Neil Dougherty Tutoring

First and foremost, I want to get to know the student, which means a variety of things.

Understanding the student's goals is a vital part of my teaching process. I want to target my instruction to those goals, so the student feels our time together is effective and purposeful. I also understand those goals may change with time and experience, so I consider this to be an ongoing dialogue. 

Perhaps more important, however, is developing an understanding of the student's optimal learning style. Every student has a unique approach to learning. I have found that teaching and learning are far more efficient and effective when I engage with, adapt to, and embrace a student's learning style instead of forcing a teaching style upon them.

In summary, my process for working with a new student involves developing a personalized and individualized instruction plan in order to strategically focus on the student's academic goals and maximize the efficiency, effectiveness, and happiness of our time together.

As you will see below, I have strong, real-world education, training, and experience in history, liberal arts, law, K-6 education, and photography. I look forward to engaging such experiences to help you achieve your goals.

For two decades, my life's passion has been engaging in teaching and learning--both my own and that of the students with whom I work.

In 2002, I graduated magna cum laude from Colorado State University with a BA in history, where I also taught freshman history courses as a senior. From there, I studied government and politics at the London School of Economics while interning for a member of the British Parliament. 

From 2003 until 2006, I attended the University of Pennsylvania School of law. During that time, I interned for a federal court judge, studied a broad array of legal topics, and obtained my JD in 2006.

For seven years after 2006, I worked for several top-tier international law firms, gaining meaningful experience in corporate law, banking law, and litigation. Also during this time, I opened a legal writing business that focused on drafting litigation and transaction documents.

In 2013, my family moved to Singapore where my wife had obtained a job teaching at Singapore American School, a highly competitive private K-12 institution. I took this opportunity to transition into teaching, which had been a life-long passion and dream. After obtaining my K-6 teaching certificate from The College of New Jersey, I joined my wife at Singapore American School. We spent the next 6 years teaching in Singapore, the American School of Dubai, and the International Community School of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. 

From 2013 until the present, I have honed my teaching to be highly personalized, driven by each student's goals and styles, and focused on creating a stress-free environment conducive to learning. I have also traveled to 98 countries during my time abroad, developing my passion for, and cultivating deep experiences with, photography along the way. 

My price is negotiable based on the subject and amount of time you seek. 

Over the past 20 years, I have had experience teaching college history courses, high school and middle school liberal arts and photography students, and 3rd and 4th grade classrooms. This teaching has occurred in the United States and globally, which has afforded me experience with countless learning styles and preferences. I have a wide variety of meaningful experience with ages, subjects, and learning styles.

This is more of a series events with a culmination. Before coming back to the United States recently, I had lived in Ethiopia with my family for several years. In addition to teaching, I am also a photographer, focusing on street and documentary photography. Ethiopians are understandably suspicious of a foreigner walking around the city with a camera taking photos of daily life. As I first pursued my photography passion there, I received many tough looks, verbal warnings, and cold shoulders. But as with teaching, I adapted and embraced the perspective of others in order to find success. Over time, as I learned the local languages, I spoke to the Ethiopian people on their own terms using their own language and customs. By adopting local practices, instead of forcing my own, I was able to break down cultural barriers to my photography, which became much more successful as a result. Most importantly, through this process, I made friends, developed mutual respect through the arts, and found great happiness.

Find a teacher not just with strong, relevant, and real-world experience, but also with whom you will develop chemistry. Having the knowledge to teach something and the ability to teach it are two distinct ideas. I encourage every student to find a teacher who prioritizes personalizing instruction, who adapts his or her approach to the student's learning style, and with whom the student will find happiness and a sense of calm, along with academic success.