About Me
Timur İlman
Trust, clear boundaries, and responsibility
I’m Timur İlman. As one of four children of a Swiss mother and a Turkish father, I grew up in a bilingual and bicultural family. From an early age, different cultures, languages, and ways of life were a natural part of my everyday life.
After graduating from the Austrian St. George’s College in Istanbul, I completed my degree in Political Science at the University of Vienna. During my university years, I gradually realized that working directly with people and supporting them through their development felt more meaningful to me. This led me to change my professional direction and complete my training in social pedagogy in Vienna.
My Training in Social Pedagogy
During my social pedagogy training, I completed both theoretical and practical work in child development, learning processes, behavior management, communication, and individualized support.
This training gave me a more holistic perspective on children and teenagers. Rather than looking at difficulties solely through the lens of academic performance, I also consider motivation, behavior, social environment, and individual needs.
My Experience at SOS Children’s Villages
In Austria, I worked as a social pedagogue at SOS Children’s Villages.
There, I gained hands-on experience supporting children and teenagers who faced challenges related to attention, emotional and anger regulation, respecting boundaries, and adjusting to school and social environments.
This experience taught me that building a good relationship with a child is important, but not enough on its own. Trust needs to be accompanied by consistency, clear boundaries, and responsibility.
One of the most important lessons I gained from this work was that every child has their own personality, motivations, strengths, and individual needs. For this reason, I do not believe there is a single approach that works equally well for every child.
My Work Today
After many years of studying and working in Austria, I chose to continue my life and professional career in Türkiye.
Today, I work especially with children and teenagers who are capable of understanding their schoolwork but struggle to develop consistent study habits, maintain motivation, or take responsibility for homework and other academic tasks.
An important part of my work also involves students who have previously tried different forms of private tutoring but have not achieved the progress they were hoping for within a conventional teacher-student relationship.
How I Connect With Children and Teenagers
I do not prefer a distant, traditional teacher-student relationship in my work.
My first priority is to build a relationship in which students feel comfortable, trust me, and can communicate openly. At the same time, I set clear boundaries when necessary, consistently follow up on the goals and expectations we agree on, and expect students to take age-appropriate responsibility.
For me, being supportive does not mean having no expectations. On the contrary, believing in a child’s abilities also means giving them responsibility and expecting them to follow through.
My goal is not for a student to be able to study only when I am present. Over time, I want them to develop their own study routine, become more independent, and gradually need less support from me.
My Goal
I believe that students do not reach their full potential simply by receiving more lessons or tutoring.
Sometimes, what a student needs is an adult who takes the time to truly understand them, builds a strong and trusting relationship with them, while also setting clear boundaries and expecting responsibility.
That is why my work combines pedagogical and academic support. My goal is not only to support academic progress, but also to help students develop stronger study habits, a greater sense of responsibility, self-confidence, and independence.
Take the first step together
If you would like to learn more about my work or discuss your child’s situation, I look forward to hearing from you.