachable.
You need to be the kind of tutor that students are comfortable with, as this will put them at ease and make them more likely to ask any questions they may have.
If a student feels that you will judge them for a wrong answer they give or a ‘dumb’ question, then they may be missing out on opportunities for learning.
To make sure this doesn’t happen, try to build rapport from the very first lesson.
This can be as easy as asking the student a few questions about their goals with the subject, what they enjoy about it, and what they would like to know. You could even ask them what their learning preferences are, as this will help you plan your lessons while also letting them know that you care about how they learn best.
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Use Real-World Context
Just as with maths, science requires real-world context.
If you teach science as it is in textbooks and most classrooms, you will struggle to keep your students engaged.
That’s why it’s important to present subject material in a real-world context.
Think about how what you’re currently teaching is relevant in the workplace or how it influences certain processes in the world.
Show your students how important science is for the development of technology, and the preservation of our world as we know it. When you do this, you’ll make the subject seem much more important, which can help with student motivation.
Get Creative
Everybody loves a good experiment.
If you can, set up an experiment from time to time with your students. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, but it can really boost engagement in the class.
You can also use other methods of teaching aside from walls of text and explanations.
For example, why not introduce some video in your classes for a visual representation of the concepts you’re teaching?
You could bring Brian Cox and David Attenborough documentary clips into your classes, which are sure to keep your students entertained while still being educational.
At the end of the day, you don’t need to be a mad scientist to keep your students engaged, but if you can sprinkle in different resources and methods of teaching, it can have a huge impact on student participation and enjoyment.
Market Yourself
As well as a well-rounded knowledge of the subject and people skills, you’re going to want to know how to market yourself as a GCSE science tutor.
When you sign up to be a tutor, you’re effectively setting up your own business, which comes with its own challenges.
It’s all well and good if you have the skills to be the best tutor in your area, but if nobody knows about your services, then what good is it having the skills?
To spread the word about your tutoring services, you need to market yourself as a business would.
There are various ways to do this, although these days, the most common marketing avenues for tutors are social media, blogs, and YouTube channels.
Let’s take a look at each, and what you could do today to market yourself through the mediums:
Social Media
These days, regardless of what profession you’re in, it’s a good idea to have a social media presence.
As a tutor, it’s a great platform to use to reach a wider audience.
If you give classes online, social media can open up an international client base, so you can teach students whether they’re in the UK, the US, or elsewhere.
The key to success with social media marketing is consistency.
Post regular content on science (pretty much anything you find interesting) and link out to blog posts you’ve made occasionally, and your website if you have one.
Blog
If you run a website, which you should, you should also maintain a blog.
While it can seem like a lot of work to come up with content ideas and write regularly, it can do your business a world of good.
The whole idea here is that you are putting out content that provides free value to your potential audience, which ideally increases their interest in your services.
You can outsource the writing for your blog if it seems like too significant an undertaking using a freelance platform such as Upwork or Fiverr.
YouTube
If video is more your speed, why not set up your own YouTube channel?
A common strategy these days, setting up a YouTube channel as a tutor can let people who are on the fence about taking your classes know exactly what they can expect.
Students can show their parents your videos if they have any doubts, and it’s a great opportunity to put out entertaining content for your students to learn from.
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