In selecting a tutor there are many different things as a parent you may look for but one of the current debates is the effect of subject knowledge, and can the depth and experience of the subject make for a better tutor.
Many tutoring companies, particularly in the cities use bright new graduates for tuition, and from a personality and fun perspective they may be better than the crusty long in the tooth teacher, but does that make for a better product and outcomes? Also, just because you hold a degree in related subjects does not mean you are an expert in dealing with the tutoring learning environment.
Research by the Access Project has found that tutors should be experts in the subject that they are tutoring. Although non-expert tutors can still have a positive impact on learning, tutors with advanced subject knowledge are likely to be more effective.
Although there has been little research on the point, one source of support for the claim that deep subject knowledge improves effectiveness of a tutor comes from studies that have observed the most effective tutors while they are tutoring.
Leeper & Wolverton (2002) found that tutors with an impressive depth and breadth of subject knowledge used that knowledge in very different ways. They can provide historical information about a topic that helps illuminate understanding. They use visual models to illustrate difficult concepts and produce real world analogies to help students understand sometimes difficult concepts. Tutors lacking this detailed knowledge would be less able to employ such techniques.
An area of pedagogical expertise that is also deployed by experienced tutors is what is referred to as subject-specific pedagogical knowledge. This includes things such as knowing which topics in their subject expertise are particularly tricky for the student and the common mistakes and misconceptions that also sometimes pervade.
An experienced tutor also has the real life experience of having dealt with the many different types of students within an education setting. Tutors should facilitate student learning by establishing a good personal rapport with their tutee and being supportive and be able to use empathy when the tutee is struggling or finding the going difficult as well as when to offer guided support.
The best tutors use a range of motivational techniques to ensure students remain attentive, Lepper (1993) observed the best tutors manage the tutoring session interactively and guide students towards the right answer whilst also minimising their role in the student getting the right answer, thus boosting the student’s confidence and self-esteem.
Merill (1992) summarised the literature on tutoring effectiveness:
“Experienced …tutors maintain a delicate balance, allowing students to do as much of the work as possible and to maintain a feeling of control while providing students with enough guidance to keep them from becoming frustrated or confused” ( p280 )
Striking this balance comes with experience and having been in different learning situations and is a difficult skill for most to master. Adapting to the needs of the tutee requires tutors to be able to identify where they are struggling and then pinpoint any misconceptions they may have.
In our experience at A Star Tutors we have found that experienced tutors certainly give the value that parents are looking for from a tutoring experience for their child. Most tutoring experiences that parents are looking for is to either boost the confidence of the student or to help the student attain at least parity with their educational peers or gain higher than predicted grades in the school system.
Young university graduates certainly have their place and can be great for certain situations, however subject knowledge and learning situational experiences, we believe, count for so much more and give confidence to the parent of that their child is in good hands and will come away with a rich and full learning experience.
So, if you are an experienced educational professional with many years of subject knowledge, don’t’ let that go to waste, think about tutoring to pass that knowledge and experience on.