11th March 2016 1:00
By Blue Tutors
As the private tuition industry has grown increasing concerns have been raised regarding the lack of regulation. Particular concerns have been raised over the fact that anyone can set themselves up as a private tutor, even if they have no teaching experience. Parents are urged to check tutors’ qualifications and references to ensure that they are hiring an experienced and reliable tutor who gets good results. However, the founder of Home Tutors Karina Halstead has recently said that it isn’t necessary for parents to hire experienced tutors in order to get good results, pointing out that the most important thing is that they hire someone with good knowledge and communication skills. So is it really necessary to hire an experienced tutor?
Checking for experience seems like the obvious first step in hiring a tutor, but Halstead has a point. While many parents prefer to hire a current or retired school teacher, being able to control a class of thirty students has little relevance to one-to one-tuition. It is still very common for school teachers to be the most in demand tutors, but not only are they hard to come by, they are also often not the best option. School teachers may know the curriculum, but they often have very little experience providing in-depth teaching to one student, their usual goa being to ensure that their entire class is up to speed on the basics. Private tuition is a very different endeavour; the goal there is to focus on the learning style and understanding of one student.
As Halstead points out, often the most important qualities a private tutor needs to have are excellent knowledge of their subjects, and good communication skills. Many tutors who attended top universities have these skills in abundance, whether they have taught students before or not. They are also often a lot more able in their subjects, with many tutors working towards master’s or PhD degrees in the subject in which they tutor. Naturally parents should conduct their due diligence, and be wary of tutors who have never taught before. However, they may well find that a new student or graduate tutor will do wonders for their child’s academic and social development, at a very affordable price.