About mentoring

The most immediate difference between GBD Education and other forms of study is that the sessions are an opportunity for students to discuss their thoughts, their ideas and their efforts in great depth with a professional consultant. In exploring accelerated studies through discussion, students are able to express the process they have pursued in completing tasks. Students learn: to examine their efforts and achievements; to identify their skills, their strengths, their weaknesses; and to pursue stronger methods and advanced results. Private tuition and mentorship is thus not just a program of extra lessons and exercises, but a vehicle for active listening in order to engage students to develop high-order thinking skills.

The discussions between student and tutor are complemented with a vast store of resources, including: templates, texts, puzzles, checklists, models, directions, exercises, support materials etc.

My qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts and Graduate Diploma in Education from the University of Melbourne, a Certificate of Gifted Education from the University of New South Wales and the Gifted Education Research Resource and Information Centre, and a Masters of Education from the University of Melbourne. I’m a registered teacher with the Victorian Institute of Teaching, and I have over 15 years experience in mentoring and tutoring gifted and talented students and VCE students, and preceding that over 10 years classroom teaching experience in English and Humanities subjects.

An advantage that is not so apparent is the founding pedagogical approach used. Five founding principles and core components to my methodology appear in the table below.