Ep 21 - Teacher, Tutor, Entrepreneur

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What we’re talking about:

Today I’m chatting with Shirlaine, who is a qualified teacher and the owner and founder of TSE Tuition. We talk about her journey from high school through the Bachelor of Arts and Education double degree at Monash, and the career decisions she made around secondary teaching, becoming an academic and starting her own tutoring business. She also discusses everything you need to know about what you can do to help yourself before engaging a tutor, as well as what you should look for in a tutor or tutoring service if you decide to follow that path.

Pursuing secondary English teaching

Shirlaine always wanted to be a teacher because she liked writing essays, reading and analysing language and texts, and the only place she could see when she was younger to do that every day was to be a teacher. She did subjects she loved in Year 11 and then chose more strategically in Year 12 before doing a Bachelor of Arts/Education at Monash, and Shirlaine explains how this course works.

Pathways in Education

During her course, Shirlaine discovered that she actually wanted to become an academic. She completed further study to pursue this but when funding was cut in the arts, she realised that a career as an academic didn’t align with how she wanted her life to look. At this stage she was qualified as a teacher but couldn’t see herself working in a school either. She had extensive experience as a tutor at the time and decided instead to create a third option for herself - starting her own tutoring business.

Do you need a tutor?

Shirlaine gives some great advice about what you should ask yourself and what you can do to get the most out of your experience at school in the classroom before you start thinking about engaging a tutor. If you’ve exhausted these strategies and decide you would like to work with a tutor, she gives clear tips about what to expect and look for in a tutor or service provider to get the most out of it.