David

I have been teaching for 28 years across a wide variety of contexts, from 11+ to postgraduate. I have experience in teaching, coursebook creation, course management and teacher-training. I write teaching material on literature, history and politics, and have published a number of peer-reviewed articles on literature, history and history of art, and edited several collections on literature.

Tutoring Experience

I have taught English Literature, History, Politics and EFL at different levels, mostly from GCSE to undergraduate. I have lectured on literature at Royal Holloway, where I also undertook a Higher Education Academy (HEA)-accredited lecturer-training programme. I lecture in literature, history and politics to American undergraduates and graduates on study-abroad programmes at the University of Oxford, including students from Stanford University. The bulk of my career, however, has been spent preparing students for the French equivalent of Oxbridge entry exams. I was director of studies at a school in Oxford specialising in these exams, and in addition to teaching on the programme, wrote the student and teacher textbooks. In recent years, I have taught on the pre-sessional courses at Southampton University, preparing students for the transition to university study, improving their critical reading skills and academic writing. Most recently I have tutored students for English Literature (GCSE, A-level) and Language (GCSE), History (A-level) and Politics (A-level) exams.

Tutoring Approach

I approach all my teaching work in the same way: first, gaining a deep understanding of the exam or assessment criteria; second, creating models of essays etc to demonstrate good practice to my students; third, devising simple, step-by-step methods for doing the tasks required by the student’s exam; and finally, giving feedback with clear action points for the student to work on in their next piece of work. Much of my teaching has been in the tutorial format, where the need to tailor the teaching style to the individual’s needs is paramount.