What's the scoop with tutors?
You may hear about family secrets, but never about tutors
This is Athena's Compass. Aristotle (image below) was of course the tutor of Alexander the Great, known for conquering the known world in his time. We take a look at the modern tutoring market. Coming soon, our thoughts on tutors ..
Competitive parents in the education rat race are more likely to divulge family secrets than the name of an effective tutor: for competent private teachers, that deliver results are a rare breed indeed.
Alexander the Great of course had one of the world’s most famous tutors: Aristotle. The question is, in the modern world, what is the role of a tutor and how do you measure whether or not they are worth acquiring.
There are a number of reasons why parents engage tutors, and we go through them here, so you can assess whether it makes sense for you. We would list them as knowledge of the academic market place; outsourcing of time and competence; and finally, sometimes it is because getting a tutor is what everyone else does. Let’s go through those reasons. There are also some significant disadvantages, both in terms of the process and the results. We grapple with those at the end.
Knowledge of the academic market place
This may be the single most useful aspect of a tutor. The exam market place is competitive. What this means is that the standard for passing into a particular school, keeps changing. Most teachers admit that the standards today are far more exacting than a decade ago: the rat-race has become absurdly competitive. That has some unhealthy repercussions for children, but for the moment we will focus on the problem as it is. We have other ideas for a different approach in future articles.
A good tutor, with a broad range of students, will have some idea of how different students are faring, and thoughts on what is required in a particular year to stay ahead.
They of course know the official government syllabus, but they also know how many years ahead students’ are: i.e. how good the writing standard needs to be to compete with a cohort in a given year.
Outsourcing time and competence
When hiring a private tutor, you are essentially engaging their expertise: time spent teaching kids in a particular subject. They will have tools and resources built up over their career that you as a parent do not have. A tutor will be more aware of the syllabus, and how to teach that syllabus, for no other reason than the fact it is their job - they would have done this task for numerous children, and improved through the process.
That immediately makes them better equipped than a parent, and so you are willing to spent money and time (in taking your child to and from the tutor), in exchange for that expertise.
It could make sense to outsource the effort of additional teaching either because you want to buy that competence, or you lack the time to do the same. That said, other than with remote engagement, there is often a cost to third-parties as you navigate busy cities, sit in traffic and wait for your child’s lesson to end.
Hiring a tutor because that is what everyone does
Often engaging a tutor is simply a process of following the herd. The trouble with that is that you have relinquished control of the process. Those parents who do succeed, are more likely to be those in charge of the process of educating their children, taking key decisions, assessing their child’s progress, and making changes as required. Simply relinquishing the process to a third-party, who cannot be as vested in the process as you are, is a formula for failure. At the very least, if you are engaging a tutor, you should insist upon transparency and accountability.
The disadvantages of tutoring
There are some material disadvantages to tutoring, however in the absence of using smarter tools and process, it is the only approach open to most parents.
The disadvantages are:
a) Results: the best tutors now, like schools, have pre-tests to ensure they get the best students. The argument goes that if students aren’t ‘ready’ then they can’t help get them into the right schools. It also helps the tutors’ statistics when children they worj with get good schools - the whole system has become a little topsy-turvy.
b) Enthusiasm: The time and effort of ferrying your child to tutoring and the extra-work load are all very taxing. They take a long term toll on the child’s enthusiasm for learning. A better approach is a more efficient method, ideally from home, that spares the child this rigorous and difficult schedule.
c) Time & Cost: When preparing for exams, having an inefficient process simply results in wastage of time. For example, a tutor may set exercises twice a week. A more efficient process, may break down the work into smaller, bite-size, daily tasks. The latter is easier to digest and results in faster growth.
d) Transparency: Most parents have no idea whether the work their child is doing with their tutor is working. Over a period of weeks or months they may see little improvement, but by then it may be too late.
The primary problem is that not all tutors are Aristotle: it is a big market place, with widely varying standards.
The result is that the tutor you engage and the results you get, could be a bit of a lottery - and no one is keen on spending so much time and effort on a process that is in reality simply pot luck.