Oliver

I was born in London to an English father and Italian mother and am therefore bilingual. I currently live in London, where I have completed my PhD in the History of Psychology and Religious Studies at University College London (UCL). Through my academic career, I have had the opportunity to teach undergraduate and postgraduate seminars. I have also presented my research at various conferences, as well as publishing articles in leading, peer-reviewed academic journals for Psychology and the History of Religious Studies. I am currently preparing a book project for publication based on my PhD research.

Before my academic career, I attended Westminster school, where I achieved 2 A*s and an A at A-Level. I went on to study Philosophy at the University of Sussex, where I became particularly interested in the Philosophy of Science. During my BA, I started tutoring part-time and became fascinated with the art of teaching. The following year, I went on to study an MA at King's College London, before deciding to take my studies further to PhD level, focusing particular on Psychology from a theoretical and historical perspective. I continued to tutor part-time over the course of my MA and PhD, which provided me with years of invaluable experience teaching a wide range of students.

During my academic career, I became interested in applying my conceptual knowledge on a practical and clinical level. I thus enrolled with the Society of Analytical Psychology in London, where I am currently training as a psychotherapist and am now a practicing clinician. My psychotherapy training has provided a practical application of the theoretical concepts studied over the course of my more academic PhD research. My clinical training helps me to understand the psychological needs of students and to attune to where they find themselves in their lives and in their studies. As a tutor, I think it is crucial to be able to adapt to students' states of mind and to help them navigate any challenging periods of their academic career.

Having tutored for over eight years, I have learnt the value of a structured approach to teaching. My lessons are always interactive and customised to the student's needs, strengths and weaknesses. My teaching resources and materials are uniquely designed to engage students' interests while, at the same time, preparing them specifically towards their exams and assessments. For all subjects that I teach, I have produced bespoke teaching materials that are designed to make my lessons interesting, effective and engender a sense of confidence in students. Over my years teaching, I have come to understand the importance of instilling in students a sense of confidence and personal interest and satisfaction from learning.

One of the most important aspects of tutoring is understanding the specific needs of the student. Therefore, no two lessons I teach are exactly the same. In my first lesson with a new student, I try to gauge their current understanding. In subsequent lessons, we aim to build a solid foundation of conceptual knowledge, essay skills and exam technique. To achieve this, I use specific activities, for example, essay planing exercises, memory techniques and interactive quizzes. As lessons progress, we consolidate the knowledge and techniques learnt in previous lessons, so that they become ingrained in the student's understanding.

I consider myself a patient, friendly and highly enthusiastic tutor. I seek to inspire students through my own passion for the subjects I teach, while retaining a specific focus on pedagogical techniques. Experience has taught me that students become more engaged, motivated and confident in their subjects as they see improvements in their grades.

I am a full-time tutor, but during my spare time, I am preparing my PhD thesis to be published as a book, as well as continuing to write articles for academic journals. I am supporting my theoretical PhD studies by training as a clinical psychotherapist with the Society of Analytical Psychology.

I love playing sports, and play football for the Old Westminsters Football Team twice a week. I also regularly play tennis, go running and go skiing during the winter holidays, whenever I can.

I am also very passionate about music and am constantly listening to new music, particularly jazz. I absolutely love playing the piano, and try to practice for about an hour each day (if possible).