When most people think of tutoring, they picture someone explaining a difficult concept or working through practice problems. But great tutors do something far more important: they help students grow as individuals.
Both academic and personal growth come about when students feel safe, understood, and genuinely supported. When that foundation exists, something shifts. The nervous system settles. The brain's natural learning capacities activate. Students don't just absorb information more effectively, they begin to mature into capable, confident learners.
This distinction matters profoundly. Self-Determination Theory, a powerful psychological and motivational framework, reveals that humans have three fundamental psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness (1).
When tutors address these needs, students don't merely perform better on tests. They develop the emotional resilience, intellectual curiosity, and self-efficacy needed to sustain learning long after the tutoring relationship ends.
Before any academic work can happen, a student needs to feel safe. Relatedness, one of the three core psychological needs identified by Self-Determination Theory, fundamentally shapes whether a student can learn or not. When a student feels genuinely cared for and understood, their anxiety decreases. Their defensive barriers lower.
They become much more willing to take intellectual risks, ask questions, and persist through difficulty (1).
Great tutors establish this foundation of trust and safety by listening attentively, expressing genuine interest in the student's thinking, and communicating confidence in the student’s ability to succeed. Relational educators begin sessions on a personal note, asking about the student's day and overall well-being. They notice when a student's energy drops or when frustration is rising.
This heightened attentiveness allows tutors to skillfully adjust pacing, or even pause to address what's happening emotionally. Attending to the whole student, not just their academic performance, creates the emotional safety necessary for genuine learning.
Competence, the second core psychological need, develops when students experience manageable challenges paired with appropriate support. Great tutors understand this balance and work hard to modulate the learning experience in real-time to meet it.
The most effective tutors accomplish this through strategic questioning. Research reveals something counterintuitive: the best tutors talk less than most people imagine. In studies examining successful tutoring sessions, expert tutors spend more than 90% of their talking time asking questions rather than providing explanations (2).
When students struggle, these tutors offer hints rather than answers, allowing the learner to do the intellectual work. This approach aligns with decades of cognitive science research showing that students learn best when they generate their own explanations and solutions (3).
Why does this matter? When tutors suppress the urge to explain and instead invite dialogue, students engage in self-explanation. This process activates deeper learning and builds genuine understanding rather than temporary information retention. Each small success through their own problem-solving builds greater confidence.
Incremental mastery prevents the despair that comes from problems feeling insurmountable. The student's self-image gradually shifts from "I can't do this" to "I can solve hard problems if I work through them carefully."
The tutor's role in this progression is crucial. Rather than jumping to harder material, effective tutors must understand the student's current level of ability and adjust accordingly. They identify where difficulties emerge, provide leading questions and hints until a solution is reached, and only then move to more challenging material (2).
Over time, this develops self-efficacy, a student's belief in their own ability to succeed (4).
The third fundamental psychological need identified by Self-Determination Theory is autonomy—the feeling that one’s actions are chosen rather than imposed. Autonomy is often misunderstood as independence or as doing whatever one wants without guidance. In truth, it’s not about freedom from structure but about voluntary participation: the sense that one’s efforts come from genuine choice rather than obligation or coercion (1).
When students feel that their learning belongs to them, everything changes. They show up differently. They take initiative, persist through challenges, and begin to feel proud of their own effort. It’s much like the pride an adult feels in caring for something they truly own—a home, a car, or a treasured musical instrument. Ownership naturally invites responsibility.
When learning feels borrowed or externally driven, motivation tends to fade; when it feels personal, students are motivated to invest their attention and care.
Skilled tutors understand how to foster this sense of ownership in students. They use language that supports freedom of choice and encourages reflection rather than compliance. Instead of pushing a student to finish a task, they invite them to engage. Instead of trying to convince a student to study, they help the student relate to their academic challenge in new ways that lead them to choose to study of their own accord.
This subtle but powerful shift turns forced effort into a voluntary act. It helps students experience themselves as active participants in their education rather than passive recipients of instruction.
Autonomy doesn’t mean going it alone. In fact, it grows best within supportive relationships characterized by trust and respect, where students feel safe enough to take ownership of their learning. When tutors create the proper kind of secure, supportive environment, students develop a lasting sense of agency and a deep understanding that they are the authors of their own progress (4).
Over time, this experience transforms motivation itself. The same work that once felt forced becomes freely chosen. Students start to recognize that their learning is, quite literally, theirs—a reflection of who they are and who they are becoming.
Academic performance depends on far more than subject knowledge. Executive functioning, the set of cognitive processes that allow us to organize, plan, and persist through difficult tasks, fundamentally shapes whether students can translate understanding into results (5). Similarly, attention problems significantly predict academic challenges across many domains (4).
Exceptional tutors recognize these barriers and address them directly. A student struggling with test anxiety, disorganization, or difficulty sustaining focus needs more than better explanation of content. They need support developing strategies that will allow them to manage these common learning challenges. When tutors attend to these psychosocial and organizational dimensions alongside academic content, they foster both resilience and agency (6).
This support is particularly important because these challenges often compound academic difficulties. A student with attention problems may understand the material intellectually but struggle to complete assignments or demonstrate knowledge on tests. A student with weak executive functioning may become overwhelmed by the scope of a project before they even begin.
By directly addressing these barriers, competent tutors remove obstacles for students that would otherwise block academic progress.
Content mastery is more readily achieved when instruction is tailored to the individual characteristics of a particular student (1). One of the most significant advantages tutoring offers over learning in school is radical personalization. A classroom of thirty students, even when well managed, cannot differentiate every lesson for each student in the class.
However, a tutor approaches each lesson as a unique opportunity for learning and growth, collecting real-time data about how each particular student thinks and learns, and tailoring the session to support the student’s learning.
A skilled tutor can pivot from lecture to demonstration, from explanation to inquiry, all within a single hour. This flexibility ensures that abstract concepts become concrete and retained rather than briefly memorized and quickly forgotten (2).
The benefits of great tutoring extend far beyond the classroom. Research consistently demonstrates meaningful academic gains. Studies show that students who received tutoring services had success rates approximately 7% higher than peers in the same courses who did not receive support (7). In STEM subjects, specifically, these benefits were even more pronounced, with tutored students averaging 13% higher success rates and 8% higher retention rates (7).
Yet the long-term impact of excellent tutoring proves even more significant. Students who receive quality tutoring develop durable competencies that shape their entire educational trajectory and beyond. Self-regulated learning, incremental goal formulation, adaptive persistence, and organized problem-solving all become internalized practices.
Perhaps most importantly, students who work with great tutors develop a sense of themselves as highly competent individuals. This identity shift, rooted in genuine success and supported by another caring adult who believes in them, often proves more meaningful than any single academic achievement in school (1).
If your child is struggling with confidence, attention, executive functioning, or academic content, professional support can make a meaningful difference. The key is finding someone who understands that tutoring is about much more than content delivery. Look for tutors who create emotionally safe environments, who ask questions rather than simply providing answers, and who treat your child's individual learning style and needs as central to their work.
At LifeWorks, we don't just prepare students for tests, we prepare them for life. Our tutors focus on cultivating a supportive, relational environment where students don't just learn the material, they grow as individuals.
We address executive functioning challenges, build confidence through strategic challenge and support, and help students discover genuine curiosity about learning. If you're looking for support in helping your child develop academic confidence and life skills, contact us to learn more about our comprehensive approach to student success.
How can an educator contribute to the growth of a student?
Teachers and tutors contribute to student growth by creating emotionally safe environments, providing appropriately challenging work, and supporting voluntary engagement, which fuels intrinsic motivation. This happens when educators establish genuine relationships with students, help them experience competence through progressive challenges, and support their autonomy by asking questions rather than simply providing answers. Growth occurs when academic support is paired with attention to the student's emotional state, executive functioning needs, and sense of themselves as capable learners.
What are the qualities of a good tutor?
Effective tutors possess deep content knowledge combined with understanding of how students learn. They establish genuine rapport and emotional safety. They ask strategic questions rather than providing immediate answers. They assess each student's starting point and adjust pacing accordingly. They cultivate intrinsic motivation by inviting the student to take ownership of their studies. They address barriers like anxiety and disorganization alongside content instruction. They treat mistakes as learning opportunities rather than failures. Perhaps most importantly, they communicate genuine belief in the student's ability to succeed.
What are the research-backed benefits of tutoring and how does it help students?
Research demonstrates that, on average, tutoring leads to a 7% improvement in academic success rates overall, with even larger gains in STEM subjects–13% higher success rates on average.
What are strategies to cultivate a growth mindset?
A growth mindset develops when students experience appropriately challenging work where they first struggle, but eventually succeed. Tutors cultivate this by praising effort and strategy rather than focusing on innate ability, by framing mistakes as opportunities to learn, and by demonstrating their own curiosity and willingness to tackle difficult problems. Creating a nonjudgmental atmosphere where questions are welcomed and errors are explored rather than simply corrected helps students develop the belief that new capacities can be developed through effort.
What are two strategies parents can use to cultivate a growth mindset in students?
First, try to reframe errors as learning opportunities by asking questions that help the student understand what went wrong and how to approach it differently next time. Rather than saying "That's wrong," a parent might ask, "What do you think happened here? What would you try differently?" This approach develops problem-solving capacity and resilience. Second, consistently praise effort, strategy, and improvement rather than focusing on intelligence or raw talent. When a student works hard and eventually succeeds, acknowledging that effort and persistence reinforces the understanding that their abilities grow through hard work.
References
(1) Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist.
(2) Wood, W. B., & Tanner, K. D. (2012). The role of the lecturer as tutor: Doing what effective tutors do in a large lecture class. CBE Life Sciences Education.
(3) Chi, M. T. H., Siler, S. A., Jeong, H., Yamauchi, T., & Hausmann, R. G. (2001). Learning from human tutoring. Cognitive Science.
(4) Rabiner, D. L., Malone, P. S., & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2004). The impact of tutoring on early reading achievement for children with and without attention problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.
(5) LifeWorks. (2025). Executive Functioning.
(6) AlHaqwi, A. I. (2014). Learning outcomes and tutoring in problem based-learning: How do undergraduate medical students perceive them? International Journal of Health Sciences.
(7) Gabriel-Millette, C. (2016). The effects of tutoring on academic performance. Research Brief, San Bernardino Valley College.
