DAVE BELL

Literature on educational development often dissects the term into four key concepts: self-efficacy, self-concept, growth mindset, and self-regulation. My doctoral work developed a method for modelling the dynamic interaction between these, and identifying which may act as a catalyst in different individuals. I constantly scan for issues which may be holding a student back (e.g. organisational skills, low perceived chance of success, etc.) and address these. The wider goal being to create a well-rounded, organised, and resilient student with a genuine interest in their field rather than just a rote ability to regurgitate formulas/terminology they don’t thoroughly understand.

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How this is best done varies from student to student. But in the first instance I aim to help my students develop a well-structured process for covering the syllabus in an order which enables them to build on and develop recent content, while always understanding the wider purpose of the learning. Maths, as an example, is a very progressive topic meaning the order of content coverage can affect a student's ability to engage with new content. Economics, as another example, is very graph-intensive, and so understanding and discussing what they build towards prevents them becoming just another rote memorisation topic. I have developed online resources which I share with all my students to help them manage this process.

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​One of the most popular concepts in educational development is Len Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. It suggests all students have content they perceive too easy to learn anything new from, and content too far beyond their reach for them to be able to engage with. In the middle of these is content students can engage with, but still provides development for them. One of the great benefits of one-to-one tuition is the flexibility it affords tutors to vary their pace/difficulty to ensure students can remain in their Zone of Proximal Development. I constantly engage with students and regularly ask them to talk concepts back to me, not only as a means of revision but also a way of assessing whether the difficulty level I set is appropriate. Done regularly and accurately, this achieves the maximum possible rate of development.