To effectively support our students, to stay trustworthy and to build a career in tutoring we can love, tutors need standards and after years of trying to squeeze tutoring to fit with teaching standards, we have eventually came up with a model that feels simple enough to work. It comes down to just three things: Successful and sustainable tutors feel Safe, Skilled and Supported.
‘Safe’ means creating a safe space for their student and for themselves. They need to have the right policies and procedures in place to ensure their safety, and the safety of their students both physically and emotionally. It refers to safe spaces and being what I call in QT training the ‘trusted adult’.
‘Skilled’ means to continually develop their competene in relation to everything tutors do – from marketing to teaching and learning to filing tax returns.
‘Support’ goes in all directions. Giving support and feeling supported are both crucial to the success of any professional.
To earn and keep the trust of our students, our clients and ourselves, we must exemplify the highest standards in tutpring today. These are the QT Certified Standards. To become QT Certified, go here.
QT Certified Standards
Tutors must be Safe
A tutor working with children or vulnerable adults must be able to:
- Create and maintain a safe environment for their students
- Evidence minimum safety standards of up to date police check, safeguarding training, insurance, policies and procedures and verified client reviews.
- Operate their business legally and ethically
Tutors must be Skilled
A tutor must be able to:
- Provide students with the skills, knowledge and beliefs required to achieve the student’s goal
- Effectively assess, plan and deliver learning opportunities based on the unique needs and preferences of the student
- Communicate effectively with other stakeholders on behalf of the student
Tutors must be Supported
A tutor must:
- Continually improve their own practice for the benefit of their students, and seek support, guidance and information to inform that improvement
- Participate in professional development continually, for the benefit of their own professional practice and in service of their students
We need to know what ‘good looks like’ in tutoring. We need a definition of excellence. This definition needs to be flexible and inclusive enough to fairly recognise all the different types of tutors. It needs to feel expansive, not reductive. It needs to enable growth, and to inspire tutors to become expert and build a lasting, viable career in tutoring.
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