English Literature Tutor: How to choose the best one for you!

If you know what you're looking for in a tutor in English Literature, my qualifications and services are summarised below.

If not, read on to find out more about how a tutor in English Literature could help you, how to find one, and how to evaluate the potential tutors you can find online.

• Dr Michael Cade-Stewart: Professional tutor with degrees in English Literature from Oxford University and London; Fully-qualified teacher (PGDE with QTS); A Level Examiner since 2021. Enhanced DBS Certified and registered with the Update Service.

• Services Offered: English Literature at all levels, but particularly for Degree, ELAT, A Level, IB Diploma, and GCSE/IGCSE.

• To schedule a free ten minute chat, or to book a trial lesson, contact me!

What an English Literature Tutor Should Offer

English literature tutors play a pivotal role in guiding students through the rich tapestry of written works that make up the English literary canon. They help individuals engage with texts from different periods and cultivate an appreciation for the nuances and complexities of literary expression.

Becoming a competent close reader of English literature is hugely valuable in terms of life skills and career development. When you become a critical reader of demanding texts like literature you become a better reader of less demanding ones, becoming a more discerning consumer of media, and more alert to the nuances of professional communications.

To enable a student to do this, a tutor should demystify the labyrinth of themes, motifs, and historical contexts that can be barriers to understanding and enjoyment. Whether it is exploring the tragedies of Shakespeare, the Romantic poetry of Wordsworth, or the Modernist experiments of Woolf, these tutors provide the necessary tools for students to navigate and analyze literary works critically.

An English literature tutor can help students at every stage of their English Literature journey. They can help students attempting to master the basics, to helping advanced scholars refine their analytical skills.

A tutor should be able to provide tailored guidance for specific qualifications and assessments like the Oxbridge ELAT, A Levels, the IB Diploma and MYP, GCSEs and Degrees.

Most students need a tutor to supplement the teaching they are receiving at school, college or university. There are a myriad reasons why a student will benefit from extra tuition: perhaps they have missed classes because of illness, or because their teacher is a non-specialist.

A tutor can also serve as a student's only teacher, as long as the student can register with an exam centre as an independent candidate. Qualifications like the Cambridge Assessment International Education A Levels, and GCSEs are suitable for independent candidates as they do not require coursework (tutors cannot authenticate coursework).

Equally, a tutor should be able to offer expert guidance to students who want to broaden their knowledge and understanding of literature without a particular qualification in mind.

A tutor should tailor their approach to their student. Perhaps the student needs more help with close readings, comparative analyses, or integrating context or critics. Additionally, they should monitor the student's progress, offering feedback and strategies to improve their educational outcomes.

Key Takeaways

• Tutors enable students to connect with English literature.

• Tutors customize their tutoring strategies to improve critical analysis and appreciation.

• Tutors can assist students in their pursuit of a specific qualification (e.g. Degree, ELAT, A Level, IB DP, or GCSE).

• Tutors can serve as the only teacher for a student, or in addition to those at school, college or university.

Understanding English Literature

Students of English Literature need to approach the study of literature with a keen eye for comprehension and a willingness to uncover deeper meanings. An English Literature tutor should help them do this.

Shakespeare's plays, for instance, offer a profound look at human nature and universal themes. Hamlet and Macbeth are not just stories about Danish and Scottish nobles; they serve as windows into the complexities of power, morality, and destiny.

The Romantic poets wrote deeply personal poems of yet they are almost universal in their appeal in their exploration of mankind's relationship with the natural world, with dreams and visions and unfulfilled desire.

Modernism significantly shifted the landscape of English literature. Writers like Virginia Woolf and T.S. Eliot broke away from traditional narrative structures, introducing stream-of-consciousness prose and fragmented poetry. This shift required readers to actively piece together the narrative, elevating the importance of individual interpretation in poetry analysis.

Courses in English Literature typically include the following Assessment Objectives:

1. Critical Analysis: Engage with the text by asking questions. Write analytical responses supported by effective evidence.

2. Contextual Reading: Recognize the influence of historical and cultural context. Understand the importance of author's biography. Consider the text in terms of genre, like tragedy, lyric, or bildungsroman.

3. Literary Techniques: Identify symbols, metaphors, and irony. Explore narrative voice and point of view. Integrate terms like these judiciously to illuminate critical analysis.

4. Comparison: Make effective comparisons between two or more texts. Construct balanced and evaluative responses.

5. Critical Perspectives: In the more advanced qualifications, students explore different interpretations of texts. Discuss established interpretations and diverse viewpoints to enhance understanding.

Whatever the assessment objectives, an English Literature tutor should help their students appreciate the beauty and intricacy of English literature and encourage them to convey their understanding with confidence and clarity.

Tutoring Methods and Modalities

The landscape of English literature tutoring is diverse, offering various methods and modalities adaptable to students' needs. Here, I'll explore the differences and advantages of both in-person and online tutoring, as well as the dynamics of one-on-one versus group sessions.

In-Person vs. Online Tutoring

In-person tutoring provides a hands-on approach where the tutor can physically share resources, monitor a student's body language, and adapt in real time to their learning pace. The direct interaction fosters a personal connection, which can be beneficial for building rapport and motivating students.

• Advantages of In-Person Tutoring: Direct interaction Immediate feedback Personal rapport

Online tutoring, on the other hand, allows students to find tutors regardless of geographic barriers. This modality capitalized on technological tools during the pandemic, as described in a study on tutoring during the pandemic, which highlighted the power of popular video conferencing tools and online word processors to enabling effective teaching.

• Advantages of Online Tutoring: Opportunity to be taught by international experts in the subject Flexibility in scheduling Access to digital resources Video Calling allows for rapport and immediate feedback Possibility of recording online lessons for future review

One-On-One vs. Group Sessions

One-on-one sessions are tailored to an individual’s needs, allowing tutors to focus entirely on a student's particular challenges and progress.

• Key Features of One-On-One Tutoring: Personalized approach Targeted teaching strategies Direct and immediate feedback

Group sessions, alternatively, offer a collaborative environment where students can learn from each other's questions and literary interpretations, promoting a different kind of engagement as reflected in research on the differential effects of peer tutoring.

• Key Features of Group Tutoring: Collaboration among students Exposure to varied perspectives Peer support and motivation

How to Choose an English Literature Tutor

An English Literature Tutor should foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of English literature among students. they should focus on enhancing their analytical, writing, and critical thinking skills. How can you get the most from your tutor?

Safety First!

Make sure that your tutor can prove that they are safe to entrust with a student, whether lessons are online or in person. The tutor must be able to show you an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. If they can prove that they are registered with the Update Service, this is even better.

Defining a Tutor's Responsibilities

A tutor's responsibilities extend beyond mere content delivery: they are tasked with creating a supportive learning environment that encourages student engagement with texts and concepts.

A tutor should be able to adapt the content of a lesson and also their instructional methods in real time to meet the needs of their students. Check that your tutor can do this and ask them if they will need any notice before they can teach a particular text or assessment task.

A tutor should also be able to develop lesson plans and learning programmes tailored to their students' needs if required.

A tutor must also assess their students' progress and provide appropriate and timely feedback.

• Being Prepared: for the content of the course (the texts) and the assessment requirements.

• Student Engagement: Encouraging interactive discussions about literary works.

• Progress Tracking: Monitoring student performance to guide future instruction.

Importance of Personalized Teaching Strategies

Each student is unique, and an experienced English tutor must recognize and adapt to their learning needs. Personalizing teaching strategies must be central to a tutor's approach, incorporating different methods such as:

• Socratic questioning to enhance critical thinking

• Producing model answers and exemplars to help students understand what they need to do

• Scaffolding tasks to break problems down into more approachable tasks

• Providing tailored feedback on written work significantly accelerates student progress

Assessing a Tutor's Qualifications and Experience

The guidance of an expert in English Literature can be a game-changer, as this recent meta-analysis demonstrates. But how do you identify an expert?

Start by considering their qualifications. You want someone with a strong educational background in English literature, ideally at least one level higher than student's target qualification. So, if you're looking for help at A Level, it's best to choose someone who has at least a Degree in English Literature.

Then, consider their experience of teaching students at the appropriate level. As a minimum, the tutor should have seen more than one cohort of students through to graduation as their main teacher. I would recommend choosing a tutor who is qualified to teach students at that level - or, even better, be an experienced Examiner who can offer truly expert advice on passing the exams.

Here's a brief overview of my qualifications and experience:

• PhD in English Literature;

• MA in Modern Literatures in English from Birkbeck.

• BA (hons) English Language and Literature from Oxford University.

• Fully qualified teacher: Post-Graduate Diploma in Education with Qualified Teaching Status.

• Associate Examiner in A Level English Literature with Pearson/Edexcel since 2021.

• Teaching Experience at Higher Education: Two years teaching at King's College London.

• Teaching Experience at Post-16 Education: Six years teaching A Level; four years teaching IB Diploma.

• Teaching Experience of Secondary Education: Six years teaching GCSE/IGCSE; Two years teaching IB MYP.

• Tutoring Experience: Private Tutor since 2022, tutoring English Literature to students aged 9 to 69!

This combinations of qualifications and experience ensures that I am equipped to provide valuable insight and guidance to my students at every level -- but you may not need someone with a PhD to help a student with their GCSEs!

Selecting the Right Tutor

In your search for the perfect English literature tutor, it's essential to scrutinize each tutor's profile, evaluate their qualifications and experience. Then it's time to consider reviews and testimonials, and lastly, to sample their teaching style first-hand through a trial lesson.

Reviewing Testimonials and Reviews

Prioritize reviews from students who have already completed their course and received their results over those written on first impressions.

Look out for reviews from students who were studying English Literature (many tutors offer multiple subjects -- it doesn't matter how good they are at tutoring mathematics!).

For some real examples of reviews I have received, see the bottom of the page.

Trial Lessons and Assessments

Before you commit, ask to schedule a trial lesson. This is your opportunity to interact with the tutor, experience their teaching approach, and see if it aligns with your learning preferences.

An initial free video chat can often be arranged, which gives you a feel for their personality and teaching dynamics. These typically last about 10 minutes and can clear up concerns or complicated requirements.

From your side, be prepared to submit good clear photographs or scans of completed work regularly. This will help your tutor to tailor your lessons to enable you to make the best progress.

Defining Learning Objectives

A tutor should setting specific learning objectives that are aligned with their students' academic and personal goals. These objectives form the backbone of a structured and effective learning experience, tailored to each student's needs.

Understanding the Student's Goals

The tutor should begin by actively listening to understand each student's goals. Whether they aim to cover content missed through illness, grasp the finer points of thematic analysis or improve their literary critique skills, this knowledge is crucial.

This informs the plan the tutor and student should develop together, ensuring that the learning experience is directly relevant to their aspirations.

Creating a Tailored Learning Plan

A tutor should be able to construct a tailored learning plan. This plan might include a set list literary works, analysis techniques, and critical writing exercises.

Each element is chosen for its ability to contribute towards the student's defined learning goals, creating a personalized pathway to success.

Setting Achievable Milestones

Achievable milestones are instrumental for tracking progress. These might be completing a number of detailed essay plans or mastering the skill of relating a text to its contexts effectively.

A good tutor will ensure that these milestones are both challenging and attainable. This will allows students to experience continuous progress and stay motivated throughout their learning journey.

Enhancing Your Skills

A tutor should enable their students to refine specific abilities that are central to academic success. The following strategies underpin the development of comprehensive literature tutoring skills.

Developing Essay Writing Techniques

Structuring essays with a clear thesis, supporting arguments, and a cohesive conclusion. By analyzing various literary works, I guide students through crafting compelling introductions, building well-rounded body paragraphs, and concluding effectively.

Integrating textual evidence seamlessly with analytical commentary, honing students' ability to formulate and defend a critical perspective.

Do the same for contextual points so that they are relevant to the point being made, and rise naturally out of the analysis.

Evaluating different interpretations of texts by recognised experts in Literary Criticism. Again, these need to be fully integrated into the critical argument.

Improving Comprehension and Analysis

Many students who struggle with writing about a text often need some help in their reading of it. A tutor should be able to identify the parts of texts that need to be re-read, and to recommend active reading strategies, such as annotating for key themes and noting literary devices, enabling a deeper understanding of the material.

Cultivating Grammar and Writing Skills

A properly qualified English Literature tutor will be able to teach the full spectrum of grammar, from the basics of parts of speech and sentence structure to advanced syntactic patterns.

A tutor should be able to review written work from and to provide exemplars and models of good writing.

Once the basics are secure, a tutor should be able to help a student to hone their critical voice and style, while retaining precision and clarity.

Logistics of English Tutoring

In my experience, effective English tutoring hinges on two pivotal components: understanding the financial commitment and mastering the art of fitting sessions into busy schedules.

Understanding Tutoring Prices

The prices for English literature tutoring will vary according to various factors.

The hourly rate may vary depending on the level of the student’s education. Typically, secondary school students might be on the lower end of the pricing spectrum, whereas university level literature requires a higher rate due to the increased complexity.

Lessons at peak times of the day, and of the academic year, might be priced more highly. For tutors in the UK, the peak time is from 16:00-20:00 UK time, and the peak months are from February to May. You might find a tutor at a better price if you look for one in June, October or January instead.

Contact me to find out about my current prices. Give as much detail as you can about the qualification you want help with, the times you are available, and any special learning needs to get an accurate quote.

Scheduling and Time Management

A tutor must prioritize time management to accommodate an agreed schedules. A pain free method of proceeding might be to do the following:

1. Assessment of Availability: Ask your tutor to list all possible time slots during the week when they are free to teach.

2. Student Preferences: provide a number of preferred timings. If these can be outside of the peak times of 16:00-20:00 you will have most success.

3. Fixed Schedule: Once optimized, both parties should lock in a fixed schedule, ensuring regularity and consistency.

4. Cancellation Policy: Your tutor should tell you how much notice you will need to give to miss a class without payment. Most tutors waive the cost if more than 24hrs notice is given.

5. Flexibility for Exceptions: ask if your tutor has any time set aside each week as a buffer for rescheduling, should any unexpected circumstances arise.

Gaining Educational Support

A good English literature tutor should recognize that their role extends beyond simply teaching texts. It entails facilitating access to a wealth of educational institutions and resources, as well as offering guidance that transcends the content of the literature itself.

Access to Educational Institutions and Resources

A tutor should enable a student to be an independent learner. To aid in this, they should be able to recommend or provide access to appropriate Literary Criticism.

For instance, I often recommend Emma Smith's free online podcasts on Approaching Shakespeare, or carefully selected articles on JSTOR.org.

A tutor should help their students utilize a range of resources to become well-versed not only in the subject matter but also in how to efficiently harvest information from good quality sources.

Furthermore, my recommendations might include competitions, conferences, workshops, or seminars where you can present your work and benefit from networking opportunities.

Guidance Beyond the Subject Matter

A tutor's guidance often transcends the immediate scope of English literature. Literature inherently invites discussions about life, philosophy, and critical thinking, which are pivotal in personal development.

Exploring diverse literary works offer insights that encourage students to reflect critically on various themes and ideas.

Becoming an adept reader of literary texts makes one a better reader of other, less demanding texts like articles and company reports with an eye for nuance and bias.

In these ways, tuition in English Literature will strengthen not only your academic prowess but also your overall confidence and communication skills positioning you to excel academically and thrive in any future endeavours.

Frequently Asked Questions

In my experience, people looking for a tutor in English Literature often have several inquiries. I've compiled responses to some of the most pertinent questions:

What is the typical hourly rate for an English literature tutor in the UK?

From my understanding, the typical hourly rate for an English literature tutor in the UK varies widely. It can range from £20 to over £70, depending on the tutor's experience, qualifications, and location.

How can I find a qualified English literature tutor near me?

Try searching online for tutoring platforms, or for educational forums. If you're at school, why not ask your teacher for a recommendation?

What platforms online offer the best opportunities for finding an English literature tutor?

Platforms like Tutorhunt.com and Spires.co are popular among tutors and tutees. Bear in mind that these sites charge their tutors commission of at least 30%, so you will be paying more than if you can hire a tutor independently (e.g. via LinkedIn).

Reviews and Testimonials

"As a mature student, Michael has helped me rewrite the average A levels I achieved whilst in sixth form, elevating me from a C/D grade candidate to somebody who has now achieved an A*. He offers exceptional and keen insight into the set texts and is adept in giving relevant information and pointers in regards to wider literature which has helped me expand my knowledge beyond the texts and led to me gaining those higher marks. He is also extremely flexible and accommodating in regards to organising tuition around my working life, and has often given up weekends in order to support my learning. For this I am extremely grateful! Along with his affable personality and great patience I would highly recommend Michael to learners of all ages; he is a great investment towards improving your educational prospects and marks." -- Joseph, A Level English Literature student.

"Michael was an amazing tutor. Always had a smile and was ready to teach something new in a very calm and helpful manner. I really enjoyed my lessons and passed my exam!" -- Millie Rose, English Equivalency Assessments

"Michael was wonderful, well prepared, and incredibly knowledgeable. This lesson was of great help and I learned what I usually would in a week in one hour." -- Micha, A Level English Literature student.

"Michael is a great tutor, very patient and emphatic. His lessons are very inspiring and his wide knowledge is so impressive! My daughter is very pleased with her lessons and happy to continue with Michael." -- Aga, parent to Wik, an IB Diploma English Literature student.