My Experience as a Tutor and Classroom Assistant.

During my studies at The University of Sheffield, I was involved in a project called Philosophy in the City. This is a student-led initiative that seeks to introduce and engage secondary school children in philosophical debates, academic writing and reasoning.

I developed a range of skills whilst volunteering as a teacher and classroom assistant for Philosophy in the City including; leading seminars, evaluating student work, lesson planning and mentoring students with A Level work and examination technique. 

Beyond this, I also came to realise the power and importance of studying philosophy in school. Philosophy is "P.E for the mind". The deep, lateral thinking that is required to understand the abstract topics that are so often explored in philosophy is like "reasoning gymnastics". This sort of training enables children to develop ways of thinking and reasoning that can be implemented in any subject or situation. At its core, philosophy is the foundation through which all other academic disciplines can be understood and mastered. Many, think of philosophy as a humanities subject, but in fact, the logic required at high-level philosophy (such as my degree) transgresses the boundary between the "arts" and "sciences" as mathematics and human understanding come together in figuring out what the world means to human beings. 

Philosophy teaches children to reason good and bad arguments and be creative in their solutions to problems. It also cultivates a respect for other people and their opinions. It allows a child to move beyond one understanding or idea about a subject and embrace how collectively we can create and understand things to a much greater extent than individually.

My time as a voluntary teacher not only enhanced my understanding and ability in tutoring but teaching philosophy enhanced my understanding of how we learn, reason and write and understand. 

Filed Under: Work Experience