Whickham Tutors and Whickham Tuition

Personal Description:
PSYCHOLOGY
I have a BSc (First Class Honours) in Psychology from Brunel University (2007), and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Cambridge (2011). I have worked as a research fellow and subsequently as a psychology lecturer at various universities in the U.K. My research is mainly in social, health and cognitive psychology, but I also teach research methods (both quantitative and qualitative methodologies), statistics and SPSS, as well as effective academic writing, including dissertations and research projects. In addition, I have sufficient competence in personality (i.e., individual differences) and clinical psychology to be able to teach these at undergraduate level. I have published over a dozen peer-reviewed articles, including some in world-leading journals, and have over 1300 academic citations of my research. Some of my research interests are: The attitude-behaviour relationship, behavioural interventions, motivation, cognition, and emotion, dual-process models of cognition, cognitive dissonance, self-affirmation, and information processing, emotional intelligence, mindfulness, health psychology, meta-cognition and self-knowledge, persuasion and social influence, intelligence and problem-solving, psychology of music, and psychology of religion.

PHILOSOPHY/CRITICAL THINKING/RELIGIOUS STUDIES
In my own research in psychology, I have drawn on several philosophical ideas, and have integrated different philosophical perspectives into my work. In addition to critical thinking, I am able to teach humanistic philosophy, social cognition, epistemology, existentialism, and related areas. I also teach how to build philosophical arguments for academic and commercial purposes. In terms of religious studies, I have a particular interest in the Abrahamic faiths, as well as Hinduism, Buddhism, and related philosophies.

MUSIC
I am a performer and teacher of Indian classical music (Northern style), and teach the instruments of dilruba, esraj, taus, taar shehnai and a bit of sarangi. I have been learning for 18 years, and been performing for the last 10 years. I teach beginners and intermediate students in basic and advanced raagas (from Yaman to Darbari) and taalas. I also teach vocal and harmonium.

ENGLISH LITERATURE
I specialise in creative writing, particularly short stories, and can teach students techniques in textual analysis and interpretation, especially using the hermeneutic method. I am also interested in how characters in stories (all genres) are given psychological depth, as well as how story structure and character development go hand-in-hand.

URDU
Urdu is my mother tongue, and is one of four languages that I speak fluently. I can teach beginners and intermediate students in grammar, reading and writing, as well as conversations. And I also teach advanced students in conversation. My particular interests in Urdu literature are 18th and 19th century poetry, especially ghazals.

DANISH
I am a native speaker of Danish, and spent the first 22 years of my life there. I can teach all levels of the language and its literature. Some of the key authors that I have an interest in are Søren Kierkegaard, Karen Blixen, H C Anderson, and we can also discuss Danish film, cinema, and culture. Danish is very similar to Swedish and Norwegian so by learning Danish you will be able to read those languages quite well, and you might be able to understand speech in those languages to some extend. There is also some overlap between Danish and German, though not as much.

Teaching Experience:
I taught psychology to undergraduates at the University of Cambridge from 2008-2011. I then taught at King's College London from 2011-2014, followed by the University of Bath from 2014-2017 and then Bath Spa University from 2017-2022. I also supervise BSc, MSc, and doctoral students. I'm currently lecturing at the University of Hertfordshire.

Tutoring Approach:
I aim to use an interactive approach that encourages active involvement of the tutee. My main goal during tuition sessions is to stimulate an interest in the subject and facilitate independent and critical thinking. This, I believe, allows the tutee to become an independent thinker and to enjoy the learning process, which is rewarding for both parties.

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Personal Description:
Buongiorno! I am Julie, I have been teaching Beginners Italian for 15 years, I lived in Milano some years ago, returning to the UK in 2001. I love teaching and always aim to make the lessons fun and not too scary for beginners!

Teaching Experience:
While living in Italy I taught English and Art, and since my return to UK I took my Italian A Level and having been teaching ever since. I really enjoy teaching and think that shows in my very interactive lessons!

Tutoring Approach:
The lessons are geared to getting you to speak Italian, of course we have to study some grammar but I try to keep it to friendly bite-size pieces, as the most important thing is having the confidence to speak with Italians

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Personal Description:
I am a native Chinese speaker and can speak fluent Cantonese and Mandarin.
I also teach Piano, Trombone, Double Bass and Music Theory up to Grade 8 and Jazz Piano up to Grade 5 as I have all the qualifications in those instruments.
Piano lesson starting from £40 per hours depends on level.

Teaching Experience:
I have 16 years of teaching experience of Music, Maths and Chinese.

Tutoring Approach:
I am patient in teaching and would like to work together with student step by step until they understand all the things.

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Personal Description:
Coupled with considerable experience of working in top business universities, as a Professor I presently hold a visiting professorship with Buckingham University. This integrates predominantly working with Masters and PhD students as a lecturer, tutor, assessor and mentor. This is supplemented with wide knowledge of awarding bodies through my role as a principal examiner with the CQI. My f/t role incorporates as Head of Continuous Improvement for the NPS. A highly qualified trainer/lecturer with a PGCE, assessor awards, post graduate diploma and advanced skills trainer status. I also possess a MBA and a PhD in Lean from Aston University. I am also a Master Blackbelt and possess senior project management qualifications./experience. I have held senior positions in education and industry within the field of Learning and Development with an excess of thirty years experience. My present part-time roles; namely a principal examiner for the "Chartered Quality Institute" - a global authority in this field - coupled with visiting lectureship with Buckingham University maintains my professional knowledge and skills. I am continuing my cutting edge research and professional development reflected to date by articles published in internationally renowned journals; invitations to present at thirteen international conferences as a key-note speaker and am working on my third book depicting an elevated degree of communicational expertise.

Teaching Experience:
• Head of Continuous Improvement; Probation Service
As "Head of Continuous Improvement" for the Probation Service, my role primarily involves managing the organisation towards a greater maturity level in continuous improvement. This includes supporting the change management teams to ensure resource is focussed in those areas requiring most backing to achieve the transformational vision. I run and maintain externally accredited programmes.
• Quality Assurance Manager; April 2005 - Present; NOMS Civil Service College - Rugby;
Chief scrutinizer of all learning packages to authorise their application within the Service; Internal verifier aiding areas towards awarding body accreditations, i.e., CMI, ILM and CIPD; Lecture on selective externally accredited programmes ranging from levels III to VII for staff
• Buckingham University
Visiting lectureship; co-supervisor for Doctoral students which includes advice and guidance on all aspects of their learning journey to completion. This integrates guiding them on choosing the appropriate theoretical frameworks, undertaking data capture aptly and offering advice on research modules which includes undertaking lecturing, tutoring; marking and consultancy work as and when appropriate. Main work involves dissertation at MBA and PhD thesis (ensuring literature reviews, methodologies, conceptual frameworks, analysis (as a Master Back belt) and having seen over eight candidates to completion at PhD, am fully familiar with the broad requirements. At MBA the modules I have worked with over 40 students on are: Managerial Economics, Marketing Management, Organisational Behaviour, Corporate Finance, Corporate Innovation and Intrapreneurship, Creating and sustaining value and Strategic management. The main work has involved supporting the MBA students with their dissertations.
• Chartered Quality Institute
Devise assessments, marking and moderation policies for under and post-graduate modules
• Staffordshire University Regional Federation - Stoke
Senior Management Lecturer and Advanced Skills Lecturer and Module Leader July 2000 - April 2005
Wrote, lectured and assessed programmes to under and post-graduate students
Dissertation tutor and managed college accreditation to CIMA, CMI and CIPS programmes
Senior NVQ assessor and internal verifier on management NVQs run by Stoke College
• Burton College 1997- 2000; P/t lecturer on management courses ranging from levels III to VII
• 2005 -2022 - Freelance Private tutor in spare time on areas identified; have tutored from GCSE to students undertaking PhD programmes. Specialise in helping MBA students too.

Tutoring Approach:
I have substantial experience of one - to- one teaching, coaching and mentoring students and managers in a work environment.
Most of my recent projects have concentrated on masters students and in particular MBAs. The end goal of the candidate is always paramount, i.e., if preparing them for an exam the subject knowledge and familiarity of past papers is imperative. My approach incorporates determining the learning style, ability and time available with the learner; this can range from a very methodical style, i.e., provide knowledge and then re-cap to a more fluid approach if favoured by the candidate.
The time spent with the candidates should be used effectively and leave home-work for periods between sessions ensuring learning is reinforced. Since 2005 I have substantive experience of Private tutoring in my spare time on areas identified; have tutored to a level of students ranging from GCSEs to those undertaking PhDs. Most of the work is done via Teams or Zoom to reduce the time commitments whilst aiding the flexibility levels.

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Personal Description:
Born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1981, Andreas started his classical guitar studies at the age of seven, under the tuition of Anastasios Amiridis. He completed his guitar diploma at the Municipal Conservatory of Thessaloniki in 2002 receiving the highest mark.

Andreas then continued with his education obtaining a Bachelor and Master's degree in music from Ionian University of Greece. He has also a Postgraduate title from Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria.

There have been many famous and distinguished guitarists that Andreas studied with or attended master classes such as Leo Brouwer, Eliot Fisk, Ricardo Gallen, Jorge Morel, Ε. Αsimakopoulos, Marco Tamayo, Costas Cotsiolis, David Russell.

Andreas has accomplished many goals within his musical career. He has won several National and International contest prizes. He was invited as a soloist in many festivals like the 4th Congress Association of Southeastern Guitarists, Naxos Guitar Festival, Evangelos Asimakopoulos guitar festival in Patras etc.

He has performed as a soloist guitar player as well as accompanied by Chamber music or by Orchestras. One of Andreas career highlights came in October 2008 when he played in Athens Concert Hall with the Athens Camerata-string Orchestra in front of HRH Princess Irene of Spain.

Since 2008 he has begun making his own transcriptions of works by composers of the wider musical repertoire on the guitar. As of July 1st 2010 the release of his first personal CD called "Classical Styles for Today" is ready for purchase.

Teaching Experience:
12 years of teaching experience:
-Conservatories
-Private lessons
-Master classes

Tutoring Approach:
-direct approach to the personality of the student
-help the student to develop skills and overcome technical issues almost immediately or in a short time period
-work on diferent musical styles of performing
-offer many useful tips concerning technique and being on stage

Result is 100% guaranteed

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Personal Description:
I am a native Turkish speaker. I was born and brought up in Turkey. I have been living in the United Kingdom for 14 years and I have British and Turkish citizenship.

Teaching Experience:
I have been working in private organisations. I have 7 years experience in teaching Turkish. I have thought different kind of students: one-to-one classes, small goups, beginners-advanced students

Tutoring Approach:
I belive within a very short time you should find that your listening skills have develop, you recognise Turkish words and phrases and your speaking skill are enchanced.

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Personal Description:
I am approachable, reliable and trustworthy, and have worked with children and young people in education, child care and the charity sector.

I hold a 2:1 BA in Criminology (Youth Justice) and am looking forward to beginning Primary Teacher Training (PGCE) in September. I am a native English speaker and have an enhanced DBS check.

I am currently a teaching assistant in a primary school year 4 class. I provide Maths and English interventions to small groups of children, as well as one to one support.

My experience as a child-minder to children aged four to six shaped my decision to pursue primary teaching as a career.

I have also volunteered as an Independent Visitor providing friendship and support figure to a young person with aspergers syndrome, in care of the local authority, a role I found extremely rewarding.

Teaching Experience:
Whilst at university I elected to complete a placement year volunteering as a Supported Housing Assistant at Centrepoint. My primary role was to manage, develop and deliver the AQA accredited 'Lifewise' workshops for the 44-bed service. I was delighted to win the award for being innovative, empowering, inspiring and professional during my time at Centrepoint.

Tutoring Approach:
A grasp of maths is essential to everyday life and therefore a high quality mathematics education provides a foundation for understanding the world. I believe anyone can achieve with the right teaching and environment. I aim to develop a love of learning and an appreciation, curiosity and confidence about the subject by building a dialogue with children, allowing them to take ownership of their learning, and providing engaging and stimulating lessons where mistakes can be made and solutions can be found together.

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Personal Description:
I studied medieval languages, literature, and history at the University of Cambridge before completing an MA in Medieval Studies at the University of York. I then moved to La Rochelle (France) in 2016, where I taught English in two schools. After spending 4 months in New Zealand, I began teaching English at the Sorbonne University in Paris (2018-2020). I am now in the process of completing a PhD which focuses on medieval literature and languages (including Old French). I take a keen interest in language, especially French, and enjoy sharing this with my students.

Teaching Experience:
From October 1st 2016 until April 30th 2017, I taught English to 11-18 year olds in two French high schools. I also privately taught English to a French businessman in preparation for his travels in Australia, and to a young student studying for his baccalaureate exams. I gained a TEFL qualification in 2015.

Tutoring Approach:
I am a friendly and unintimidating person, and encourage my students to ask questions on any linguistic point of difficulty. I will adapt my lessons to my student's needs (be it to improve reading, writing, grammatical knowledge, listening and speaking skills, or all of these in turn) so that each session is productive. I will happily teach according to school curriculum requirements, and I will also create my own teaching resources if necessary. I personally find it immensely satisfying and exciting to be able to speak and understand another language, and I encourage my students to share this pleasure.

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Personal Description:
A native Japanese from Tokyo with the Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language. Lived in the UK for over 25 years. Specifically trained to teach non-Japanese learners. Teaching full time as a profession. My background is in graphic design but I travelled around New Zealand and Australia before coming to the UK. Through my travel, I met people from many different countries and greatly enjoyed the experience. I live in Kings Norton which is in the south side of Birmingham.

Teaching Experience:
I taught my son Japanese singlehandedly from home without outside help and he got A* for both Japanese GCSE and A level. I take on both adults and students ranging from adults with Japanese connection in business, students who are studying for GCSE/JLPT. Young people who want to live and work in Japan in the future, people who want to watch Japanese anime without subtitles, people who want to visit Japan on holiday and much more. The level of my students range from complete beginners to upper-intermediate. I have also taught groups of children, and also a group of adults at a company. Both group types had some cultural sessions in which I received excellent feedback.
Number of people I teach weekly on one to one bases as of July 2022: over 30 people

Tutoring Approach:
I am friendly, enthusiastic and dedicated, and am happy to incorporate various aspects of Japan such as culture, anime, food etc. to add depth and insight in order to enrich your learning experience. I use Skype and online notepad for online lessons, and for both face-to-face and online, I normally issue 'no obligation' weekly homework unless you opt out, from over 30 textbooks and workbooks which I have accumulated over the years. Lessons normally continue throughout the year including school summer holidays and Christmas.

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Personal Description:
I am a professional, friendly and enthusiastic tutor. My focus is providing engaging and informative lessons to individuals and small groups. In my spare time I'm a sports fanatic; I play hockey and hold a black belt in Jujitsu.

Teaching Experience:
I graduated the University of Cambridge this year with a BA in Economics. My final year modules included microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, public economics and my dissertation, which statistically assessed the effectiveness of covid lockdown measures in the US and achieved a first class mark (placing me in the top third of my cohort). During my studies I tutored part time, teaching maths and economics.

Tutoring Approach:
My teaching approach is problem and discussion based. This involves collaboratively working through problems and questioning students throughout their lessons to confirm and deepen their understanding. In essence, students get the experience of a Cambridge style supervision.

For example, several questions I often ask students to improve their writing are:
1) Would you say it out loud?
2) Would your teacher say it out loud?
3) Would someone a couple of years younger than you/without specialised subject knowledge be able to understand your argument?

For maths, my teaching heavily emphasises learning concepts from first principles to avoid unnecessary memorisation and confusion. We then cover a broad range of past exam questions to test all aspects understanding.

Lessons are conducted on zoom, where we can share our screens to work through problems together as a team. We also use bitpaper, a premium online interactive whiteboard.

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Personal Description:
Hello potential students!

My name is David. I was an actor for 20 years, both as a hobbyist and a professional until becoming a writer. I still am both of those things (as well as a voice-over artist), but now would like to pass on my knowledge to other people and see if it helps them.

Until very recently, I worked in customer service for a myriad of companies--all to allow me the space and time to enjoy a career that was never fully stable. I enjoyed them, but only for the opportunity to meet new people and learn from them. True, I may be a tutor, but I will never stop being a student.

I also class as neurodivergent. For decades I lived with undiagnosed ADHD. Learning this was a surprise to many others around me, but not to me directly. The signs were not as well known back then, and somehow I had adapted to learn. These days, we adapt the teaching; so know that whatever background you have, we will find a way to learn together!

Teaching Experience:
Over one year as a private Tutor. Most of my students have been GCSE level (all exam boards) and a few have been adult learners wanting to know more, or Primary School pupils working to better their grammar. I hold a Master's Degree in Creative Writing and a Bachelor's in Drama--both of which give me a unique but well rounded approach to English Literature and Language, as well as essay writing.

Tutoring Approach:
Easy; good conversation, plenty of debates and a whole heap of laughs! For most texts involved in the English Language and Literature courses, it's hard to really analyse what lies beneath the words on the page; especially in a school-style setting. I like to find out what how the student works, and what works for the student. Then, I tailor our sessions around them, their pace, and see if there's more excitement underneath those words!

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Personal Description:
After qualifying as a teacher from Oxford University's specialised teacher training college I entered business and have held many senior positions as Commercial Director (e.g. Wembley Stadium) and Chief Executive of medium to large business mainly in the service sector. Complemented with 6 years experience as a global management consultant with Deloitte Consulting, one of the "Big Four" global firms.

I moved into Higher Education as a both a Senior manager (Director) at the University of the Arts London and subsequently as a Lecturer at the University of Kent (Visiting Fellow in Entrepreneurship).

I have 3 grown up children and I live in the UK.

Teaching Experience:
I qualified as a teacher of English and Drama from Oxford University's specialised teacher training college. My teaching experience started with developing executive training programmes in Finance and management assisting a group of local Chief Executives of small businesses. This developed my interest in teaching and I subsequently took a role as Visiting Fellow in Entrepreneurship at the University of Kent in Canterbury UK. At the same time becoming an adviser to the UK's national Body promoting Entrepreneurship (the NCEE).

In 2017 I took a teaching role in China as Business Teacher in the International Baccalaureate curriculum a the Canadian International School of Hefei also teaching business related programmes in the New Brunswick Canadian Curriculum to students aged 16 to 18. I subsequently became Head of the Humanities department and left the school after 8 years, in 2025.

I currently tutor -on line- one of my previous students.

Tutoring Approach:
I believe every individual has their own way that they find easiest to learn and absorb most easily and part of being an effective tutor is to identify the learning style of students and this is achieved through careful listening, observation, discussion and modes of work (speaking, writing, drawing) etc). In the IB the overall approach os concept based learning where students are helped to develop tbeir own powers of deduction, reasoning and problem solving and this is my approach to tutoring (and teaching). On a practical level this means alot of discussion between me and students leading them to develop their own answers as much as possible to business options, issues and questions. In this way I find students retain what they learn. A blend of teaching methods helps to keep the lessons engaging and interesting. For example sometimes I will provide a ppt and use this as a discussion point at other times discuss a piece of written homework. I would characterise my approach as patient, creative and practical with the theory explained in some cases based on my own business experience.

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