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Friday 6 August 2010
Teachers & Tutors
Do teachers feel threatened by tutors?
Based on over 12 years experience of tutoring on a 1-2-1 basis and of running a tutoring agency and on feedback from students, teachers and parents I still think teachers fall into 2 broad categories:
1. Teachers who come across as threatened by tutors and perceive them as unnecessary and maybe even a hindrance.
2. Teachers who value tutors as providers of additional support for their student, working together with the same aims and objectives - doing what's best for the student.
The latter of course is how tutors see themselves. As private tutors we act as a 'silent' and hidden workforce. Where schools and teachers allow, a good tutor will work with the school and teacher - our aim is to help the student get the best possible result. As tutors we are more disposable than teachers and expectations of parents possibly higher. We must get results and noticeable results/improvement, often within a short timescale, or we're out of work - there's no school, class or anything else to hide behind.
It's a win-win situation for the school and teacher. Private tuition costs the parents not the school. At no cost to the schools, the teachers and their schools benefit from improved grades.
When trying to work with schools unfortunately responses like these are all too common :
'We don't need tutors'
'Our students are doing fine as it is'
'We're getting good results on our own'
BUT, often a school head or teacher that's made similar comment is from a school where many of our private tutees attend! Only recently I tried to approach the head of a local primary to ask if there was scope for working together and the response was as above. However, I have tutored several students from the school and over the previous year we'd had a lot of parents of pupils at the school ask for extra tuition via 121 Home Tutors.
Because the schools continue to get results it could be they are unaware their students are getting extra help? But with recent studies showing the prevalence of private tuition - according to some research, over a 1/4 of state school students have a private tutor; figures for the private sector being considerably higher - it seems likely private tutoring at least contributes towards good results. Isn't it therefore more helpful to parents if the schools can point parents in the direction of a good tutor? The point here is that good results may be because of good teachers, good tutors and /or parents but are more likely to be a combination. Teachers needn't feel threatened by tutors. Teachers. Schools. We will work for you and not cost you a penny!
If you are a head, or teacher from a Manchester, Stockport, Wilmslow, Macclesfield, Cheshire area local school and would like to discuss how we at 121 Home Tutors can work together we would love to hear from you.
Based on over 12 years experience of tutoring on a 1-2-1 basis and of running a tutoring agency and on feedback from students, teachers and parents I still think teachers fall into 2 broad categories:
1. Teachers who come across as threatened by tutors and perceive them as unnecessary and maybe even a hindrance.
2. Teachers who value tutors as providers of additional support for their student, working together with the same aims and objectives - doing what's best for the student.
The latter of course is how tutors see themselves. As private tutors we act as a 'silent' and hidden workforce. Where schools and teachers allow, a good tutor will work with the school and teacher - our aim is to help the student get the best possible result. As tutors we are more disposable than teachers and expectations of parents possibly higher. We must get results and noticeable results/improvement, often within a short timescale, or we're out of work - there's no school, class or anything else to hide behind.
It's a win-win situation for the school and teacher. Private tuition costs the parents not the school. At no cost to the schools, the teachers and their schools benefit from improved grades.
When trying to work with schools unfortunately responses like these are all too common :
'We don't need tutors'
'Our students are doing fine as it is'
'We're getting good results on our own'
BUT, often a school head or teacher that's made similar comment is from a school where many of our private tutees attend! Only recently I tried to approach the head of a local primary to ask if there was scope for working together and the response was as above. However, I have tutored several students from the school and over the previous year we'd had a lot of parents of pupils at the school ask for extra tuition via 121 Home Tutors.
Because the schools continue to get results it could be they are unaware their students are getting extra help? But with recent studies showing the prevalence of private tuition - according to some research, over a 1/4 of state school students have a private tutor; figures for the private sector being considerably higher - it seems likely private tutoring at least contributes towards good results. Isn't it therefore more helpful to parents if the schools can point parents in the direction of a good tutor? The point here is that good results may be because of good teachers, good tutors and /or parents but are more likely to be a combination. Teachers needn't feel threatened by tutors. Teachers. Schools. We will work for you and not cost you a penny!
If you are a head, or teacher from a Manchester, Stockport, Wilmslow, Macclesfield, Cheshire area local school and would like to discuss how we at 121 Home Tutors can work together we would love to hear from you.
How to choose a tutor?
We get several telephone enquiries per day asking about tuition that don't get beyond the question 'how much does it cost?'
Granted, cost is a consideration, but cheapest is rarely the best and often, a more expensive tutor can actually provide better value. Should cost be the main decider when choosing a tutor?
To be fair, for some the financial cost of helping their children improve their confidence, grades, knowledge and future prospects is a huge burden. But, tutoring is a worthwhile investment - if a child receives more qualifications and/or at higher grades through working with a tutor than would have been likely without a tutor, then they are likely to enjoy higher earnings since their employment prospects have been enhanced. To choose a tutor simply on the basis of cost must be flawed? While using the right tutor can help enormously and be a fantastic investment - having the wrong tutor may well turn out to be a false economy!
Thats not to say that the 'cheap' tutors are necessarily bad - but it begs the question as to why some tutors offer tuition at such low rates? Are they inexperienced? desperate for work? undervalueing themselves, or simply tutoring for the greater good/out of the 'kindness of their hearts'? I could go on here about teachers/educators at all levels being undervalued/underpaid, but I'll stick to tutors! Although, I suspect the reason for some tutors offering such low fees is that they are less experienced and don't appreciate themselves - or rather their skills - fully (yet!) and that they perhaps don't look at the fee in real terms.
To clarify, I've managed to find a tutor site where a tutor was offering A level maths tuition for £10ph [way underpriced]. Even if no preparation time was required or travel expenses incurred, this amounts to a net fee of £7-8 max. But, for even an experienced tutor with years of experience/notes/lesson plans and material, most tutorials require at least 10 mins prep and are a minimum of 5-10mins drive away. This makes the actual work time taken to deliver an hours session approx. 75-80 mins which makes a £10 fee equivalent to £7.50-8/hr; net of expenses and tax, this could equal an hourly rate of £5-5.60 at best estimate [The national minimum wage is currently £5.52 for over 22's]
For those of us in the profession, why should we allow ourselves to be undervalued? Do some tutors not realise?
For those choosing tutors on the basis of cost alone - just a warning to consider why the tutor's fee is so low. They could be a gem, or they could be unreliable, inexperienced or unqualifed.
So, how should you choose a tutor? Important is the tutor-tutee relationship. Since tutoring is mostly on a 1-2-1 basis, its very important that the tutee feels comfortable with the tutor and at ease enough to ask questions and enjoy the sessions. Other considerations are experience in the subject/level required, knowledge of subject and curriculum/level requirements, track record/past results, qualifications, availability, reliability and finally cost!
Granted, cost is a consideration, but cheapest is rarely the best and often, a more expensive tutor can actually provide better value. Should cost be the main decider when choosing a tutor?
To be fair, for some the financial cost of helping their children improve their confidence, grades, knowledge and future prospects is a huge burden. But, tutoring is a worthwhile investment - if a child receives more qualifications and/or at higher grades through working with a tutor than would have been likely without a tutor, then they are likely to enjoy higher earnings since their employment prospects have been enhanced. To choose a tutor simply on the basis of cost must be flawed? While using the right tutor can help enormously and be a fantastic investment - having the wrong tutor may well turn out to be a false economy!
Thats not to say that the 'cheap' tutors are necessarily bad - but it begs the question as to why some tutors offer tuition at such low rates? Are they inexperienced? desperate for work? undervalueing themselves, or simply tutoring for the greater good/out of the 'kindness of their hearts'? I could go on here about teachers/educators at all levels being undervalued/underpaid, but I'll stick to tutors! Although, I suspect the reason for some tutors offering such low fees is that they are less experienced and don't appreciate themselves - or rather their skills - fully (yet!) and that they perhaps don't look at the fee in real terms.
To clarify, I've managed to find a tutor site where a tutor was offering A level maths tuition for £10ph [way underpriced]. Even if no preparation time was required or travel expenses incurred, this amounts to a net fee of £7-8 max. But, for even an experienced tutor with years of experience/notes/lesson plans and material, most tutorials require at least 10 mins prep and are a minimum of 5-10mins drive away. This makes the actual work time taken to deliver an hours session approx. 75-80 mins which makes a £10 fee equivalent to £7.50-8/hr; net of expenses and tax, this could equal an hourly rate of £5-5.60 at best estimate [The national minimum wage is currently £5.52 for over 22's]
For those of us in the profession, why should we allow ourselves to be undervalued? Do some tutors not realise?
For those choosing tutors on the basis of cost alone - just a warning to consider why the tutor's fee is so low. They could be a gem, or they could be unreliable, inexperienced or unqualifed.
So, how should you choose a tutor? Important is the tutor-tutee relationship. Since tutoring is mostly on a 1-2-1 basis, its very important that the tutee feels comfortable with the tutor and at ease enough to ask questions and enjoy the sessions. Other considerations are experience in the subject/level required, knowledge of subject and curriculum/level requirements, track record/past results, qualifications, availability, reliability and finally cost!
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