Tutor Interview: Alexander Rosenberg

An interview with Gemma Louise Bull

Alexander Rosenberg is the Founder and Creative Director of LinkyThinks. Presented with the Best Primary Tutor award at the 2023 National Tutoring Awards, Alexander is a Specialist Creative Writing and Comprehension Tutor.

In this interview, Alexander shares his knowledge and wisdom about creating resources, finding an individual path and embracing the 11+ journey.

Can you tell me about your own education background?

I have quite a mixed educational background and that informs my approach as an educator. After completing my A-levels, I moved from Manchester to London and studied fine art at Central St Martins. During this degree, I was accepted for an exchange programme in New York, where I studied at the prestigious Pratt Institute.

Here, I was given access to many different elective courses and joined a graduate philosophy programme. This sparked a particular interest in the human mind and, after I returned to the UK to complete my bachelors, I applied for masters degrees in cognitive neuroscience. I was accepted to UCL to an MSc in Neuroscience, Language and Communication.

In the intervening summer, I went to Boston for an internship at Harvard's neuroimaging laboratory, where I received lectures in cutting-edge brain research and observed ward rounds with world-leading neuropsychiatrists.

When did you start your education business?

Like all of the best things in life, it evolved organically. I started tutoring after I finished studying, as a way to free up my days to make art in the studio, teaching just in the evenings and on weekends. I applied my experience as a creative, but also my research into how the brain best absorbs information, to develop an unconventional approach.

In those days, I mostly taught GCSE and A-level students and designed bespoke study programmes to help them revise for exams in efficient and enjoyable ways. Quite quickly, I found a love for it and was increasingly in demand. I moved into more 11+ focused work and my track record for helping children achieve their goals, while making it fun and manageable, lead to word-of-mouth and a very packed schedule. I was doing some group workshops before the pandemic, but 2020 forced me to move online, allowing me to work with more students around the world.

I am proud to say that I recently won Best Primary Tutor 2023 at the National Tutoring Awards, so it is remarkable to think about how things have developed since I started a decade ago.

What inspired you to start your business?

The tutoring business evolved out of demand, off the back of my growing reputation. I started publishing some of my resources online in 2016 and by 2019, I was releasing physical copies that proved very popular with children, parents and teachers.

In 2021, my two brothers joined and really transformed the running of the business side, allowing me to focus more on the creativity of teaching and designing unique resources. Seeing how my lessons and products help people around the world is a daily motivation to keep going and keep growing.

What classes do you offer?

My creative writing courses place an emphasis on feedback and building confidence in presenting your work to an audience. My comprehension courses turn the seven essential question types into different 'jobs' to help children understand what an examiner wants from them and how to structure, style and refine their answers to pick up maximum marks.

We also run Critical Thinking courses to allow children to think more deeply about big questions and express themselves with eloquence, creativity and confidence. We have an exciting Key Stage 3 English course for inspiring new ways of thinking about English in the lead up to GCSE, maturing their understanding and expanding their analytical skills.

We also run various clubs in the holidays: book clubs, vocabulary clubs, poetry clubs, grammar clubs and art clubs.

What resources do you offer? Which is your most popular resource? Why do you think it’s the most popular resource?

The LinkyThinks Word Wheel books were the first physical resources to be released and are probably the most popular. They are user-friendly tools for expanding vocabulary and building descriptive writing skills. They put vocabulary into context and provide ambitious alternatives to boring phrases.

The Descriptionary: Humanoids book was released in 2020 and has proved very popular, having won Best Educational Book at the Education Resource Awards 2022. We also have unusual products for story writing, like Storygami, which is a kind of origami game for modelling narrative structure. Then there is the 'How Do I Feel?' Wheel for supporting emotional vocabulary and developing Emotional Literacy. This has also been nominated for various awards.

How do your resources help students?

They are designed to appeal to the sensibilities of the child. They are accessible, colourful, playful and practical, supporting learning in an intuitive way. They are illustrated and entertaining and combine visual and verbal information to bolster understanding and memory. I always try to remember what it was like to be a child and how dreary resources could be. If I can make things that the child is drawn to, the rest is easy and the learning comes naturally.

Can you recommend strategies for self-tutoring parents? What is the best way for them to use your resources and/or other resources?

Routine and consistency are important and this includes knowing how to schedule rest and play, not just work. It is so important to manage the stamina and morale of the child and make sure that their emotional development is nurtured alongside their academic development.

It can be a scary process for parents. They just want the best for their child, but there is so much conflicting and confusing advice. Ultimately, you know your child best and have to follow what is right for them at each stage of the game. So don't be afraid to take the guidance and adapt it to what works for you. Seek good advice, but also trust your gut and don't be freaked out by others who may do things differently.

Thinking about your most successful students, what strategies did they use to achieve their potential?

Honestly, the children who do best - regardless of talent or privilege - are the ones whose parents take a hands-on, active involvement in their learning. It doesn't matter if the parents are equipped to teach the child (many parents struggle to understand the work themselves, especially if not native English speakers). It is all about being involved and it being a family process. Some parents are scared to help, as they think their child should learn independence from the start. But that comes with time if the right support is given along the way. Other parents just outsource the problem to tutors and don't really know what's going on.

In my experience, there has to be a united front, with the tutor, the parents and the children all working together to design the approach and adapt it as is necessary along the way. The magic really happens between the lessons, in how the learning is consolidated and how the child is supported in managing their motivation and goals.

What other tips do you recommend to parents who are preparing their child for the 11+?

It doesn't have to be a miserable, soul-destroying process. Some people will tell you that stress and unhappiness is just a natural part of it, but that does not have to be the case. Finding the right approach for your child means you don't have to overwhelm them with dozens of tutors and conflicting advice. Your child will follow your lead, so try not to put your anxieties onto them.

Prioritise play, as well as work. Remind them of how proud you are of them, regardless of results. Create a positive, healthy work ethic and tap into what most motivates them.

And, most importantly, don't buy into the hype of other parents and children talking about the 'best' schools and the 'right' way to achieve their goals. You are on your own journey. This is about finding the right match for your child - where they will be most happy, fulfilled and educated - not about making them feel inadequate in comparison to their peers.

For more information about Alexander's products and services, check out https://www.linkythinks.com/