A Human Connection: The Advantages of Real-Person Tutoring
Everywhere you look these days, the power of AI technology is all over the news. We’re living in a changing world, and nobody’s exactly sure what the new normal will turn out to be. At Summit, we are following the AI evolution as closely as anyone, and we are excited for the possibilities these tools might allow.
At the same time, we are focused more strongly than ever on our mission of connecting real-person tutors directly with students. We believe there is no substitute for the human connections that remain at the heart of everything we do. Please join us for a brief celebration, below, of the ways in which our tutors regularly go above and beyond by providing real role models, holding space for students to build confidence, and fostering whole-person learning and growth.
Tutors as Critical Thinkers
“Our tutor was very prepared, knowledgeable, and prompt, both during tutoring sessions and in follow-up communications. He tailored each session to my son’s needs, focusing initially on reading and then on language & grammar. He struck the perfect balance between subject mastery and test-taking strategies. Most importantly, he built a strong rapport with my son – so much so that my son actually enjoyed working with him.”
– Parent of Summit student
Our tutors are experts in the tests and the subjects that they teach, and they share that expertise with their students. However, the best teachers not only provide information – they also help students learn how to learn. Tutors demonstrate the best practices of human thinking and learning by modeling methods for approaching problems, writing down work to keep track of each step, and problem-solving when the answer isn’t immediately clear.
Knowing the answer, after all, only helps when you can anticipate the question. As students move into higher education and beyond, they need tools that can help them take on any number of unknown challenges. These are the skills that our tutors focus on as they help students build and implement plans for taking tests, completing projects, and applying to schools. With a tutor’s careful direction, a student learns and experiences the steps of tackling any difficult task: grappling with uncertainty, trying out strategies, keeping a sense of humor when obstacles get tricky, and learning to sense the difference between just right and not quite right, between almost there and bullseye.
Our tutors also use these skills in their own work, as they tailor each program to fit the needs of the student, adapting to changing circumstances and responding to feedback throughout the process. They provide a real-world example of how to work with integrity and creativity – showing the impact that critical thinking and adaptability can have on your work and on those you work with.
The Confidence Factor
“Our Summit tutor was very attentive to my daughter’s needs and communicated them to me weekly. My daughter really enjoyed working with him as he made the sessions interesting and she feels more confident about the exam as a result.”
– Parent of Summit student
One of the most important jobs of a tutor is building confidence. A tutor keeps this in mind with everything they do, from spacing out lessons so that the student can learn at their unique pace; to providing opportunities for success so the student starts to see what they can do; to listening to and helping students work through their fears. A tutor is half-teacher, half-coach, and half-partner-in-crime. Yes, that’s three halves: the whole is greater than the parts!
Knowing that someone believes in you can be a pivotal step toward believing in yourself. In a world that can seem obsessed with getting ahead and checking all the right boxes, it is easy for students to feel invisible and unimportant. The pressure gets especially intense as they prepare to take the next steps after high school, often leading to an increase in anxiety and lower confidence.
A tutor holds space for the student’s worries and their hopes, guiding them through the learning process and keeping them on track even when the student might not believe in their own capabilities. An AI might “listen,” in order to reflect back what a student is saying. A tutor listens and then responds from a place of compassion and experience, so that the student might benefit not just from the facts the tutor knows but from the life they have lived.
The Immeasurable
"Our Summit Program Director and my son’s tutor were incredible. He started with a 20% on his practice test and finished with an 80% – thanks to Summit. With ADHD and anxiety, he needed a tailored approach, and the team quickly adapted to what worked best for him. They also guided us through securing extended time. He was accepted to all his top-choice schools and chose Blair. The Summit team truly cared – not just about the scores, but about our son’s success. We’ll absolutely be back with our other three children."
– Parent of Summit student
There is no algorithm that can replicate the connection between a tutor and a student or the impact that connection can have on a student’s life. Whatever else AI might be able to do, it cannot provide the authentic care our tutors have for their students. A tutor can sympathize with the difficulties of growing up in a hectic world – and offer individualized strategies for organization and motivation. A tutor can share a student’s enthusiasm about an academic topic, a hobby, or a dream – and then share their own perspectives, to enrich that student’s insights and goals.
Our educational system often emphasizes rules and structures: learn the five-paragraph essay; plug numbers into a formula; memorize important dates. If the aim is merely to restate this information, an AI might be a decent substitute for a student – or a tutor. But the educational rules and structures aren’t themselves the point. They represent hard-earned knowledge of the world and our place in it, and they are tools for helping us to expand that knowledge – and gain wisdom.
After all, wisdom – like compassion – is only possible through subjective experience, and the greatest power of a real-person tutor stems from their ability to look a student in the eye and share understanding. An AI might recite wise quotes and steps toward enlightenment, but our deepest understanding is beyond words or frameworks. Our tutors provide road maps – toward growth and empowerment and fulfillment – not to pin down or limit their students, but because they believe in their immeasurable potential. Which is to say, they believe in their human potential.
“We’ve had a great experience with Summit, working with them for all three of our children. Our Program Director always matched our kids with tutors who aligned with their personalities and goals, and the flexible scheduling made it easy to fit sessions into their busy lives. The tutoring was consistently productive and helpful, and the outstanding client support kept us coming back. Our son graduated from WPI, our daughter is at U of M with plans for med school, and our youngest will attend Case Western this fall. Thank you for being there every step of the way!"
– Parent of Summit student
