Qualified Teacher, DBS Certified and TTA Accredited Tutor; 8 Years Experience in GCSE, A-Level, and University Teaching; Maths Teaching Online and Around Guildford, UK

Find out more about Ollie

• When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  I first became seriously interested in physics in the time after I left sixth-form college to work. There were two main catalysts: firstly, I had started reading lots of science fiction, and found myself drawn to those works that incorporated real science, and especially physics, concepts-the so-called "hard" science fiction. This in turn spurred me into exploring concepts such as Einstein's relativity; this led me onto the second catalyst: the wealth of excellent science education content available free on YouTube, from channels such as Sixty Symbols and Kurzgesagt. At this point I was choosing what A-levels I would take (and eventually complete as an independent candidate), and physics and maths seemed natural choices. Along the way, I became convinced that I wanted to spend my life studying these fascinating and beautiful theories of physics that had captivated my attention initially.
  
  While at university, like many students, I turned to tutoring and teaching as a way to support my studies. I became involved with science outreach work in schools, with the SouthEast Physics Network (SEPNet) organisation, and also started to tutor local students in maths and physics. I noticed that, perhaps due to my slightly later entry into education, or my unique point of view as a former independent candidate, who had self-taught his A-levels, I did quite well, and received positive feedback for my teaching and outreach work. Of course, over the years my method has become more refined, but I think the patience and empathy I have for my students has been something I have had consistently throughout: maths and physics don't come as naturally to me as some, it is a constant struggle trying to fit new concepts into my head-so I understand very well the difficulties students face, and how to help them.

• Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  Since I am a student of physics, which is described using the language of mathematics, these are the subjects I teach. These topics are vast however, and students most often don't need tutoring just for fun, but rather to take exams in specific syllabi. This means that in the wide world of physics and maths, there are some quite specific areas that I discuss with students most. My favourite topics are ones which seem to me "natural" for students to be learning at their level; for example, Newtonian mechanics is something that can be built out of the maths that students study at school, so there's very little "it's so because I say it is", and much more "this is why this is so". On the other hand, subjects which the syllabus requires that students learn about before they are capable of formulating the basics are less fun to teach, because very often I simply have to say, "we can't say much more about why this is so, you just need to memorise it". There are good reasons why the syllabi are constructed this way, and those who decide on the topics have a very difficult job in formulating their selection, but nonetheless it's much more satisfying, and educational, to discuss with students how and why things are true rather than just taking concepts and working with them to answer questions, without underlying understanding.

• Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  I had a bit of an unusual route through tertiary education to begin with; I ended up taking my AS levels twice, at the same college, two years apart (this was in the old scheme where A-level year 1 had exams, called AS-levels). The second time around, I took philosophy; this class, headed by a teacher who by chance was my namesake, was a revelation. I have spoken here already about my influences in initially becoming interested in physics, but this class was, if you like, a pre-influence, where I became interested in abstract thought generally, and the strange questions of being and the universe. The teacher of that class was a formative influence on me; he was a dedicated and enthusiastic educator, who took the thoughts of his students seriously.

• What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  Patience and empathy; of course, knowledge!

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  I think the most relevant anecdote is probably something that I experienced over time, rather than some specific event. An experience I draw on as an educator, is when I was teaching myself maths and physics A-level, and I slowly began to realise there was no secret, no inherent quality that would exclude me from understanding these technical languages, other than hard work. Particularly with maths, something one hears often is that "I could never do that", or "it's not for me". Of course it's fine to have interests other than maths, but it is my belief that literally anyone could learn these subjects if they so chose, in the same way that anyone can learn the piano, or Chinese. These are things that other people have learned, from all types of backgrounds. I would ask myself, "What makes you so special?"

• What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or still facing in your subject?

  This is not strictly relevant to my tutoring, but the difficulty I face in physics is the realisation that, at some point, one has to detach oneself from being able to understand every aspect of the subject one is studying. As the theories become more complex, relying on ever-more-advanced mathematics, the possibility of understanding all of the fundamental assumptions, and the mathematical tools, as well as one might want, becomes more remote, and trying to do this can actually make you a less effective researcher, forever reading up on the work others have already done, rather than taking strides yourself.

• Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  My passion is theoretical physics, and I aim to spend a lifetime researching it! This will necessarily involve teaching student (and myself!)-some researchers find teaching students a chore that distracts them from their real work, but I don't think I would look at it this way: to me, teaching is a privilege and a joy.

• What makes you a Superprof (besides answering this interview questions :-P) ?

  Well, Superprof is a good name for a website, but less for oneself as a tutor, unless you want people to think you're quite bigheaded! To take the question as I think it is meant, I would say that I take my work as a tutor very seriously: I realise the importance and high-stakes of education, and often redirect tutees looking for tutoring in areas not strongly within my domain of knowledge to other more appropriate tutors, rather than just taking their money and making do. It is this integrity and professionalism I aim to bring foremost to every tutor-tutee relationship.