Private Supplementary Tutoring Research Articles

Being participatory: employing geographic lenses to understand young people’s experiences of private supplementary tutoring in Uzbekistan

ABSTRACT This mixed-methods study explores the experiences and perceptions of primary school students of fee-charging private supplementary tutoring (PST) in Uzbekistan. The data were collected from five mainstream schools, using a close-ended questionnaire and two participatory methods – group interviews and drawings. The study found that 574 out of 1024 students (56%) received PST, mainly to increase their knowledge in core subjects, boost their self-confidence, and accomplish their aspirations of studying/working abroad. Achieving high scores in examinations was a secondary goal for many participants because they did not have a high-stakes examination at this academic level. 286 out of 574 students (50%) reported that their private tutors were their own class teachers, which raises concerns about favouritism and coercion. The participants acted agentively by highlighting the advantages of PST. The study stresses the importance of adopting effective policies to regulate PST and using participatory research methods to capture children’s PST experiences.

A neglected health burden of shadow education?—Effects of private supplementary tutoring on middle school students’ vision in China

Virtually all educational activities require visual inputs, but little is known about how extra out-of-school learning activities may impact children’s vision. Based on panel data from the China Education Panel Survey, a large-scale, nationally representative survey on middle school students in China, this study applies a value-added model (with lagged outcome measures as explanatory variables) to estimate the impacts of private supplementary tutoring (PST, also known as “shadow education”) participation on Chinese middle school students’ visual outcomes. The results suggest that PST participation exerts a statistically significant and adverse effect on Grade-8 students’ vision. One year of PST participation raises the prevalence of myopia among 8th graders by 4.6 ∼ 5.4 percentage points, leading to a more negative (i.e., more myopic) refractive error of −0.12 ∼ -0.18 diopters in their (better-seeing) eyes. Further analysis reveals that these effects work by increasing not only students’ time spent on out-of-school learning activities but also their time spent on homework assigned by regular teachers, thereby creating a spillover effect.

Exploring private supplementary tutoring in Finnish general upper secondary education

ABSTRACT We examine private supplementary tutoring within the context of Finnish general upper secondary education. Specifically, we focus on profit-driven private preparatory course providers who cater to individual students and their families, aiming to improve applicants’ prospects of gaining access to higher education. We examine this during a time when a recent education policy reform has renewed seeking admission to higher education in Finland, consequently impacting the private supplementary tutoring market associated with it. We draw on Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital, and habitus as a starting point for discussing the complex dynamics between public and private actors in the field of Finnish general upper secondary education and the role of economic capital. The ethnographic data analyzed for this paper consist of field notes and interviews (n = 58) from three general upper secondary schools, produced in 2019-2020. The study aims to investigate the negotiations between the public and private spheres of education within the everyday practices of Finnish public upper secondary education during an educational policy reform. We conclude that the fields of public and private education are not separate but rather intertwined, and they can become blurred in the everyday life of schools through both temporal and spatial overlaps.

Still in need of confronting: Shadow education and its implications in the sustainable development goals

Recent decades have brought global expansion of private supplementary tutoring, widely known as shadow education, with enrolment rates in some countries and at some grades now exceeding 80%. Shadow education maintains and exacerbates social inequalities despite government efforts through the Education for All (EFA) agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to reduce inequalities. Patterns vary, but in most countries shadow education receives inadequate policy attention in part because governments feel that it is beyond their remit and/or that they lack regulatory capacity. The paper argues for improved data collection for clarity on the extent, nature and implications of shadow education, and for stronger attention to regulations. One component of these regulations should focus on teachers, to specify the circumstances in which teachers may (not) provide tutoring. Another component should focus on commercial providers of shadow education, regulating them not only in the ways that other businesses are regulated but also with specific focus on educational domains.

Book review: Shadow Education in the Middle East: Private Supplementary Tutoring and its Policy Implications

Book review: Shadow Education in the Middle East: Private Supplementary Tutoring and its Policy Implications

Shadow Education in the Middle East Private Supplementary Tutoring and its Policy Implications by Mark Bray & Anas Hajar

Shadow Education in the Middle East Private Supplementary Tutoring and its Policy Implications by Mark Bray & Anas Hajar

Measuring private tutoring: methodological lessons and insights from Francophone Africa

ABSTRACT This paper examines and builds on an earlier contribution to this journal focusing on private supplementary tutoring – widely known as shadow education – in Francophone West and Central Africa. Drawing on wider literature about research methods in this domain, it examines the basis for the numerical estimates presented in the original article and supplements those statistics with data from a subsequent survey. The paper stresses the significance of the topic, and highlights methodological lessons not only for these African settings but also more widely. In this way it contributes to further research agendas relating not only to private tutoring but also to methods in cross-national surveys of educational achievement.

:Shadow Education in Myanmar: Private Supplementary Tutoring and Its Policy Implications

:<i>Shadow Education in Myanmar: Private Supplementary Tutoring and Its Policy Implications</i>

Shadow Education in the Middle East: Private Supplementary Tutoring and Its Policy Implications By Mark Bray and Anas Hajar. Taylor &amp; Francis. £39.19. August 2022. ISBN: 9781032329802

This is a Book Review and does not have an abstract. Please download the PDF or view the article in HTML.

Private supplementary tutoring and educational inequality in secondary education in Kazakhstan

ABSTRACT This mixed-methods study is the first to explore the association between fee-charging private supplementary tutoring (PT) participation and access to higher education in Kazakhstan from the perspectives of Grade 11 students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guided by the work of Entrich in 2018, a four-dimensional model of educational inequality in PT, this study found that the scale of PT had expanded during the pandemic, with 75.06% (623 out of 830) of participants engaged in PT, mainly to excel in the university entrance examinations and gain a state grant at their preferred university in Kazakhstan. Also, 73.8% of the students spent 40,000 tenge (US$88) or less on PT per month. Although participants’ families prioritized boys for providing PT services, most participants neither agreed nor disagreed that PT was a financial pressure on their families, probably because the majority attended group tutoring delivered at tutorial centres, and this mode of tutoring reduced the unit cost and gave them the attention they needed from their tutors. The 30 interviewees had positive attitudes towards PT, but some mentioned a few of its disadvantages, including the spread of less qualified, costly tutors due to the unregulated PT market in Kazakhstan. This study suggests pedagogical implications and areas for ongoing research.

Differential effects of private tutoring on facets of students' mathematics achievement: A longitudinal study

Private supplementary tutoring (PT) is practiced worldwide to improve students' academic performance and is highly prevalent in East Asia. However, studies have not clearly defined the effectiveness of PT. This study examined student-report questionnaires and school reports of mathematics achievements from approximately 2000 secondary school students to track retrospective longitudinal variations of PT over a year and analysed the differential effectiveness of regular mathematics PT participation on mathematics achievement at four hierarchical cognitive levels. Based on a sub-sample of students who regularly took PT in three consecutive periods (n = 773) as well as students who did not take PT (N = 758), the results indicated that the effect size of PT effectiveness decreased from low to high cognitive levels (from positive to negative). These results raise questions concerning the role of PT. This study provides an evidence-based assessment concerning the effectiveness of PT and highlights the implications for educational practice and future research.

Shadow Education And Social Class Inequalities In Secondary Education In Greece: The Case Of Teaching English As A Foreign Language

This article deals with the shadow education system of private tutoring which contributes to the reproduction of social class inequalities, focusing on the Greek public secondary education system. It presents a literature review of the issue and the findings of an empirical qualitative and quantitative research that aimed at examining the causes of the students’ massive resort to private supplementary tutoring for learning the English language, despite the fact that English is taught at school. The study also set out to examine the relationship between students’ socioeconomic background and resort to private supplementary tutoring and the relationship between socioeconomic background and knowledge of the English language as attested by official certifications. Research findings indicate that the widely spread resort to private supplementary tutoring has a negative impact on the teaching of English in Greek public lower secondary education. Using Bourdieu’s cultural reproduction theory, we argue that private supplementary tutoring makes closer the relationship between social class, familial cultural and economic capital and educational outcomes. Thus, upper and middle-class students are at an advantage, since they can move to the labour market with valued educational qualifications that enhance their occupational prospects. Finally, we discuss educational measures to address the problem.

Researching Forms of Shadow Education: Methodological Challenges and Complexities of Private Supplementary Tutoring in Myanmar

Purpose The growing literature on private supplementary tutoring, widely known as shadow education, addresses multiple dimensions and roles. However, many studies inadequately capture the diversity and implications of different forms of tutoring. This paper examines these matters in Myanmar, highlighting complexities and ambiguities in descriptors and in the nature of provision. Design/Approach/Methods Using a mixed-methods design, this study was conducted in Mandalay Region and Chin State. The data were obtained from interviews with 110 Grade 11 students, 34 high school teachers, 30 parents, 29 private tutoring providers, and two private school owners. Findings The article categorizes tutoring forms based on their styles and orientations, particularly lecture-type teaching and homework supervision by guides, class sizes, durations of fee-charging (e.g., annually), the number of subjects taught per tutor, and tutoring locations. The study brings the topic out of the shadows for clearer analysis of the phenomenon and thus for assessment of its implications. Originality/Value The study makes a methodological contribution to the wider picture by demonstrating the need for greater clarity and precision in the national and international comparative literatures. It also underscores shortcomings of predetermined categories in questionnaires and the value of qualitative interviews.

Is a more selective exit exam related to shadow education use? An analysis of two cohorts of final-year secondary school students in the Netherlands

ABSTRACT The prevalence of private supplementary tutoring (i.e. shadow education) is growing, particularly in nations with selective school exams. The hypothesis that tutoring attendance rises as pressure to perform increases has not yet been tested. Therefore, our research question is: does the likelihood of attending shadow education increase with an increase in educational system selectivity (in this case: stricter requirements to graduate)? Our study used an opportunity to study this question in the Dutch context, where performance standards on the nationwide secondary education exit exam were raised in 2011. We used data from two cohorts of Dutch exam year students: one before and one after the raised selectivity, hypothesising that the latter group had a higher likelihood of attending shadow education than the former. Results from Propensity Score Matching (PSM), applied to obtain cohorts as similar as possible on observable characteristics, provide support for our hypothesis. Our results on the Dutch policy change confirm that shadow education use might emerge at key moments of selection. In doing so, our study suggests that policymakers and researchers may want to include shadow education use in discussions on the merits and pitfalls of introducing more stringent performance standards into the education system.

Book Review: Shadow Education in Africa: Private Supplementary Tutoring and Its Policy Implications

Book Review: Shadow Education in Africa: Private Supplementary Tutoring and Its Policy Implications

Shadow Education And Social Class Inequalities In Secondary Education In Greece: The Case Of Teaching English As A Foreign Language

This article deals with the shadow education system of private tutoring which contributes to the reproduction of social class inequalities, focusing on the Greek public secondary education system. It presents a literature review of the issue and the findings of an empirical qualitative and quantitative research that aimed at examining the causes of the students’ massive resort to private supplementary tutoring for learning the English language, despite the fact that English is taught at school. The study also set out to examine the relationship between students’ socioeconomic background and resort to private supplementary tutoring and the relationship between socioeconomic background and knowledge of the English language as attested by official certifications. Research findings indicate that the widely spread resort to private supplementary tutoring has a negative impact on the teaching of English in Greek public lower secondary education. Using Bourdieu’s cultural reproduction theory, we argue that private supplementary tutoring makes closer the relationship between social class, familial cultural and economic capital and educational outcomes. Thus, upper and middle-class students are at an advantage, since they can move to the labour market with valued educational qualifications that enhance their occupational prospects. Finally, we discuss educational measures to address the problem.

Book review: Shadow education in Myanmar: private supplementary tutoring and its policy implications

Book review: Shadow education in Myanmar: private supplementary tutoring and its policy implications

Book review: Shadow Education in Africa: Private Supplementary Tutoring and its Policy Implications

Book review: Shadow Education in Africa: Private Supplementary Tutoring and its Policy Implications

Different subjects, different incentives: Private tutoring and perceived instructional quality in Czech lower-secondary schools

Whether education systems can stimulate or attenuate the demand for private supplementary tutoring by acting on the quality of provided school instruction is a complex and relatively unexplored issue. This study aims to reduce this knowledge gap by analysing the relationships between private tutoring attendance and instructional quality perceived at individual and classroom levels. Regression analyses are performed on a representative sample of 1280 pupils in the senior grade of lower secondary Czech schools. In mathematics and national language, students who find the school instruction interesting, who learn a lot, whose teachers can motivate them and explain the subject well, are less likely to use private tutoring in this subject. By increasing the quality of teaching in these subjects, schools and teachers may indirectly reduce the demand for private tutoring. However, perceived quality of school instruction in English language does not affect English tutoring, which is procured by affluent families irrespective of the perceived quality of school instructions.

Shadow education in the Middle East: Private supplementary tutoring and its policy implications

Shadow education in the Middle East: Private supplementary tutoring and its policy implications