6th December 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
These days tuition agencies get all sorts of requests from parents, and have had to rapidly expand their services in order to cover them. In the past, the standard request was for a tutor to help with a core subject, and to visit the client’s house for one or two hours a week to teach that subject. The only caveats regarding the type of tutor required were usually along the lines of ‘friendly tutor required’ or ‘strict tutor who will get good results’. This was the extent of parents’ interests in their tutor’s approach. However, in recent years, as the nature of tuition has changed to include many more options, parents have become more picky. But what kind of relationship should a tutor now expect to have with their student’s parents?
Many tutors come into the profession assuming that the focus is on the teaching, and the relationship with the parents will not extend beyond that which is necessary to fulfil that role. In some cases, this remains true, and tutors come, teach their lesson, and go until the following week. Yet tutoring agencies are now receiving requests which have more extensive requirements, which may demand an unspecified commitment from the tutor towards their students’ families. Some parents request long terms tutors, and suggest that they would like them to become permanent fixtures – and family friends. A tutor accepting these jobs can expect to commit on a long term basis, and goes in to the new job knowing that their student and student’s parents expect a longer term relationship to form out of their tutelage. Some tutors enjoy the idea of such a commitment, but others would prefer to maintain a strictly professional relationship.
Tutors who have made such long term commitments will tell you that the commitment is rewarding, but can often mean they end up working longer hours than they are paid for, and that parents feel that they can call them outside the lesson for extended chats about their children. Other parents sometimes request tutors for younger children, expecting a tutor who is willing to perform general childcare duties such as cooking and playtime. The trick for tutors starting any new job is to ensure that they have a good talk with parents first and work out what level of commitment is expected, and decide whether the job is suitable for them. After that, tutors need to uphold the arrangement which was agreed, and be professional about maintaining the boundaries set.