Really emphasise that this is how progress happens: I studied for 5 years learning the basic skills that I needed to do well in the 2 year qualification where you need to be in the 2nd percentile (i.e. the top 2% in the country).
Given the rigorous academic admissions criteria, the stringent multi-tiered filtering process and consistent ranking as the top school in the country, a Cambridge English student is in the top 0.09% of students in the country. HOWEVER, statistically of course this isn’t true 100% of the time: what’s infinitely more important is what you do in those 3 years with the ability that you’ve been deemed to posses and the resources and opportunities available to you… It took me more than 3 years to really realise this, and the next 5 refining it in schools and with actual students - students who weren’t in the 2nd percentile… What I realised is that students could actually make phenomenal progress depending on their teacher. It’s all about the teacher. Students love to learn, they love to make progress, they love to impress their parents, they love to get higher scores, they love the sense of achievement. What’s not to love? Unfortunately students fear failure just as much, if not more: in an environment where we’re all pitted against each other in terms of what score we get on a test in subjects where there aren’t even an objective number of marks that we can agree on, the prospect of failing - and the moniker of “failure” - is a daunting, haunting, and very real, live, animated fear for a lot of children.
This goes in the ABOUT SECTION -> learning to teach versus learning to learn.
needs to emphasise that students need to do the hard work after. this is emphatically NOT a catchall, cover all the ground quickly cheatsheet or shortcut promising miracles. It’s intended as a short, sharp, sparkling primer to start generating that interest students need to transition (bridge the gap) between school and university/college. It should give them a clear sense of the big picture: what the differences are and what they need to do to make the most of the opportunity before them. If you DO want to do more focused and sustained work then you can enrol a mentor……………………………..
also focusing on that MINDSET heavily (link dweck if needs be… but with a touch of distance/indifference) - inculcate differentness, encourage playfulness, etc. Remember the difference between a tutor and a mentor is students ENJOY mentoring
Take some time to extol the virtues of your models - the mentoring one has already been done, the crash course = it’s democratic (it doesn’t matter what level you are!), anyone can watch and learn, there’s no pressure, and you might surprise yourself! You might even have fun. It’s not outside the realms of possibility that a student learns more in 3 hours than 3 months, with the right teacher…..
Arrived at by deciding: what are the FUNDAMENTAL, UNAVOIDABLE, ABSOLUTELY PIVOTAL skills that define a student of English Literature at Cambridge University? I reflected on my own experience and came up with the following…
AND rearranged the material so it’s accessible and makes sense (even interests and compels) a 21st century teenager. I couldn’t have done this if I wasn’t also a 21st century teenager OR if I didn’t spend 5 years teaching 21st century teenagers. (Can I justify what makes them different from 20th century teenagers? Long copy for this: discriminate finely and justify bold claims with evidence for opinion that doesn’t disrespect or over-exaggerate either side.)
A message for the products page (which replaced college admissions).... I’ve done english and others are working on other subjects BUT due to covid - which is the reason I’ve put this all together - sadly it’s also quite a significant obstacle to me getting together with people and working closely to do the kind of groundwork and quality control that will produce a high quality finished product. but!! Check back!! They’re in the pipeline. Have a fork for them to sign to request a subject they’re interested in and I’ll email them when it becomes available.!!!!