26th June 2019 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A teacher working at a school in Bournemouth has written about how she thinks tutors and school teachers should work together to help students, rather than feel that they are in opposition. Reported on the Times Education website, Laura Tsabet says that when a teacher discovers that one of their pupils is receiving private tuition it can feel like a kick in the teeth, like that teacher has failed in their job.
Tsabet acknowledges the benefits that tutoring can bring to a student. The wariness often expressed by teachers towards a tutor shouldn’t exist. When there is someone externally helping a student to develop understanding and revise before exams, teachers should be relieved with that extra support; comforted by someone helping to share the burden and workload.
In a similar way, tutors should not step on teachers’ toes or undermine them in one-to-one lessons with their students. A tutor’s job is to reinforce the student’s school studies and support mainstream education, and they definitely shouldn’t criticise what is done at school or a teacher’s methods. This can confuse students.
Laura thinks that a step forward would be for tutors and school teachers to develop a dialogue to jointly ensure that a student is supported as well as possible. She calls for teachers to embrace the fact that a student is also seeing a tutor, and suggests the teacher should call the parents and ask whether it would help to speak with the tutor. It can’t hurt for tutors and teachers to feel that they are working together.