English Literature, Language and degree teacher with 20 years' experience and PhD. Online or at my home (London).

Find out more about Mark

• When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  I have always loved reading and writing. When I was studying for my English Literature O Level (yes, I’m that old!!) I was excited by the realisation that stories relate to life on so many levels: themes, message, characters ... I found there was so much to learn about what goes on around us from books. I did odd bits of private tutoring when I was working full time but decided to take the leap of faith about three and a half years ago and work full time as a tutor. This was just before lockdown which led to a lot of people inquiring about online learning. Since then, I’ve been very busy.



• Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  The bulk of my work is GCSE Language and Literature and A Level Literature, but I also teach pre-GCSE secondary and primary, and degree and post-graduate students. I generally love working on literature – such a wealth of insight and knowledge at our disposal, and it’s great to see young people develop the skills to appreciate books and to think about what they can learn from them. Poetry is my main expertise (my Phd was on contemporary poetry) and I love helping students work out how a poem is put together and how it works. Sometimes trying to teach meter can be a little dispiriting as it’s so technical and you have to have an attuned ear to work out where the stresses are. Sometimes I’ve made the judgement to abandon teaching meter if a student is really struggling as there are other elements of form (stanzas, lines and rhyme) that they can comment on. You have to be flexible to what the student is going to benefit from.



• Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  A couple of teachers at school fostered my love of English – but that was a very long time ago! I did my Master’s and Phd at Birkbeck, University of London; not only were the staff there extremely knowledgeable but the other research students, with their various interests and specialisms, were a real motivation to explore things. A special mention should go to my Phd supervisor at Birkbeck who was extremely patient but always knew how to keep me moving with my research and get me to discover new things.
  Currently I find the England women’s football players are an incredible inspiration because not only are they winners but they go about their business with togetherness and grace and they show that young people – and girls in particular – can achieve things.



• What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  Obviously subject knowledge and those vital teaching and professional skills (preparation, marking etc), but otherwise listening and noticing – being aware of when a student knows something and doesn’t need to cover it in any detail, but also spotting when it’s necessary to check learning and repeat or reinforce learning – or return to it from a fresh angle. I am constantly making decisions as a tutor: at what point do I offer an answer rather than encourage the student to keep exploring? How much is the right amount of work for this student? Have we covered enough of this topic? Should we shelve this and return to it later on in the tutoring? Am I giving the student too much and holding them back, or not giving them enough and it’s becoming a struggle? So the ability to make those judgements and make them well really only comes with experience. Working one-to-one with students is so different from teaching a class – you can focus so much more of course on individual learning but some of the benefits of the classroom, such as group work or a shy student who listens quietly feeling more comfortable, are lost a little bit. A good tutor will be able to work out quickly what their student needs and to implement it effectively.



• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  A couple of years ago I did a few sessions with a year 9 child – I had tutored his brother with great success (going from grade 5 to 8), but this boy was reluctant and clearly didn’t enjoy English. He started to challenge me on the validity of the skills I was teaching and was clearly fed up. I discussed this with his dad and told him I felt the tutoring was not beneficial at that point. The dad decided it was best to stop the lessons at that stage. Then, a few months ago, the dad got back in touch and asked if I could see through the tutoring to the exam in the summer. The same boy, now year 11, is engaged, enthusiastic and open to what I have to teach him. He’s basically come back at the time that was right for him and I’m sure he is benefiting from the tutoring now.



• What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or still facing in your subject?

  English can be more technical than a lot of people realise. And it’s not true that there are no wrong answers. There may be more than one right answer, but some answers are definitely misreadings or misinterpretations. Tutoring people with additional needs is always a challenge, but that side of my work can be the most rewarding because it is really tough for someone with autism, ADHD or dyslexia to achieve in the school system and I feel like I’m levelling up the playing field a little bit. Also those who have struggled with the system and with being in those big school environments are often the sweetest, nicest, most polite kids and they’re often the ones who try the hardest.



• Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  I do love teaching, particularly when I see the light bulb moment, but also when, over a longer period, I can see learning and development taking place. I love reading and learning from literature. But otherwise I have what my friends call an eclectic music taste (ie I like a lot of weird stuff!) and as a parent my children inevitably take up a lot of my headspace and time – being a dad is definitely a passion.

• What makes you a Superprof (besides answering these interview questions :-P) ?

  I think my great strengths as a tutor are that I really know my subject – whether it’s the technical skills in English Language (analysing language and structure, evaluating, comparing) or the great range of techniques that writers use in novels, plays and poetry, I pride myself on having a detailed grasp of what is happening in a text. I put each student at the centre of what I do, so I take time to get to know a little bit about them, to put them at their ease and try to build a strong rapport. It’s also important for me to plan my lessons according to the needs and preferences of each student, to be flexible and to use methods that encourage students to become more independent thinkers. Above all, I enjoy teaching and I believe that transmits to my students.