More Than Grades

- By Markus Ng (Part time Business Undergrad, Part time Tutor)

I’ve been tutoring for almost 3 years now and what a journey it has been. What began as an idea for side income has allowed me to grow more as a person too.

Tutoring, like any job, can feel tiring or unmotivating at times. It does get stressful as beyond having to guide my students to achieve better grades, I also view tutoring as having a higher purpose.

Having been once a student myself, I remember looking up to my tutors/teachers in terms of how I perceived the subjects they taught. If a tutor/teacher was boring, I dreaded learning the subject. But if I noticed a sparkle in the tutors’ eyes, the subject would light up miraculously.

It is this influence that educators had on me, which has made me take this role more seriously. I do believe that tutors do more than just help students elevate their academic abilities. We also help students see how the subject can be interesting and enjoyable, so that studying becomes less of a chore and something worth looking forward to.

During my classes, I make it a point not just to equate learning to doing well in examinations. I usually attempt also to incorporate real world examples so that students can appreciate the broader context of what they are learning. I try to include interesting facts that I find and blend the lessons with my own personal experiences. I do feel that this has the added impact of making lessons more lively, relatable and colourful. I have noticed my students being more curious and enthusiastic in class because of this.

These past few years of tutoring has also taught me an important lesson – our tutees are human. Of course, I had never viewed them as anything else, but it is easy to forget the challenges that students face when we are no longer in their shoes. It may be disheartening to see homework undone or tired faces in class, but we ought to remember that we ourselves were once in similar positions.

This perspective was actually something a fellow tutor taught me, and I am extremely grateful for the sharing. I now try to employ empathy to my students and make the effort to get to know them on a level beyond a transactional one. Some of my students confide their academic struggles with me and this has given me more opportunities to be a listening ear or provide them with advice should they request it. This has reaped great rewards as with a stronger connection to my students, they trust me more and we work together much better.

My hope is that I will be able to inspire my students to enjoy the subjects that they come to me for help with. If they find more appreciation and enjoyment in the subject, that would be a class which I consider a success.