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Use Explanations that are appropriate to the person you're working with

Make sure it's an appropriate explanation

Become a tutor| How do we learn| Education
June 14, 2024•2 min read

I think one of the key things we need to remember is that just because it makes sense to us, and it seems like a logical explanation, it doesn’t necessarily make sense to the person we’re explaining it to.

A couple of years ago I worked with a lad who is Autistic. He was in his late teens at the time and although this is an extreme example, I think it demonstrates my point…   We were working on fractions.  

As I normally do, I explained that if we had a cake, cut it into two identical slices, and I ate one of those slices, I would have eaten 1 out of 2 slices (1/2).

Ok, we were ok so far.

Then suggested that if we cut it into 4 identical slices and I again ate one of those slices, I would have eaten 1 out of 4 slices (1/4).

Ok, this still made sense, and we were both happy with the logic.  

I then suggested that we cut that cake into 8 identical slices, and I again ate one of the 8 slices. I would have eaten 1/8.  

STOP!

Use examples which are relevant to the person you are working with

If we cut the cake that small, it would crumble.

True, I hadn’t thought of that...

My logic, my explanation was perfect in my mind and full of flaws in his.

For the rest of the hour, we didn’t get past the issue of the crumbs, so we had to leave it and come back to it at a later date.

For me, a lesson learned.  

Fractions are taught from primary school right through to the end of GCSEs and no doubt beyond at varying levels of difficulty.  

So, an understanding of the basics will always be useful so that you have something firm in place to put the following harder aspects on.  

Normally, we would look at what a fraction is. Then adding fractions that have the same denominator (bottom number). Then subtracting fractions again with the common bottom number.

Life gets harder once the denominator changes and actually, if you are confident with your times tables, multiplying them or dividing them is actually an easier next step.  

But for today, I don’t think that explained much at all, except that we need to remember that just because it makes logical sense to us, it may not to those we are talking to…  

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Dawn Strachan

For the past 20+ years I have been a firm believer that learning should be an enjoyable experience. I appreciate that traditionally education has revolved around worksheets, textbooks, listening to teachers. But a grounding in early years and working with children who had a variety of learning styles from I learned that it is an individual activity that is personal to all of us. We don’t all learn in the same way. Our influences, our experiences, our capabilities all influence how we retain information. But through it all, I believe that if we can make it enjoyable and engaging, they will want to participate. With participation comes practice which in turn boosts skill and confidence. With an increase in skill and confidence comes a willingness to have a go. This in turn leads to more practice which leads to a positive spiral of success. The moral, we need to make learning fun, engaging, use a range of techniques.

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