There’s a moment in tutoring that always makes me smile, when a student finally feels comfortable enough to ask their first real question. Not the polite “Is this right?” or the cautious “Do I have to write this?” but a genuine, curious , “Wait… why does this actually happen?”.

That moment tells me they’re starting to trust the process.

Asking questions is often misunderstood. Many students believe it exposes what they don’t know. They worry about sounding silly or slowing things down. Some even think asking questions makes them look less capable. But in reality, it’s the opposite. Students who ask questions engage more deeply, understand more clearly and learn more efficiently.

Tutoring makes this possible because it removes the fear of judgement. There’s no classroom full of eyes watching, no pressure to keep up with thirty others, no expectation to stay quiet. It’s just the student, their thoughts and a safe space to explore them and the change is remarkable.

A student who begins a session quietly, barely whispering answers, can end up leading the discussion the following week. They start asking things like, “What’s a better way to attempt this” or “Is there an easier way to remember that?” or my personal favourite, “Can we go over that again so I properly understand it?”.

These aren’t signs of weakness, they’re signs of maturity. They show a student who isn’t satisfied with memorising, but wants to truly understand.

When a student asks questions, they take ownership of their learning. They begin steering the session. They become active rather than passive and most importantly, they build a quiet confidence that spills into the classroom, exams and beyond.

So whenever a student hesitates to ask a question, I remind them, the smartest learners aren’t the ones who know everything, they’re the ones who want to.

Isabella Naumovski