How many people know about such a thing as “tutorial support”? What does it mean? Who are tutors and what do they do? Who needs their help? You can find answers to all these questions in this article.
Who is a tutor
The term tutor support is understood as the activity of a person who has received a special education aimed at helping to learn using an individual approach. In other words, this is a specialist who, with his own efforts, provides the process of interaction between the student and the teacher, helping him to overcome both pedagogical and psychological “barriers”. There are often examples when teachers do not want to engage in and interact with a difficult child , however, he has all the rights to it, it is just given such a child the learning process more difficult than his peers. It is in such situations that the tutor acts as a link between the student and his teacher, often helping him discover new talents and expand his own abilities. We must pay tribute to such a specialist, because this is hard work, which is not given to everyone.
What should be a tutor
Tutoring is a time-consuming job. What qualities and skills must be possessed for its implementation? It is the psychological readiness of a person for this process that plays an important role, it is necessary to have special pedagogical skills and have a restrained and friendly character. A tutor can accompany both one child and a whole group of children. And for each of them it is necessary to find time, approach, to establish a relationship. Unfortunately, today in Russia there are no special educational institutions where it is possible to learn such a profession. However, they are trying to create departments and faculties with a bias towards tutoring. Is it really impossible to get such help?
Maybe. In schools and kindergartens, there are people like social psychologists and educators, and they can provide such assistance. Volunteers are also happy to help, but they do not have the methodological skills that are necessary for the implementation of tutoring.
Do tutors need education?
Tutoring is controversial in the education system. Is it needed at all? Can it be that teachers themselves cannot cope without such help? These questions are very relevant at the moment. Let's consider them in more detail.
Do not hide that in the days of our mothers and fathers and grandparents, teachers were more emotionally restrained, did not allow themselves to talk to students in high tones, and some even had amazing exposure. In our time, teachers sometimes show incredible rudeness in relation to their wards. How in such circumstances does the child perceive educational material and generally have a desire to learn? Tutoring shows a completely new pedagogical approach, where the child can turn to his mentor as a companion, ask questions and not be afraid that he will be ignored or shown to be rude to him. Tell me, is such a unique approach needed? We think the answer is obvious.
No training restrictions
Special types of children really need such help. An example is tutorial support for children with disabilities. These are children with various disabilities: the mentally retarded, with developmental delay, speech impairment, with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, etc.
It is easy to imagine how such children are taught in ordinary schools, they feel unnecessary and are shy of their own health problems. But this is not their fault. Here tutors need to build a learning process based on the characteristics of each child. Tutoring support will help such students in the general learning process, experts will tell you how to interact with their peers, how to get knowledge and consolidate it. The main task is not to allow these children to feel inferior or limited. This requires not only pedagogical and methodological assistance, but also psychological support.
Children with disabilities
But what about children who move, for example, in a wheelchair? How will they receive their education if they cannot attend school? Tutoring with children with disabilities becomes a real salvation in such cases. The curator helps in providing the necessary literature, provides the necessary information, provides full communication between the student and teacher, creates the most expanded opportunities for self-development and education of the child. Even if the student goes to a sanatorium for treatment or for preventive rest, the mentor continues to interact with him through various means of communication, and does not leave his ward. An important aspect is also the fact that tutors organize interaction not only in the “student-teacher” system, but also “student-classmates”.
Children with autism
Tutoring for children with autism involves several stages. It is necessary to evaluate what skills a child has, how he manifests himself in individual lessons and in group, learn to follow social rules, observe the daily routine and perceive sensory stimuli. Assess how much he can interact with other people, how he responds to requests, and whether he asks for help himself. Children with such a diagnosis are more difficult to perceive the environment, it is more difficult for them to learn teaching material, but this is not a reason to deprive them of education. In such cases, tutoring expands its boundaries. The mentor needs to draw up not only a detailed training plan, but also a detailed plan for diagnosing the child’s personality, as well as monitor changes in the behavior of the ward throughout the learning process and interaction. Without all these components, the result simply cannot be achieved.
Hearing impaired children
Education at school is an important stage in the life of every person. From here begins the development and preparation of a future model of life, so attending school is so important. Tutoring for children with hearing impairment begins with a mentor meeting his ward. The tutor just needs to have a conversation with the parents of the child, to find out its strengths and weaknesses, to study its specific side of the disease.
Only after this you need to proceed to the preparation of a plan to accompany the child. The interaction process itself should be based on the model that the tutor is not the main thing, it only helps the child choose a goal and achieve results. At the same time, the specialist helps to build communication with classmates and teachers. Such a child, as a rule, is not very contact, and it is difficult for him to be in a social environment, but the tutor should help to overcome these barriers.
Children at risk
Tutoring children at risk is a very difficult task. Teachers in schools treat such students with apathy, punish them, scold them, thereby causing even greater deviations in the child. Often the street and unsuccessful friends blame the student for such behavior. However, often the causes of deviant behavior lurk much deeper. Parents independently shy away from the educational process or choose an aggressive model of education, which entails bad consequences. Can a young person make the right important decisions on his own? He is simply pushed to show abnormal behavior. This is a kind of cry for help to be heard. Hear and help. The tutor is the very “lifeline”, acting as a mentor, friend, ally. And such help is sure to be appreciated by a child at risk.
The problem of gifted children
Tutoring with gifted children is pointless? Many people think so. Why does a gifted child help a tutor? The answer to this question is very simple: strangely enough, such children often face a lack of understanding of teachers. And instead of creating an individual training program for the child, teachers simply overwhelm him with tasks. With this approach, the child’s talents can not only not be developed, but completely ruined.
Tutoring here plays a huge role. It is necessary not only to establish relations between students and teachers, but also to support and help develop the gift of the child. After all, if oppression occurs, then where does development come from? If ridicule of talent occurs, then the desire to be talented disappears. But modern society so badly needs gifted children, their thoughts and discoveries.
Teaching tolerance
Tutoring in inclusive education for children is an important factor. We have already seen enough of this. The practice of moving children with disabilities away from training in special educational institutions has not yet been fully developed, but is quite possible. When studying in ordinary schools, a double process occurs. Firstly, children with disabilities learn to be and live in society. Secondly, ordinary children learn to interact with people other than them, learn to show tolerance, respect and understanding. And in order for such processes to occur without psychological trauma, for some and for others, tutorial support is created. Only specially trained people, with a balanced character and understanding of the problem, can act as mentors. It is in this way that it is possible to blur the line between unusual and ordinary children, showing that all people are equal and deserve understanding and acceptance by society.
Feasibility of tutoring
Probably, people will be divided into two types: those who consider such a process in training appropriate, and those who do not see a special need for it. However, tutoring not only helps children learn and gain knowledge, but also shows that this process can be interesting. Children are still small people who alone cannot learn tolerance, accepting people other than them. It is believed that child cruelty knows no bounds. But this cruelty is born not of anger, but of ignorance. Tutoring involves communication with classmates of his ward. The mentor explains and clarifies the problem, not pointing out weaknesses, but emphasizing strengths. Only knowing the characteristics of the child, you can confidently choose the model of individual learning, which is so necessary for children with disabilities.