Since I was a boy, I've been delighted and excited by the life of the mind. I can communicate that delight to my students – including slow learners, reluctant learners and those who haven't yet seen the joy of study. I care about results, but I also care about instilling the mental skills that will bring triumph in other subjects in the future. Teaching is my calling; my lessons are always both intense and fun.
I look for any difficulties and weaknesses in your grasp of a subject. Often there's been a bad educational experience which has dammed up your progress; break that dam, and it's remarkable how fast and how far you can go.
My wife's career and mine have taken us all over the world (we've recently left three years in Africa, we're in America for a year, we're about to move to the Middle East), and I'm inspired and excited about teaching and learning in new places.
My Experience
Teaching has been my vocation all my life, often university lecturing, sometimes secondary school teaching; but I take a particular pleasure in one-on-one tutorial work, especially with students who need to advance from what they achieved in group education, and need their minds fired up in a subject.
I'm passionate about literature and history; I've studied, produced and taught these subjects (and politics, divinity and philosophy) all over the world.
On the production end, I'm a journalist and a fiction-writer. Six of my novels have been published (Quintember, Parricide, Piracies, Attu, begat, This Lower World), with nine more coming out soon; also, two operas (Carousel of Blood, begat).
On the teaching end, I've been tutoring for twenty-seven years, preparing students both for public exams (in England, America and Europe), and for university exams and interviews (especially for Oxford and Cambridge, where some forty-five of my students have gained places).
I've also taught at various universities (Corvinus University and Károli Gáspár, Budapest; St Stephen’s College, Delhi; Adelphi, Rochester and Iowa State in the U.S.; Oxford and Exeter in England) and schools (including the Milestone Institute and the British International School, Budapest; Bežigrad Gymnasium and the British International School of Ljubljana, Slovenia).
Subjects That I Teach
English
English - A-Level
English - IB
English - SAT
History
History - A-Level
History - IB
History - SAT
Philosophy
Philosophy - A-Level
Philosophy - IB
Philosophy - SAT
Politics
Politics - A-Level
Politics - IB
Politics - SAT
Science
Science - A-Level
Science - IB
Science - SAT
Theology
Theology - A-Level
Theology - IB
Theology - SAT
My Qualifications
Oxford University: DPhil. (doctorate) in English language and literature;
M.A.; B.A. (First) and graduate certificate in Theology.
Massey University, New Zealand: B.A. (double honours, First) in History and English.
Massey Scholar (1984).
Rhodes Scholar (1985).
Hasker Senior Scholar in Theology, Exeter College, Oxford.
Richard Selig Poetry Prize (twice), Magdalen College, Oxford.
My Reviews
"Richard is one of the most effective teachers who has interacted with our off-spring. He is always well prepared, he builds a good rapport with the candidate and he is a good judge of "how much they can take".
He has amazing knowledge (of classics, literature, even chemistry). So, for the right person, can be really quite inspiring and an influence on their lives.
I unreservedly recommend Richard as an outstanding tutor / teacher."
*Forbes Elworthy*
My Video Introduction
Fun fact
I have lived and worked on every continent in the world except South America (and Antarctica, not an ambition).
