I am often asked by parents why and when there is a need for a child to receive extra tuition. The role of the tutor is to supplement and compliment the teacher. The only time that a tutor should be teaching is when teaching is not taking place in the classroom.
Why is there a need for tutoring?
• Every person hears and interprets instructions and knowledge subtly differently. In classes larger than 12 learners, there is very little time for teachers to effectively assess whether the message that they have presented to learners has been interpreted correctly! Especially in a multicultural and multilinguistic community like South Africa. One of the roles of the tutor is to quickly evaluate whether or not the child has interpreted the knowledge taught, correctly.
• Different children learn at different rates, simply because all of us have been ‘wired’ differently. For slower learners the role of the tutor is to keep the learner abreast with the class. For the brighter learner the role of the tutor is to extend the child. Extending the child does not mean working ahead of the teacher but rather exposing the learner to present content at a deeper level.
• Remediation. A good tutor will be able to access what knowledge gaps a child has and will be able to close the gaps by teaching and drilling. In a society where children change schools often and where a change of class or subject teachers occurs regularly, knowledge gaps occur frequently, even with the brightest of learners.
Choosing a tutor
• I have found that the best tutors are very experienced teachers who are passionate about their subjects and are knowledgeable about what is expected by the different examining boards, IEB and NSC at this moment in time.
• I don’t believe that you can tutor more than four pupils at a time, as the role of the tutor is to identify individual problem areas, so choose a tutor who will tutor individuals or small groups!
• Tutors need to be people who are very patient and can explain a topic in more than one way. A good tutor is able to determine at what point the child experienced a knowledge disconnect, right the wrong, and use that point to move forward.
• Tutors need to be able to praise and build up. As learners are praised so they become more confident. Find a tutor that your child can relate to!
• Find a tutor who will be there for the long-haul. Chopping and changing tutors is as detrimental to your child as changing teachers. Often the tutor becomes the anchor in the child’s life as teachers change each year.
• Tutoring is not just giving a child extra work and for this reason I do not advocate tutors who only use computers as their source of assessment, teaching, drilling and remediation.
• Most importantly a tutor should be working on the work that subject teachers are presently doing, unless there is a need for remediation on past work.
In conclusion, tutors should be working together with teachers to bring about the very best for the child.
By D C Franks (Super Tutor and Oakridge College)