My humble thoughts is a section I share with parents and students to express my experiences on teaching and learning. I do not expect everyone to share the same thoughts as me. However, if my article benefits you, I know I have contributed to your life.
Which type of tuition suits you/ your child?
After five years working in this tuition line helping numerous students so far, I share here my experiences with helping students from private one-to-one home tuition as well as group settings in tuition centres.
I have had students who did well and also minority of students who did not do as well under both settings, in private one-to-one tuition and also group tuition at tuition centres. I noticed that a lot of time, it may be the students who played a major part in the final outcome of their academic results. Students who are more initiated tend to be the ones who function better than other less initiated students no matter which settings they are in.
More initiated students tend to ask more questions during their tuition lessons and make better use of their limited time during lessons to their advantage. I call such students a "lead learner" in the sense of actively leading their learning by preparing for lessons with a range of questions to ask their tutors and making sure they clarify fully whatever they do not understand. If they feel they have not master a topic well, they will insist the tutor to test them and prepare more questions on the particular topic to drill them. Such is the attitude of the lead learner. You may call them "kiasu" in Singaporean term. However, as a tutor myself, I prefer such "kiasu" lead learner. This is because they really exemplify the attitude of wanting the best out of themselves.
As long as such lead learners show other good values such as not being self-fish but considerate of others, respecting other people for their differences, showing ability to learn from mistakes and not criticising others of their mistakes, surely being "kiasu" in wanting the best out of themselves is not a negative attitude at all.
For such lead learners, they can function well in private one-to-one tuition or group tuition in tuition centres. However, I noticed that group tuition is more suited for stronger lead learners who are already at least average in their studies having learnt well from their schools and can do more with extra time and practice from a group tuition setting. This is because a group tuition setting cannot cater for every individual student's learning needs well as attention of the teacher is divided among a group of students. Most of the teaching and learning takes place in a one-size fit all manner where every student gets the same type of worksheets and practices. The same teaching content is also applied across the whole class. Thus, such is the setting for students who just want to expose themselves to more practices apart from their school learning. This type of group tuition will be more suited for at least average to better standard students (even if the particular student is a lead learner) who want to get more practices outside of school curriculum time.
For the weaker learner who is struggling through a subject, a private one-to-one tuition is still best for him/ her. In such setting, the lessons can be crafted to the weaker learner's individual needs. Such weaker learners need a lot of guidance and clarification on their learning as they usually do not learn well from their schools due to various kinds of reasons. However, finding a suitable private tutor becomes quite important for the weaker learner. A tutor who is encouraging and patient, and has the ability to simplify the learning to communicate well across to the student the salient points of each topic of a subject will be good for the student. It is also a positive if the weaker learner happens to be a lead learner who now has a chance to clarify aggressively whatever is lacking in his/ her learning with the tutor.
For students I worked with so far, the better achieving ones not surprisingly belong to the category of lead learners. It does not matter at what stage they begin with, whether on a weaker standard or stronger standard. Such lead learners eventually work their best for themselves making full use of the opportunity to improve their learning through their tuition lessons, be it in group or one-to-one settings. It is also a delight for me as a tutor now and then to encounter such lead learners. Whenever I see my lead learner students in every batch graduate each year, I feel a sense of loss as I wonder whether I will see more of such lead learner students in the subsequent batch of new students.
It is not always easy to part with the many good experiences shared with lead learner students whom I enjoyed working with every year as they graduate. However, as the saying goes, "all good things have to come to an end". Even as I feel sad every year seeing my students I enjoyed working with graduate and move on in life, I still wish each and every one of them the best in their future endeavours.
In summary, choosing the right type of tuition is important. A group tuition is more suited for students who are at least average to good in their results, learning well in their schools and are looking for more practices for exposure to more learning. A private one-to-one tuition is more suited for weaker students who do not learn well from their schools and are looking for one-to-one attention and opportunity to clarify their learning. However, it will be even better if the student can become a lead learner cultivating the habit of taking charge of their learning to make sure they use the tuition opportunity to clarify their questions making sure they can understand and master what is happening in each topic of their subjects.
I have had students who did well and also minority of students who did not do as well under both settings, in private one-to-one tuition and also group tuition at tuition centres. I noticed that a lot of time, it may be the students who played a major part in the final outcome of their academic results. Students who are more initiated tend to be the ones who function better than other less initiated students no matter which settings they are in.
More initiated students tend to ask more questions during their tuition lessons and make better use of their limited time during lessons to their advantage. I call such students a "lead learner" in the sense of actively leading their learning by preparing for lessons with a range of questions to ask their tutors and making sure they clarify fully whatever they do not understand. If they feel they have not master a topic well, they will insist the tutor to test them and prepare more questions on the particular topic to drill them. Such is the attitude of the lead learner. You may call them "kiasu" in Singaporean term. However, as a tutor myself, I prefer such "kiasu" lead learner. This is because they really exemplify the attitude of wanting the best out of themselves.
As long as such lead learners show other good values such as not being self-fish but considerate of others, respecting other people for their differences, showing ability to learn from mistakes and not criticising others of their mistakes, surely being "kiasu" in wanting the best out of themselves is not a negative attitude at all.
For such lead learners, they can function well in private one-to-one tuition or group tuition in tuition centres. However, I noticed that group tuition is more suited for stronger lead learners who are already at least average in their studies having learnt well from their schools and can do more with extra time and practice from a group tuition setting. This is because a group tuition setting cannot cater for every individual student's learning needs well as attention of the teacher is divided among a group of students. Most of the teaching and learning takes place in a one-size fit all manner where every student gets the same type of worksheets and practices. The same teaching content is also applied across the whole class. Thus, such is the setting for students who just want to expose themselves to more practices apart from their school learning. This type of group tuition will be more suited for at least average to better standard students (even if the particular student is a lead learner) who want to get more practices outside of school curriculum time.
For the weaker learner who is struggling through a subject, a private one-to-one tuition is still best for him/ her. In such setting, the lessons can be crafted to the weaker learner's individual needs. Such weaker learners need a lot of guidance and clarification on their learning as they usually do not learn well from their schools due to various kinds of reasons. However, finding a suitable private tutor becomes quite important for the weaker learner. A tutor who is encouraging and patient, and has the ability to simplify the learning to communicate well across to the student the salient points of each topic of a subject will be good for the student. It is also a positive if the weaker learner happens to be a lead learner who now has a chance to clarify aggressively whatever is lacking in his/ her learning with the tutor.
For students I worked with so far, the better achieving ones not surprisingly belong to the category of lead learners. It does not matter at what stage they begin with, whether on a weaker standard or stronger standard. Such lead learners eventually work their best for themselves making full use of the opportunity to improve their learning through their tuition lessons, be it in group or one-to-one settings. It is also a delight for me as a tutor now and then to encounter such lead learners. Whenever I see my lead learner students in every batch graduate each year, I feel a sense of loss as I wonder whether I will see more of such lead learner students in the subsequent batch of new students.
It is not always easy to part with the many good experiences shared with lead learner students whom I enjoyed working with every year as they graduate. However, as the saying goes, "all good things have to come to an end". Even as I feel sad every year seeing my students I enjoyed working with graduate and move on in life, I still wish each and every one of them the best in their future endeavours.
In summary, choosing the right type of tuition is important. A group tuition is more suited for students who are at least average to good in their results, learning well in their schools and are looking for more practices for exposure to more learning. A private one-to-one tuition is more suited for weaker students who do not learn well from their schools and are looking for one-to-one attention and opportunity to clarify their learning. However, it will be even better if the student can become a lead learner cultivating the habit of taking charge of their learning to make sure they use the tuition opportunity to clarify their questions making sure they can understand and master what is happening in each topic of their subjects.
Lead learners are always a delight to teach as they take ownership of their learning wanting the best out of themselves.