Mark’s story

Mark did a 2-day Grit Advanced Tutor online training.

The Grit training was brilliant! It’s no exaggeration to say it was the first time I have really loved this type of event. Diverse, passionate participants very committed to the training with lots of debate, discussion and questioning. As an academic it is very rare that you have the chance to do a deep dive into these areas. And it worked very well online.

You don’t get training on how to be a Personal Tutor. Like most of my colleagues, for me it’s been a process of trial and error, so it was fantastic just to be able to compare notes. But the power of Grit was how it got me to relate how I operate (as a tutor) to where students, as individuals, are coming from. It got me to reflect on how every student has their own unique approach to learning, how they engage and respond in different ways, and to understand how all this is impacted by everything else that is going on in their lives. Once you get that, you can engage them so much more effectively.

The impact was pretty immediate. Straight after the training I went back to my tutor group. They had been really struggling with essay writing skills. I took a step back and looked at assumptions I had been making. I realised they were approaching essays from a completely different angle from the one I had expected and, using a coaching approach, we walked through the steps you need to take to produce quality work.

Grit got me to reflect on who I am being with students, on the boundaries of the various Personal Tutor roles: that mix of authority figure and someone they might want approach to talk through their problems. It is not just the academic. They might be struggling with difficult family situations, wrestling with identity issues or cultural disconnects. And this all impacts on how they engage.

But rather than take the formal step of approaching a counsellor or other professional, I see how students respond to personal investment, support from someone you know has your back. Coaching allows me to challenge and have them ready to genuinely consider what I say and take it on board. So I’m finding different ways to connect and engage with students.

And on those days when I’m not doing this so well, Grit enables me to challenge myself.

I’m still in touch with some of the other Grit participants. We’ve got a sort of peer support network, but outside the pressure cooker of our departments and schools. It’s incredibly helpful to get an impartial perspective on all sorts of things – frustrations and aspirations, career progression, teaching practice, on professional development and pastoral work. And it helps us maintain all that Grit energy, enthusiasm and drive.