TEACH ONE PERSON Learning Mentor (TOPLM)
You don't have to be a teacher to help a student learn.
Learn how to help a student study better, and build a meaningful professional opportunity.
Every educational institution has students who struggle with studying.
They may say:
- "I study for hours but don't remember."
- "I cannot concentrate."
- "I get distracted easily."
- "I don't know how to study."
- "I read the same thing again and again."
- "I keep making the same mistakes."
- "I don't know what is important."
- "I study hard but my performance doesn't improve."
Often, giving such students more teaching is not the answer.
The first question should be:
What exactly is the student having difficulty doing?
That is where Teach One Person (TOP) begins.
What is TOP?
Teach One Person (TOP) is a structured approach to helping students identify and overcome academic and study difficulties.
The principle is simple:
Identify the difficulty.
Teach the appropriate skill.
Help the student practice it.
See whether it works.
TOP has been developed from extensive experience working with students and educational institutions.
Who is a TOP Learning Mentor?
A TOP Learning Mentor is a graduate trained in the TOP approach to provide basic, structured study-skills support to students.
You do not need to be a teacher or psychologist.
What you need is:
- a graduate qualification
- an interest in helping students
- willingness to learn the TOP methodology
- ability to work patiently with students
- commitment to working within the defined scope of the role
Why Become a TOP Learning Mentor?
You may already have a degree in:
- Arts
- Commerce
- Science
- Engineering
- Management
- Computer Science
- Humanities
- or another discipline.
Your degree has given you knowledge.
TOP gives you an opportunity to learn how to use your knowledge and communication skills to help students develop better study practices.
You can potentially develop an independent service with educational institutions.
What Will You Do?
As a TOP Learning Mentor, you will help students with study-related difficulties, such as:
Reading
Helping students approach study material more effectively.
Understanding
Helping students identify what they understand and where they are confused.
Memory
Helping students use appropriate techniques to remember and retrieve information.
Concentration
Helping students reduce unnecessary distractions and use effective study strategies.
Practice
Helping students practise rather than merely repeat.
Errors
Helping students identify and learn from repeated mistakes.
Organization
Helping students organize information and study tasks.
Examination Preparation
Helping students develop more effective preparation and practice strategies.
Your Main Tool
SASD-20-LM
Student Academic & Study Difficulty Screener
Learning Mentor Edition
The SASD-20-LM provides a structured starting point for identifying common study and learning difficulties.
It helps move the conversation from:
"I am not doing well."
to:
"Here is what I am having difficulty doing."
The screener is used to guide study-support conversations and intervention.
It is NOT a psychological or clinical diagnostic test.
Your Intervention Resource
59 Secrets to Studying
TOP provides a collection of practical principles for addressing common study difficulties.
You will learn how to select an appropriate Secret rather than giving students generic advice.
For example:
Student:
"I read the chapter three times but still can't remember it."
Instead of saying:
"Read it again."
TOP asks:
What is happening during the student's learning process?
The appropriate Secret can then be introduced, demonstrated and practised.
The TOP Learning Process
SCREEN
Identify the student's study difficulty.
↓
UNDERSTAND
Clarify what the student is actually experiencing.
↓
SELECT
Choose an appropriate Secret.
↓
TEACH
Explain the strategy.
↓
PRACTISE
Apply it to the student's actual study material.
↓
REVIEW
Check whether the student is using the strategy effectively.
↓
FOLLOW UP
Determine whether further practice or another strategy is needed.
You Are Not a Tutor
A TOP Learning Mentor is not a substitute for subject tuition.
You don't have to teach Mathematics, Physics, History or Chemistry.
Your role is different.
A subject tutor asks:
"What does the student need to learn?"
A TOP Learning Mentor asks:
"What is preventing the student from learning effectively?"
That distinction is central to TOP.
What You Will NOT Do
TOP Learning Mentors work within a clearly defined scope.
You will not:
- diagnose psychological or psychiatric conditions
- provide psychotherapy or counselling
- administer or interpret psychological tests
- claim to be a psychologist
- treat mental-health conditions
- investigate serious family or safeguarding problems
- provide clinical assessment or treatment
TOP training does not confer a professional qualification in Psychology, counselling, clinical psychology or any other regulated profession.
When something appears to fall outside your scope:
Recognize → Stop → Refer
The student's welfare comes first.
How Can You Work With Educational Institutions?
Once you have completed the required TOP training and demonstrated the expected competence, you can explore providing study-support services to:
- schools
- colleges
- coaching institutions
- educational organizations
- other student-serving institutions
You may offer your services according to an arrangement agreed directly with the institution.
Possible models include:
Hourly service
or
Monthly retainer
You develop the institutional relationship.
You provide the service.
You retain 100% of your professional income.
TOP Does Not Employ You
TOP is not intended to be an employer.
The purpose is to provide you with:
- a structured methodology
- training
- study-support tools
- the 59 Secrets
- intervention guidance
- professional boundaries
- referral principles
You develop your own professional service.
TOP does not take a percentage of your professional income.
The TOP Gurukula
TOP follows a modern interpretation of the Gurukula principle:
Learn → Practise → Demonstrate → Serve → Prosper → Give Back
Training is offered without a mandatory training fee.
The objective is to make practical knowledge accessible to people who are willing to learn and use it responsibly.
Guru Kanike
If, after becoming successful, you wish to express gratitude for the knowledge and guidance you received, you may voluntarily offer Guru Kanike.
It is:
- not a compulsory fee
- not a commission
- not a percentage of your income
- not a condition for becoming a TOP Learning Mentor
It is an optional expression of gratitude.
How Do I Become a TOP Learning Mentor?
STEP 1 — EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST
Complete the TOP Learning Mentor — Expression of Interest Form.
↓
STEP 2 — ELIGIBILITY
Provide evidence of your graduate qualification.
↓
STEP 3 — ORIENTATION
Understand the TOP philosophy, role and boundaries.
↓
STEP 4 — LEARN
Study the TOP methodology, SASD-20-LM and relevant 59 Secrets.
↓
STEP 5 — PRACTICE
Work through examples of common student study difficulties.
↓
STEP 6 — DEMONSTRATE COMPETENCE
Show that you can identify a study difficulty and select an appropriate intervention.
↓
STEP 7 — TOP LEARNING MENTOR
Begin developing your own student-support service.
Why TOP?
Because students are often told:
"Study harder."
But sometimes the better question is:
"Have you learned how to study?"
TOP is based on a simple belief:
Learning how to learn is itself a skill.
And skills can be learned.
You Don't Have to Wait for a Job
Your degree may have prepared you for a particular career.
But it doesn't have to define the only way you can earn a living.
TOP gives graduates an opportunity to develop a specialized student-support service based on study skills and learning strategies.
You don't have to wait for someone to employ you.
You can develop a service of your own.
A Message from the Founder
I have worked as a Consultant Psychologist with more than 50 educational institutions.
Over the years, I have seen students struggle not because they lack intelligence, but because they have never learned how to learn effectively.
I have also seen that simply giving students more teaching does not necessarily solve the problem.
TOP is my attempt to make the practical knowledge gained through years of working with students available to others.
I want qualified and responsible people to learn the approach, help students, develop their own professional service and prosper.
You don't have to be a psychologist to help a student learn better.
But you do need to know what you are doing—and you need to know the limits of what you can do.
That is what TOP is designed to teach.
TEACH ONE PERSON (TOP)
Learn the Skill.
Help a Student.
Build a Service.
Become a
TOP Learning Mentor
For Graduates
[EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST]
B. Ed. Graduates willing to enter this system can go
through the
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
before filling out the
Expression of Interest Form
Does TOP have different types of practitioners?
Yes.
TOP is developing different pathways according to the practitioner's educational background.
| Background | TOP role | Primary function |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology postgraduate | TOP Educational Psychology Consultant | Psychology-informed academic/study support |
| B.Ed. graduate | TOP Educational Learning Consultant | Educational and learning support |
| Other graduate | TOP Learning Mentor | Basic study-skills support |
These roles are not interchangeable. The scope of each role depends on the person's underlying qualification and TOP training.
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