Marketing & Business Lecturer based in Leicester (UK) is Available for Lessons at Home or Online

Find out more about Francesca PhD

• When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  I have been involved with training and teaching individuals for a long time in a variety of settings; previous to my academic career, I used to work in Dublin (Ireland) for Corporations like IBM, Herts, Xerox, etc.. and I was often assigned to the training of new teams with many exciting opportunities to travel around the world. My passion for marketing and consumer behaviour started during the completion of my Master (MA Marketing Management) and I have then been offered a teaching role for a few hours per week by Nottingham Trent University during my PhD. After completing my PhD, I decided to stay at NTU in a part-time capacity and I have then increased my involvement with the University through various commitments, such as students supervision in their consultancy and dissertation projects. 


• Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  I have quite a broad expertise in the area of Business Studies at A-level, UG and PG level, and PhD/Doctorate level (been teaching in two Universities for the last 10 years/ about 18 hours weekly). To diversify my teaching, I have always insisted for delivering different modules at University level (as to avoid boredom). I have taught several modules pertaining to Marketing (Principles of Mktg, Consumer Behaviour, International Mktg, Digital Mktg, Strategic Decision Making, Customer Relationship Management, Innovation in Marketing, Marketing Simulation, Branding, Integrated Mktg Communications, Sustainability in Mktg, to name a few). Other modules I have delivered regularly are related to Management Studies, Career Development and several other modules pertaining the development of Research Skills (i.e. Research Methods, SPSS analysis, Thematic Analysis, Grounded Theory, etc..) + supervising students in the completion of their final research projects (Dissertation Supervision, Consultancy projects, MBA, PhD/Doctorate, etc..). With my students I love a hand-on approach and use the real world of brands as examples to bring the various topics to life. I also like to adapt to different learning styles by sending videos and additional visual prompts to help them making sense of whatever subject we are tackling. I love quizzes and testing my students knowledge and understanding. Some students like to be more on the “driving seat” so to speak, while others prefer me to talk and explain things to facilitate their understanding. There is no magic formula in my view, the two main things that make tuition a worthwhile experience is a level of bonding and trust first of all between student and tutor, and then a gradual process of adaptation to the individual requirements of each particular student. One thing that I tend to value is receiving timely feedback from students after our lessons regarding their level of enjoyment and understanding, as it is so important that the tuition is tailored accordingly.

• Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  Yes! My Grammar School teacher, was Suor Donata (a nun) who was incredibly passionate about writing and story telling. She used to make play and read books using role plays and really instilled fun into our learning experience. I know that I have often tried to replicate some of her spirited and funny ways during my own teaching.


• What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  I think friendliness and approachability are right on top in terms of developing the right trust and rapport with the students, while competence in the subject, clarity in communication and a great level of adaptability to different learning styles/ teaching formats are absolutely key!


• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.


  Well, there are too many stories to recount to be honest! I often lead seminars where the size of classes is usually reduced to 20-30 students, and of course in this type of classes we can approach topics/case studies very interactively (needless to say I enjoy this format a lot more than the typical lecture, where there the size is 200-300 students and very little interaction with them). During these seminars, I really enjoy assisting students in creating posters or digital resources in their groups – sometimes they need to create their own brand or business idea and it is a lot of fun. As the classes are always very cosmopolitan with people coming to study in UK from all over the world, there is plenty of bunter created by the language barrier/misunderstanding words, etc.. and we always have a laugh during these lively exchanges. Whenever we talk about the effects of culture on marketing and asked students to recount their own stories, I would never leave the room ever after the class if over, as it is so much fun.
  A final one: One of the things that make me laugh thinking about is my bad pronunciation of the word “sheet”, which with my Italian accent becomes very similarly sounding of another word: whenever I pronounce the word the lecture theatre can transform into a resounding laugh (even when students try to be polite and not been seeing laughing at me...it’s the power of number I guess).

• What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or still facing in your subject?

  The main challenge is when students are coasting and not engaging enough in terms of time to dedicate to their study. I had some students in the past that were trying to do too much in their life, like having young kids, a full-time job and completing a master at the same time expecting top results, not realistic. One of the things I always reinforce during the initial planning of tuition is to be clear and honest about the time commitment. Having realistic expectations is crucial from the outset, as it motivate both student and tutor to achieve and move forward. Another thing that can make tuition quite challenging is the language barrier; now we have apps like Teams and sessions can be recorded and transcripts generated to facilitate understanding for students with little English fluency.


• Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  Aside from teaching, which is definitely one of my passions, I absolutely adore being around dogs and walking/hiking in the nature. Practicing yoga and playing tennis with my team is also my main way to get any stress out of the way while keeping fit.

• What makes you a Superprof (besides answering these interview questions :-P) ?

  I think my long-time experience matters as teaching is a practice that can be certainly improved and perfected through time. My passion for teaching and the fact that I deeply care about my students is something that make them feel special, appreciated and able to develop and grow further!