给考生家庭的建议 - 如何找到一个好老师

Advice for Families - How to Find a Great Tutor

给考生家庭的建议-如何找到一个好老师

As someone who has tutored and counseled students for well over 30 years, who has written countless tutoring and training guides, and who has personally trained more than 500 tutors and counselors, I can tell you first-hand, second-hand, and third-hand that being an effective tutor requires significant skills that go far beyond IQ and subject-matter expertise.

作为一个为学生提供辅导和咨询服务超过30年、写了无数辅导和培训指导、个人培训超过500名老师和顾问的人，我以切身感受及他人经验告诉大家，成为一名有用的辅导老师需要很大的技巧，远不止拥有高智商和学科专业知识那么简单。

Unfortunately, many tutoring companies are merely involved in window dressing – only hiring individuals who have attended top colleges and earned “impressive” degrees – with no regard for their communication or tutoring skills. They believe that parents will be impressed by the pedigree without knowing anything about the quality or style of their teaching. For all you current and aspiring tutors out there, you may be brilliant and/or have deep content knowledge, but if you don’t know how to help a struggling student master a difficult subject, test, or assignment, then you are not a good tutor.

不幸的是，许多辅导公司只是粉饰门面——只是聘请那些上过名校并获得“了不起”学位的人——而不考虑他们的沟通或辅导技能。他们相信，家长会在不了解其教学质量或风格的情况下对这类学术血统动心。对于所有已经成为老师和想要成为老师的人来说，你可能很聪明且/或学科知识渊博，但如果你不知道如何帮助一个学习吃力的学生去掌握一门难学的科目、测试或作业，那你就不是一个好老师。

There is an appropriate sports analogy that applies quite well here. “The best players do not necessarily make the best coaches.” It is not hard to understand why this might be the case. For certain super intelligent people, learning comes easily while teaching those same skills may not. Further, they may have never, or hardly ever, sat across the table from a tutor to receive instruction in a subject that may have eluded, perplexed, or frustrated them. In theory, having been tutored can provide wonderful insights into becoming a tutor.

这里用一个体育类比比较合适。“最好的球员不一定能成为最好的教练。”不难理解为什么会这样。对于某些非常聪明的人来说，学习很容易，而教授同样的学习技巧却并不容易。此外，他们可能从来或几乎没有与老师同坐一桌，接受一门让自己难以理解、困惑或沮丧的学科的辅导。从理论上讲，接受辅导可以让一个人对于成为一名老师有深刻的见解。

This is not to say that highly intelligent people cannot make great tutors. Indeed, many excellent tutors are incredibly brilliant people who have graduated from top colleges and earned many advanced degrees. My point is that highly intelligent people with these kinds of credentials are not necessarily great tutors. That is because it takes more than intelligence to be a great tutor. To be a great tutor you must have great people skills, communication skills, organizational skills, and a highly evolved intuition that may border on clairvoyance or perspicacity. Generally speaking, sensitive people make great tutors; insensitive people do not.

这并不是说聪明的人不能成为好老师。事实上，许多优秀的老师都是非常聪明的人，他们毕业于顶尖大学，并获得了许多高等学位。我的观点是，拥有这种资历的聪明人不一定是好老师。这是因为，成为一名好老师所需要的不仅仅是智慧。要成为一名好老师，你必须有优秀的人际交往能力、沟通能力、组织能力，以及可能接近预见力或洞察力的高度进化的直觉。一般来说，敏感的人会成为好老师；不敏感的人不会。

Patient people make great tutors; impatient people do not. Excellent listeners make great tutors; incessant talkers or those reading from a script do not. Finally, passionate people make great tutors; those who are just in it for the Almighty Dollar do not.

有耐心的人会成为好老师；缺乏耐心的人不会。善于聆听的人会成为好老师；话多或读稿的人不会。最后，心怀热爱的人会成为好老师；那些只为钱而从事这一行的人不会。

As a parent, how can you find, or know that you are hiring, a great tutor? Admittedly, it is not easy. But one starting point is to not assume anything based on a résumé. You also cannot go by what your child tells you after the first session, because they may not be the best judge of effectiveness either. At Avalon, we instruct our tutors in the 15 factors that go into an affective tutoring session. Of course, we touch on some obvious imperatives such as establishing expertise, setting aspirational but attainable goals, and arriving on time. However, we also stress the importance of sensitivity, professionalism, and communication skills. We teach tutors to look into the eyes of their students to make sure that the lessons provided are sinking in, not bouncing off like images from a reflective surface. We encourage our tutors to ask questions, and to encourage their students to do the same. We dissuade our tutors from having only one way of explaining something, and to have a series of checks and balances to make sure that lessons are having the appropriate effect.

作为一名家长，你如何才能找到，或者知道你找到了一名好老师呢？诚然，这并不容易。但基本的一点是不要根据简历想当然。也不能根据孩子在第一次课后给你的反馈做决定，因为他们可能也不是辅导效果的最佳判定者。在Avalon，我们针对有效辅导课程所需的15个因素对老师进行指导。当然，我们也会触及一些显而易见的必要条件，比如稳固专业知识，设定远大但可实现的目标并按时完成。然而，我们还注重敏感性、专业性和沟通技巧的重要性。我们教导老师去观察学生的眼睛，确保他们吸收教学内容，而不是像反射面一样把知识弹走。我们鼓励我们的老师去提问并鼓励他们的学生也多问问题，不鼓励老师只用一种方式解答问题。我们还有一系列制衡制度，确保课程起效。

Here are a few tips to help you find and hire a great tutor.

这里有一些建议可以帮助大家请到一个好老师。
1) Ask all potential tutors questions and make sure that the explanations given are clear and concise. A good answer will acknowledge and address the question directly, even if the answer does not lend itself to a simple explanation.
1)向所有可能成为孩子老师的候选人提出问题，并确保其给出的答案清晰简洁。好的答案会直接回答并解释清楚问题，即使这个答案本身并不是一个简单的解释。
2) Be leery of tutors who merely point to their academic record as proof of their tutoring prowess.
2)对那些仅用学术记录来证明自己辅导能力的老师持怀疑态度。
3) Ask yourself if you feel that your child will be comfortable working with this tutor. After all, you want the experience to be a positive one, rather than one that feels a bit like pulling teeth.
3)自问是否觉得孩子与这个老师一起学习会感到舒服。毕竟，你希望这个体验是令人愉快的，而不是像拔牙一样痛苦。
4) Ask the tutor these questions:
• “Tell me about your tutoring experience.”
• “In your opinion, why should I hire you over all the other highly qualified tutors who are out there?”
• “Please describe your teaching style.”
• “Have you ever worked with a student who you felt you could not help? If so, how did you resolve the situation?”
4)问老师以下问题：
• “跟我说说你的辅导经历吧。”
• “在你看来，我为什么要请你，而不是那些其他高素质的老师呢？”
• “请描述一下你的教学风格。”
• “你有没有辅导过你觉得自己教不了的学生？如果有，那你是怎么解决这个问题的？”

If you are comfortable with the answers to these four questions, then you may have found a good tutor. Make sure to check in with your child after the first session and on a regular basis. Also, check any notes that the tutor has provided. Notes should be provided and reviewed after each and every session.

For more information, please contact Avalon Admission at
800-0469-1028,
or info@avalonadmission.com.

如果你对这四个问题的答案感到满意，那么你可能会找到一个好老师。要在第一次课程结束后与孩子沟通确认过程是否顺利，此后定期沟通。另外，检查老师做的笔记。每次课后都应该有笔记并检查。

欲了解更多信息，请联系 Avalon Admission，
电话：800-0469-1028；
邮箱：info@avalonadmission.com.

It takes more than intelligence to be a great tutor. This is not to say that highly intelligent people cannot make great tutors. My point is that highly intelligent people with these kinds of credentials are not necessarily great tutors. That is because it takes more than intelligence to be a great tutor. To be a great tutor you must have great people skills, communication skills, organizational skills, and a highly evolved intuition that may border on clairvoyance or perspicacity.

做一个好老师不仅需要智慧。这并不是说聪明的人不能成为好老师。我的观点是，拥有这种资历的聪明人不一定是好老师。这是因为，成为一名好老师所需要的不仅仅是智慧。要成为一名好老师，你必须有优秀的人际交往能力、沟通能力、组织能力，以及可能接近预见力或洞察力的高度进化的直觉。