I aspire to pass to you my lifelong passion for learning!
Hi there! My name is Ali. Through my tutoring work here on Learnmate, I aspire to pass to you my lifelong curiosity about our natural and social world, my intensive passion for learning and my deep conviction in the difference that education can make to our lives.
With more than twenty years of experience in tutoring Maths, Physics and philosophy on all primary, secondary and university levels I have fully mastered all vital components of the Australian curriculum and I have specialised in many areas. I did my Bachelors degree and Masters degree in theoretical physics and graduated by writing a thesis on the paradox of the age of the universe in theoretical cosmology. The result of my research was published soon in the Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics. I then worked as a physics lecturer and English teacher for three years before I moved to University College London to complete a Masters degree in analytical philosophy. I then came to Australia to complete my PhD studies in philosophy of science at the University of Sydney.
Parallel with my PhD studies, I started my tutoring work at the University of Sydney which continued for five years. Since my graduation from the University of Sydney in 2012, along with publishing my philosophical research in authentic journals, I have been seriously involved in tutoring maths, physics, and philosophy. Lecturing, teaching and tutoring, especially teaching children, have been my everlasting passions and I have always deeply believed in the power of education in changing people’s lives.
Plutarch, the famous Greek biographer and essayist once said, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” If, following Plutarch’s words, I can kindle in your mind the passion for learning and the joy to discover for yourself, I have done my job! I can also summarise the purpose of all my research and teaching endeavours in the words of Bertrand Russell, the famous British philosopher: “I want to bring back into the world of men some little bit of new wisdom.” The wisdom, I believe, can be brought to the world of my students by inspiring them to grow into autonomous thinkers who dare to challenge established ideas and methods. It is my conviction that knowledge and learning are the upshot of dialogue.
The Socratic Method has therefore been for me an effective means to realise my teaching ideals. As I teach, I do not just lecture my students. I interact with them and get them to engage in a dialogue with me. Though I always plan my lessons, I prefer the improvised method to the preplanned method. Along with some preliminaries, my lesson plan usually involves questions which encourage my students to think about the contents of the lesson. The feedback I receive from my students on the questions will then lead the lesson one way or another, which is not always predicted in my lesson plan.
I am an on-call tutor! My tutoring services include telephone (SMS) support and I am happy to respond to your questions and concerns any time during the day.