Alex

I am a hardworking, creative, and dedicated tutor who loves literature and is passionate about education. I'm also a librarian who has worked in academic libraries for the last two years and I'm currently studying Librarianship and Information Studies at UCL. In my spare time, I work on creative writing projects and I read widely.

Tutoring Experience

I have worked as a tutor for Removed(Cambridge), tutoring English Language and English Literature at A Level and GCSE level. I mainly focused on improving my students’ essay composition, exam technique, and close reading skills. I provided one-to-one support to pupils who were re-sitting their exams as well as pupils who needed further assistance with their ongoing studies and I also worked with students dealing with learning difficulties. I have also worked as a volunteer for Schools Plus, assisting KS1 pupils with their reading comprehension.

Tutoring Approach

I approach tutoring English by focusing on my pupils’ interests and passions and connecting those to their set texts and mark schemes. I believe a better understanding of narrative, character, imagery, language, and grammar can be gained if these topics are approached from a place of enthusiasm and I believe that this enthusiasm can be animated by connecting the academic work of English to its broader cultural context and its more practical or creative applications. In my sessions, I strive to relate my pupils’ set texts to media that they’re passionate about and to help them apply the techniques and critical frameworks they’ve learned in school and in our sessions to their favourite books, music, and films. In this way, I encourage my pupils to engage with their studies emotionally as well as academically and I aim to foster a literary approach that is both curious and critical. I also believe in placing English in a broader frame of reference and I encourage my pupils to relate their studies to the non-literary topics and subjects that they’re interested in. As a tutor, I have touched on everything from history to philosophy to psychology to sociology as I believe English literature and the English language can be understood most fully through an interdisciplinary approach. I also firmly believe in the importance of practice and repetition, particularly in terms of essay composition and exam technique, and I encourage my pupils to draft and re-draft their work in order to improve my pupils’ writing abilities.