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Tuesday 24 September 2013

Should I Choose a Female or Male Tutor for My Daughter



There are multiple considerations when choosing a tutor for your child. If you have a daughter, you’ll not only want to take into consideration her personality, temperament, demeanor, and overall strength in the subject or subjects requiring tutoring, you will also want to consider the best candidate for the job. There are many things to consider when comparing candidates. One of these many items is whether or not to select a male or a female tutor.
If your daughter is demure in nature, an overbearingly strong personality, whether male or female, could cause her to not be as open and relaxed during the tutoring sessions to readily receive the tutor’s instruction. Generally speaking though, knowing your daughter’s personality is the biggest determining factor in who to hire for the tutoring position. If you daughter adores her father and is a through and through ‘daddy’s little girl’ then hiring a male tutor might work very well, considering that the tutor is of course qualified in the subject or subjects that you need them to provide instruction. A male tutor may naturally already have your daughter’s inherent trust and the security that your daughter needs to feel to be fully present in the tutoring sessions and not wrought with angst over other potential problems. However, if your daughter compares all men to her daddy and as such no man can ever be good enough, then this approach could completely backfire.
If your daughter is a strong-willed, young female who already holds the confidence and belief that women can do whatever they put their mind to, then employing a female tutor may help foster her growth and confidence while a male tutor might just accidentally leave underlying signals through communication styles and body language that ends up undermining your daughter’s confidence. A professional tutor, whether male or female, wouldn’t purposely degrade a child’s self-confidence, but sometimes their own personality can burst through so strong that they don’t realize the subtle messages they benignly send.
An alternate consideration is your daughter’s age and the age of the tutor, whether male or female. A younger student would benefit well from a gentle approach to tutoring, someone with a sweet nature who is tender and nurturing by default. This would typically be a woman, but some men also possess these nurturing characteristics. Generally speaking though, a female would be a better fit for a very young student. As your daughter approaches upper primary school grades, a male might be more engaging and interesting to your daughter since she has likely been surrounded by female teachers in school this entire time. An energetic male tutor might just bring your daughter’s interest in the subject back and keep her engaged enough to begin to learn the more difficult concepts. However, as your daughter approaches teen adolescence, it might be wise if employing a male tutor to not consider one close to her age. Choosing a male tutor that is in college for your teenage daughter may end up resulting in a crush that significantly detracts from the education process itself as well as introducing a whole new host of challenges and problems. In the teenage years, exploring the option of an older male or female tutor would be a wise consideration.
It’s not as crucial whether you choose a male or female tutor for your daughter as much as it is important to know your daughter and her needs well enough to find the right tutor for the job. What does your daughter need most as an ally in her education process? That is who you need to employ to tutor your daughter. It is possible that as she progresses through her youth that you will find that the same tutor is able to help her migrate the path through its entirety. However, you may also decide to exchange tutors for a different style or method as your daughter grows further into her own personality.