Why do Tutors need Tutors?

While I've been tutoring for over a decade now, I've spent most of that time 'tutoring and...'.

Like many people, during the lockdown, I reassessed my priorities, and my work-life balance was sadly lacking in life.

In September 2021 I left my full time job in a pharmaceutical research lab to make tutoring my Plan A.

A lot of people have told me that was a bold move, I must be very brave, and how well I've done. And I'm not going to shut that down (stroke my ego, thank you), but really I had no fear that it was the wrong decision.

Where did that confidence come from after ten years?

The online tutoring community.

The support of my (now) colleagues at Qualified Tutor, the online community at Tackling Tutoring Online, and the friends I've made online along the way, gave me that confidence.

As it happens, my first tutoring job was when I was 12 years old, supporting a family friend with her 11+ as I'd gotten into a grammar school and she wanted to attend with me.

That didn't go so well as we mostly played with barbies and sang along to Spice Girls songs, but it was the start of the journey for me.

It wasn't until Julia Silver rocked onto the scene with boundless enthusiasm and Qualified Tutor online community that things started to shift.

I realised not only that there is a wide community of fantastically talented tutors across the globe, or even that they all share my insecurities and challenges, but ultimately that we all make infinitely more progress when we're working together.

Whether it be sharing best business practices, referring clients, sharing tuition resources, or just lending an ear on a bad day, it is important not to underestimate the value of a community who understands you.

Not only that, but I can't tell you just how much this community cares about supporting their students as well as each other. It's exciting to see tutoring coming into the fore post-pandemic, with the opportunity to become a recognised part of mainstream education.

We have the opportunity to raise standards in tutoring across the board if we're working together, and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next for this lovely community.

What is most imminently next for Qualified Tutor is the Love Tutoring Festival, starting 27th June. You may have seen me mention it. It is a weeklong celebration of everything the tutoring community has to offer, and I could not be more excited for it.

You can come and see what I'm talking about by joining for free at https://qualifiedtutor.org/love-tutoring-festival/, or invest in a CPD ticket to step up your tuition business for 2022.

The week-long celebration ends with World Tutors' Day 2nd July, with the opportunity to thank a tutor who has made a difference in your life, while tutors take the time to focus on themselves with a spotlight on Wellbeing for 2022.

I'd love to hear more about your tutoring community wins. Share your experiences in the comments.