Scott - Driffield tutor






Information About Scott:


Personal Description:

I'm Scott, a 52 year-old Scottish-born educator. Since 2003 i have majorly devoted my professional life to teaching L2 English to adults from overseas. Over the years i have narrowed my professional focus down to higher proficiency academic skills, with a specialist skill in the craft of writing. Consequently I have enjoyed some notable successes with tertiary-level students making the switch to the British Higher Education System.
On a personal note, i am a true adventurer with incredible journeys taken in many of the 50 countries I have already visited. I have lived 15 years abroad in my adult life, divided between 11 countries on 4 continents. I write prolifically, both for the travel industry, and for myself. Currently I am well into a new literary project, a short fictional novel called 'The Man Who Brought The Rain.'. I'm also a travel/landscape photographer with work sold around the world through Adobe. I love animals, music, intellectual enquiry, sunlight, mountains, and have trekked to great heights in some of the great ranges, including the Himalaya and the Andes. Last but not least, I live on a beautiful boat, which I helped to build myself over a 2 year period.



Teaching Experience:

Commencing in 2003 in a private language school in Greece, I have been active in teaching every year for the past 21 years. Since those early days I worked in UK public sector in adult education on literacy & numeracy accredited courses. I then moved into university in 2008 and have worked consistently (and tirelessly) with that adult/undergraduate/B2-C2 demographic ever since with considerable success. After five years in public higher educational colleges in the Middle East between 2013-2018, i returned to the UK to combine unrelated projects with my teaching, which i have done online with students from York and Bath University ever since. I have a level 5 TEFL diploma, as well as an MA in TESOL, an MA in International Relations, and a BA in the Humanities.



Tutoring Approach:

My approach is adaptive, depending on the environment, the syllabus, and the numbers of alumni involved. WIth larger classes of 10-15, the approach in the past 5 years has become ever more blended, aiming at a balance between face-to-face online sessions and a complex array of digital learning tools to be harnessed both independently and collaboratively. i encourage collaborative task-based learning enormously. At the academic level i operate at, autonomous, independent learning is the backbone of knowledge enrichment.
While nevertheless conforming to the popular student-centred, communicative approach, I consider myself a traditionalist insofar as i take strong central role in the flow of information. Elicitation of ideas from students, recycling of new lexis, applying practice to theory, and reinforcement of learning at the factual level are all important. But moreover, challenging young minds to think laterally about problems beyond their existing scheme of understanding can generate great results. My students like asynchronous methods, but still look up to a figurehead they consider wise and knowing beyond their years.
1-to-1 tutorials are to be viewed with a subtle difference. While the principles of group learning still hold sway, 1-to-1 is more intimate, more intensive, and not necessarily as formally structured. It can be subject to more digression. Establishing trust is as much a key element as the materials used to further knowledge, consolidate ability, and deepen understanding.



Map showing Scott's location

Qualifications:

  • Level 5 TEFL Diploma
  • M.A. TESOL
  • M.A.International Relations
  • B.A. Humanities

Further Information:

Availability:  Weekends / Weekdays (daytime)
Types of Tutoring:   Travels to you / From their home / Online
References Supplied?   Yes
Current DBS/CRB Check?   Yes
Additional Languages Spoken:   Spanish