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Boom in Tuition Industry!

Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 10:46 am
by Pumpkin Pie
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Are they trading on parent's insecurities?

Re: Boom in Tuition Industry!

Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 10:53 am
by Sally-Anne
Pumpkin Pie wrote:Are they trading on parent's insecurities?
In a word, yes.

Re: Boom in Tuition Industry!

Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 2:39 pm
by aliportico
I've been tutoring (maths) for 6 years now, and my experience matches the article, every year I have more and more requests. I have to say, most of the cases do not seem to be about the parents' insecurities, although I'm sure in some places there is a lot more 'keeping up with the Joneses'. I've tutored home educated children, children who are struggling for some reason, kids wanting done extra revision, quite a few adults (am currently on my third primary school teacher wannabe needing a gcse :-) ). I think it's rather harsh to blame some deficiency of the parent.

Re: Boom in Tuition Industry!

Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:45 pm
by mystery
Sally-Anne wrote:
Pumpkin Pie wrote:Are they trading on parent's insecurities?
In a word, yes.
That is a rather sweeping generalisation from a moderate moderator! :shock:

Re: Boom in Tuition Industry!

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 11:41 pm
by wonderwoman
aliportico wrote:(am currently on my third primary school teacher wannabe needing a gcse :-) ).
I despair!

As a primary school teacher, the standard of maths ( and English) displayed by the many students and prospective students I have in class is shockingly low. I've had students who don't know their tables (not just slow - actually don't know them), they have no idea of simple maths vocabulary (square numbers etc). One prospective student told me she only wanted to teach ks1, so it didn't matter that she was rubbish at maths. I could go on and usually do but I'll save you from my rant.

Perhaps at the same time you could ensure they know what an adjective is.

I'm off for a G&T.

Re: Boom in Tuition Industry!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 12:27 am
by aliportico
Why despair? Would have thought you would be glad they were improving themselves?

They've all been in their twenties, failed at maths for whatever reason in school, and now really want to get the qualification so they can work towards the career they want. The man I'm tutoring at the moment spent all 5 years of secondary school in set 6 of 7 for maths. He just got a B in his first module, and clearly has so much potential. It sounds like you'd rather write him off like his school did.

I love teaching adults, they are so hard-working and determined.

Re: Boom in Tuition Industry!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 7:00 am
by mystery
Maybe we like to think that the standard of basic maths and English of primary teacher training students used to be higher. There is no reason why it should have been. The man who gets a b now will be more up to date with his maths than a trainee who got their b 6 years ago and hasn't touched maths since. Good for him.

Re: Boom in Tuition Industry!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 8:53 am
by Amber
I think that it is fair to expect that those tasked with educating our youngest citizens would be reasonably competent in the subjects they are teaching. It is a difficult area but as you know I tend to the Finnish view which is to professionalise teachers highly and then allow them autonomy in deciding what and how to teach. This is only achievable if you do what they do - allow only their brightest graduates to become teachers and give them a thorough (Masters level) grounding in all the necessary skills and pedagogical knowledge-base required. This takes time and a lot of money and both of these things are off-limits in England - the plan is to train teachers 'on the job' and as quickly and cheaply as possible. We then attempt to 'compensate' for lack of teacher professionalism with a highly prescriptive curriculum and a punitive inspection regime designed to 'weed out' 'incompetent' teachers. In my view this is a circle which will never be squared.
[In Finland]The intention is to empower teachers and enable them to influence the direction and development of educational reform, whereas in England the government is characterized as riding roughshod over the teaching profession through a kind of ‘democratic totalitarianism’ in which change is achieved by assertion and coercion (Richards, 1999). The new professionalism envisaged by the English government requires total compliance to centrist demands. The imposition of nationally prescribed curricula, and more recently pedagogy, together with external accountability mechanisms linked to marketization, have been viewed by many commentators as reducing teachers to technicians and signalling an erosion of teacher professionalism
From A comparative analysis of primary teacher professionalism in England and Finland, Webb et al, 2004

If teachers were all of high enough calibre to design and deliver a broad curriculum confidently and competently, and if there were not high-stakes tests at every step of the way, but only a school-leavers' exam as in most countries, I think the demand for tuition from anxious parents, teachers and children would be much reduced. As things stand, with increasingly constraining measurements determining access to 'the next stage' from the earliest years of primary school, a demand-led market in buying advantage is bound to grow. IMHO :?

Re: Boom in Tuition Industry!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 11:17 am
by Daogroupie
Mystery, I totally agree. I think that all those teachers who have English and Maths GCSE's that are more than ten years old should have to redo them if their subject requires them. I redid my English and Maths O levels, now GCSE's last year and am redoing my O level, now GCSE Science this year. The material is quite different, English in particular has whole new areas that were not part of the syllabus. DG

Re: Boom in Tuition Industry!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 1:39 pm
by Cranleigh
I agree with Mystery, DAOGroupie and Amber. Amber, absolutely spot on. What you describe is ideal, why don't we ascribe higher status to teachers? We used to years ago, what's changed?