If you know me at all you’ll know that I love words. I love the pictures they make, the stories they carry. Hosting LTF4 this week is a very special moment in our development. Event the title of this event is redolent with messages. With your permission, I will take a moment to unpack the ideas behind the name: Love Tutoring Festival.
Love
When I stepped into the tutoring space in 2019, I discovered a sector that was divided, siloed and silent. I knew that the solution was going to be ‘love’. There is no other way to create the commitment that is needed to turn this profession into the force for good that it can be for society as a whole. To love someone, you need to know them well. Therefore the task we have ahead of us this week is to get to know tutoring, so that we can give it the love it needs.
I believe that tutoring is a nascent profession and that it needs love to develop and establish itself. It needs to be understood and embraced if we are to anticipate and meet its needs. That is what we are gathered here to do. Love Tutoring is not a placation. It isn’t a description. It’s a challenge. A provocation. An invitation.
Please note: I have invited you to ‘love’ tutoring. Not to ‘fix’ tutoring. Our approach is always to draw out the positive. Positivity is the greatest motivator of all.
Tutoring
Odette and I often discuss whether ‘tutoring’ is the right word. The Qualified Tutor vision and mission includes all educators who are working in a one-to-one or one-to-few context, as opposed to the one-to-many set up of the classroom. That definition can, and should, include music teachers, driving instructors, sports coaches, life coaches, business coaches and mentors – as well as the subject specialist tutors we know and love.
In fact, my puppy trainer is one of the best tutors I know.
Festival
LTF4 is truly a festival. It is not a conference. It is a non-hierarchical exploration of a heart-led profession. Bring your whole self and use LTF4 as an opportunity to find your tribe.
I hope that we can share some really inspiring stories this week at the Love Tutoring Festival 4: A Celebration of World Tutoring.
I hope we can make friends, deepen connections and create new opportunities for eachother.
I hope that this week of celebrating world tutoring will galvanise you and inspire you to join us in raising standards in tutoring together.
I hope to see you there: https://www.qualifiedtutor.org/events/ltf4-a-celebration-of-world-tutoring-love-tutoring-festival/
This was not written by AI. It was written by Julia Silver, NPQH