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The life of a private tutor (2020)

economist.com

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Re: The life of a private tutor (2020)

#21

Post by lumost »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #8
tzury wrote: post #7

One would think that in the internet era, where so much information and knowledge are avaialble online for free, those would disappear. Apprently not.

There's no way to replicate the engagement that an actual teacher/tutor can provide. Some people can do just fine with self-directed study but I image most people aren't autodidacts.

Self-learning also comes with the pitfall that you may optimize for the wrong things.

When it comes to standardized tests/certain career expectations you are expected to have a broad understanding of the orthodox views on the evaluated topics.

Re: The life of a private tutor (2020)

#22

Post by lumost »

lbriner wrote: post #16
golergka wrote: post #6

One of the most important competitive advantages in modern world is motivation to do things on your own. And all this tutoring that kids are forced to be doing by adults is killing it.

So true but this youngster doesn't sound like someone who needs to win, he is already made. All he (or his parents) want is to look like they are successful by saying, "Little Johnny got 15 GCSEs".

As a new parent I'm really torn on this topic. On the one hand building resiliency and self-motivation need to happen through self-directed activities. On the other hand, Sitting on a couch watching Netflix probably isn't the most efficient way to build these skills.

Re: The life of a private tutor (2020)

#23

Post by at_a_remove »

golergka wrote: post #6

One of the most important competitive advantages in modern world is motivation to do things on your own. And all this tutoring that kids are forced to be doing by adults is killing it.

I was a private tutor for a long time. My market segment often leaned toward the "rather wealthy," although not anything like this. However, the struggle to motivate is very real. Each child or teen (or even young adult) comes with their own package of bad coping skills, strengths and deficits, motivations (or lack thereof), and so on. Each one has a history.

In any case, to my actual point -- discovering those motivations is one of the things for which I was paid. Often, children do not understand education. It has been a flat "do this" chore for them with some nebulous payout that will supposedly happen twice their lifespan away, when all around them they see images of people who did not go the conventional route to success.

Re: The life of a private tutor (2020)

#24

Post by Jochim »

golergka wrote: post #6

One of the most important competitive advantages in modern world is motivation to do things on your own. And all this tutoring that kids are forced to be doing by adults is killing it.

The most important competitive advantage is having the money to buy someone who knows how to do things for you. The second most is knowing people who have already bought someone good at the job.

It's why the rich don't manage their own money, make their own food, clean their own house, or care for/teach their own children. Instead they pay other people to do it for them.

Re: The life of a private tutor (2020)

#26

Post by Johnny555 »

lbriner wrote: post #16
golergka wrote: post #6

One of the most important competitive advantages in modern world is motivation to do things on your own. And all this tutoring that kids are forced to be doing by adults is killing it.

So true but this youngster doesn't sound like someone who needs to win, he is already made. All he (or his parents) want is to look like they are successful by saying, "Little Johnny got 15 GCSEs".

I think it goes beyond simple academic test results -- even successful parents take pride in their children's accomplishments, so they want to be able to say "Johnny grew up to be a successful lawyer and he's going to take over the family business". So they are doing what they can to set their children up for success.

Unless they are uber-wealthy, then they'll just say "Johnny is sailing our yacht around the Mediterranean (and when we say "sailing", we mean there's an 8 person crew running the boat)"

Re: The life of a private tutor (2020)

#27

Post by knaik94 »

There was definitely a lot lost when the pandemic happened. The social cues, the personal interaction, the ability to get a student to focus was greatly diminished. I always think about how the number of people who want to work remotely is an interesting contrast to how many people want to learn one on one in person.

I believe students have said okay to remote one to many educators, with things like online university. But especially in math and chemistry and physics, people want in person tutoring.

Re: The life of a private tutor (2020)

#30

Post by onetimeusename »

Every student's case mentioned made it seem like the goal of tutoring is for the student to acquire elite status and prestige by going to highly selective schools through the planning by their neurotic parents. The material learned was less relevant.

I want to teach my students how to follow their passions, how to strive for the life they want, rather than for hollow symbols of success.

It seems like hollow symbols of success are what the parents and institutions have agreed to create though. The number of schools and slots for students has apparently not changed much but the number of students across the globe who are competing for slots in a few, elite western schools has gone up enormously. That drives the value of the degree up through scarcity which seems to be what people want for their children, is ways to be more elite than their peers.

It's probably not surprising then that bribery happens. The schools aren't really selling an education anymore and the parents aren't really looking for one either.

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