Teaching style and philosophy

Here are some overarching ideas that underpin my approach to tutoring. If you find that these are sensible viewpoints, you may want to consider working with me.

Teacher is just an advanced student

I see myself as only a slightly more advanced peer to my students. I request that you too see me the same way.

I try my hand at learning a lot of subjects during my free time, so I can relate well to your struggles as a learner. I think that teachers should also be life-long learners. This forces them to revisit the subjects they teach from fresh perspectives every time they encounter new information. It also awakens them to the pedagogical challenges that students face while learning a challenging subject.

Lastly, learning something that challenges you can be a great lesson in humility, and that is always a good characteristic for a teacher to have.

The best teachers teach you how to learn

You will not be able to find a tutor every-time you want to study a difficult topic later in life. One of the skills that's important to pick up in high-school is the ability to learn a challenging topic by yourself. Rather than just dumping information, a good teacher should help you develop this skill.

Learning a challenging topic by yourself often involves being a bit less intellectually lazy and timid. Students must learn actively by engaging boldly with the subject. There should be absolutely no sense of intimidation or fear no matter how formidable the subject may seem.

One of the greatest takeaways from your stint in high-school Mathematics is the intellectual courage and confidence to undertake a learning project in any subject. Through my tutoring session I seek to impart to you a sense of this courage.

Learning should be active, not passive

Mathematics requires you to get your hands dirty with numbers, symbols, and figures. It's not a subject that can be learned passively by listening to someone talk about it.

Therefore you should expect to do a lot of work in my class. Think of a personal tutor as a personal trainer in a gym. The trainer's job is to get you to work out as much as possible in the gym. It would be a poor trainer if he does all the exercises and you merely watch!

In particular, you should embrace resistance. When we take up a challenging task (say, doing push-ups or doing Maths problems), our inclination is to give up as soon as we encounter resistance. But often pushing through the resistance is precisely what is required for you to enlarge your perimeter of skill-sets. One of my tasks will be to make this process as comfortable as possible for you.

Skills for life, not just high-school

High-school Mathematics isn't just another hoop you have to jump through. Instead, it is a foundation for higher-level Mathematics that you might be required to learn as a part of your professional training.

One of the viewpoints that I seek to impart is just how widespread is the use of the Mathematical topics you learn as part of your curriculum. You must (and will!) definitely ace your examinations, but it is disingenuous to see the topics you learn only through the prism of final examinations.

Instead, you should see yourself as collecting knowledge that might come in very handy in your future depending on your professional trajectory. If you take up the study of a technical disciplines, knowledge of high-school Mathematics will serve you very well indeed.