Mohammed Faizaan

Hi! My name is Faizaan.

I read Mathematics at Oxford (BA, MMath), and studied Philosophy and Theology in Cambridge (BA). I have been teaching for many years, and see it to be my calling. As well as a teacher, I am a philosopher and author. In particular, I have a deep interest in the philosophy of education, being informed by my own experience (read below!).

[Note: I offer a limited number of scholarships to students. Feel free to get in touch with me to discuss pricing.]

----§ Education §----
BA in Mathematics (University of Oxford)
Won Sir Michael Atiyah Prize for best essay in Mathematics.
Specialised in Pure Mathematics.

Masters in Mathematics (University of Oxford)
Specialised in the Foundations of Mathematics.
Wrote a Dissertation in Logic (1st Class)

BA in Philosophy and Theology (currently studying)

----§ Subjects §----
Mathematics
Englis
Philosophy
Classical Arabic
Study Skills

---§ My Story §----
Since I was young, it was my dream to study at Oxbridge, either one of my two great joys: English or Mathematics. However, I wasn't doing very well in both. In fact I was in the bottom set for mathematics, and a middle set for English (before getting dropped down to bottom set in that too). My teachers, nay the very academic system, was adamant that I could not do it. And by all metrics I could not. I was doing pretty abysmally in all my tests. I would study plenteously, and exert myself tremendously. Yet, whatever I did, the results came back all the same: in the 50s or 60s. However deeply I think I would understand the topic, and knew in myself that I did understand it, my results never reflected that.

The academic system was never on my side. The way I think, the way I work, the way I am at a deep level, simply does not coincide with the clockwork machinery and automatic procedures of the academic system which sees nothing more than an input of answers and an output of marks. The academic system, deprived of all humanity, cannot therefore test the deeply human quality of 'understanding'.

And the teachers seeing nothing other than the marks had no more faith in me. I was all alone to dream, and alone to have them broken.

That continued into year 12. Then suddenly something changed. All the work I had done, all the understanding I knew deeply that I had, and my internal self-belief, translated all at once into good results. From the perspective of my teachers, I suddenly came up out of nowhere and went on to achieve the best results and achieve my dream.

I am uniquely disposed to understand the mystical nexus between KNOWLEDGE and ACTION. The answer has been to double down on my initial belief: that there was nothing wrong in the student, but in the system. I believe in learning to understanding. We should not change that just to get better marks. In time, the marks, and the results, will follow. I am also uniquely disposed to understand the innately psychological nature of learning.

If my story speaks to you at all, or if you have any other questions or requests, please do feel free to get in touch!

Tutoring Experience

I have been working on philosophy, and as part of my work, the philosophy of knowledge, for close to a decade now. I have developed (or rather 'revived') an approach to knowledge which begins with first-principles and systematically builds information up like a tree: from basic premises to the branches of complexity.

I have taught students from a primary school level to postgraduate. But I think it is fair to say that the bulk of my teaching is at GCSE, A-Level, and university level.

I have designed and taught my own courses in an array of subjects, such as mathematics, philosophy, and language.

I have taught both in a one-on-one and also a class setting. I also have some lecturing experience at university and other educational platforms.

My students deeply enjoy working with me. I view teaching not as a mere profession which begins and ends in the classroom: but as a deep form of mentorship, being tasked with the intellectual development of my students. I love not to dictate but to inspire, and not to instruct but to help to develop and grow.

I ensure my classes are always fun and lively: constantly filled with timely anecdotes and stories to enhance the learning experience. Though--be warned--I am also known to be an intense teacher who not only wishes the to bring the best out of his students but expects the same from them!

Tutoring Approach

[Read my free document: 'How to Learn']

Education has two components:
1) learning to understand,
2) communicating your understanding to the examiner.

In an ideal world the two would be one and the same, and understanding would mean doing well in the exam. In reality, you as a student need to do two things:
1) learn the content,
2) prepare for the exam.

My educational philosophy can be summarised in one sentence:

'If you put your exams before your learning, you lose both. But if you put your learning before your exams, you gain both.'

As a teacher, my ultimate goal is to ensure that you UNDERSTAND the material. I firmly believe in knowledge for its own sake: and that learning is a reward in itself.

Now, that doesn't mean I don't care about your grades! But what it does mean, however, is that just by sheer understanding you are 90% of the way to your destination. Put it this way: if you truly understand a subject, you are not going to get below a B/A. I am not necessarily saying that understanding is enough to get an A*--but it is certainly close. And the gap only requires you to buckle down in exam technique close to the exam--which I can help with when the time comes.

But, before that, your focus needs to be on understanding the content for its own sake. To that end, I have developed my own educational philosophy centred on two pillars:

-- Beginning with First-Principles: this might sound totally obvious, but hardly any educational syllabus actually makes use of this. No subject suffers from it worse than mathematics, where students from a young age are mindlessly taught techniques and methods, without ever being explained WHY and HOW it works. If there is a one-line summary of my educational philosophy, it is precisely that. We go deeper than the 'what' to the 'how' and the 'why'.

-- A Big-Picture Approach: to focus on the big idea, beginning with an overview of the subject from a bird's eye view, before moving down into the gritty details. The advantage of that is that you won't lose motivation mindlessly and tediously grafting through fact after fact and method after method. But we will always contextualise WHY we are learning what we are learning, and doing what we are doing, against the bigger picture of the course.

In the end, it makes memorising and remembering EASIER: because you aren't learning an arbitrary list of facts, but rather a coherent map of the subject. Not only is it more enjoyable: but this approach actually makes your life easier come exams!

If you are a student who desires nothing more than getting a good grade, I am not the teacher for you. But if you are looking for a deeper engagement with your subject, armed with the genuine curiosity to understand, then you are exactly the type of student I look forward to teaching.

This approach requires planning, however. It can't be done a month before exams, but needs to be begun well in advance. That is what I am here for. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch!