Basil Bowdler

My online lessons are designed to create an environment in which students feel confident to tackle their challenges head on and comfortable making mistakes. I believe tutoring is most useful and engaging for students when their interests and objectives drive our lessons and I therefore ask students to come to lessons prepared with a particular issue they would like to address. This may be a subject they have found interesting or challenging in the classroom, or in the run up to exams a particular set of questions they would like help with. I aim to make my lessons as conversational as possible: I consider a successful lesson ones where the student come out of their shells and feel confident to dive into new material. This not only helps my students to develop skills of historical analysis vital to succeeding in history, but also makes my lessons more engaging and entertaining for them than much of their classroom experience has been. I believe in pushing my students to confront challenging subjects, but am sensitive to the need to help students to get there. I have a qualified tutoring certificate and am experienced at providing pastoral support for university students, making me adept at perceiving the needs of particular students. I have tutored many overseas students from countries including China, Korea and Pakistan as well as the United Kingdom and I am therefore experienced at supporting students for whom English is not a first language and from an array of different cultures.