I will always try to teach a student centred lesson ie the student will tell me which topic he/she is finding difficult to understand or would simply like to discuss in order to improve their knowledge and understanding and I will do my best to facilitate the student’s requests and meet their needs.
The student may also simply want me to interpret the comments that a class teacher has made on a piece of work that the student has produced or to give the student helpful advice and top tips regarding how best to complete or improve a piece of homework.
The student may ask for helpful advice regarding how best to prepare for internal and external exams and this may involve analysing past exam question papers in order to detect whether or not there is a pattern so that the student can make an educated guess regarding what types of questions the exam board might set. This will make it easier to identify topic areas that the exam board are likely to ask questions on and will make it easier for the student to construct effective exam revision materials.
I will always do my best to meet the student’s requests and deliver the lessons in as interesting and informative a manner as possible. I like to think that after having taught for 30 years in 4 countries and having led a history department for 6 of those years I have a good idea of how to teach an interesting lesson!