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The best way to really understand something is to teach it to someone else.

It's the oldest saying in the book, but it's still true: you learn a little by being told, even more by being shown, and the most by experiencing for yourself - especially if that involves mistakes! A good tutor simply provides a safety net so you don't fall too far.

How fast a person learns something, whatever the skill, is directly related to the their character and the style of their learning process. The more the student is actively involved in hands-on experience, the faster and more thorough the acquisition of confident and usable skills.

Resist the urge to be spoon-fed, because it only helps you in the short-run, but leaves you vulnerable in the long run. Experience things for yourself.

Anyone whose teaching should give the people they're teaching a sense of control over their own success.

Good tutors support their students in finding their own independence. As much as you can, try to give the student the responsibility for their own learning.

Present the students with the problem - the goal - and invite them to work out how to solve it.

Unless you help the individual student develop their skills and pleasures in all aspects of their life, not just the one you are teaching, you won't get the best from them.

Suggest a strategy for generating solutions, but try not to suggest the solutions themselves. Don't give someone a ready-made answers because then they'll never learn how to do it for themselves.

The most effective form of helping is enabling the other person to see for themselves other points of view on a problem or situation.

A teacher is no longer primarily an information provider - they help the student learn to select what information may be useful to them, and to prioritise their use of it.

I don't listen to myself when I talk, I try to listen to the other person listening, to make sure that I'm being heard accurately.

A good tutor uses their knowledge of the student's existing knowledge and passions to help find a bridge into a new subject.

Ask the person what their aspirations are, and ask them how they plan to get there. Then you can start a collaborative discussion with them about what they are committed to and keen to invest themselves in. You can be an ally to their aspirations rather than a hindrance.

Pocket money, praise and other treats are too often used to reward only unenjoyable activities. Shouldn't children learn that they can also earn praise and reward for doing the things they love to do anyway? That would set a good precedent for future life: that the world will reward a job well done and it's all for the better if you also enjoy that job for its own sake. That can guard against the very negative notion that work is something you're not meant to enjoy.

The best teachers actively and regularly learn from their students by inviting their students to teach them something. Both parties benefit enormously from such a relationship.

The High-School Sports Coach in a small-town American community is an important person, looked up to and respected by successive generations. Coaching is a very important part of life there in the USA, but in the UK I don't think we've ever properly understood the role of coaching in the process of learning and pursuing excellence. We're the poorer for not appreciating it.

When I'm teaching, it would be nice to be thanked occasionally or to be told when my example or anecdote has worked really well.i

A good teacher presents all sides of the argument unbiasedly.

Cultivate an atmosphere where questions and debates are commonplace - where there is no such thing as a stupid question if it leads to a better understanding, where the student can admit that they still don't get it.

Teach by example; ask your students their opinions on things; and ask them to teach you something.

The ability to explain things in many different ways using metaphors, analogies and examples is a real plus. If the lessons are eccentric and unusual, it makes them all the more refreshing and memorable for students.

A teacher needs to radiate passion for their work, and respect for each student as an individual rather than as part of a class.

Good teachers have other interests: they seem happier and more rounded for it. Such interests can be a portal by which students can better appreciate their teacher's personality.

A good teacher dares to go beyond the curriculum. This extra knowledge invariably pays off, shedding fresh light on the material that is within the curriculum.

Help your students make connections between what they experience in their own everyday lives and what they're learning from you.

Students have to feel that you've got their best interests at heart, otherwise they won't have faith in you.

Spending time with your students is a great compliment and a key ingredient of a good relationship. Take an interest in their lives, and establish some trust.

Praise people as often as you can. You can't over do it.

I teach 'why to learn' I teach 'how to learn' and then I get out the way because I'd be trampled in the rush for them wanting to learn.

Teaching should be highly-collaborative between teacher and person being taught.

What we've got to aim at is 'individualised learning' i.e. going at the individual's pace, not as part of a class. An individual learns best when they set their own pace for something they've chosen to do. Progressing at some 'class average' every lesson is belittling some students and holding back others.

Bear in mind that all individuals and all groups will have different learning styles, so you as the teacher must adapt yourself and your material to get the best from whoever is learning.

The main joy of being a teacher is all about the magic of seeing someone develop. The main downside are the extreme highs and lows in that development process.

Listening to students is one of the hardest skills for a teacher to master, because you get so used to teaching by talking.

The best way to take care of someone is to train them to take care of themselves.