Tutoring English the Wrong Way and Its Impact on the Learning Process

As English tutors, we often make a big mistake in the way that we approach classes. So much so, that I believe that in half of cases, it is better for a student’s educational attainment not to make use of tutoring services at all. I will discuss my reasoning in this article. 

Education for the Development of Skill Sets 

The purpose of English tutoring is to fill a student’s mind with information and help them to develop a particular mental skill. I believe that the skills development trumps the importance of the information itself. 

When a teacher asks a student to annotate a text with literary elements in mind, they are trying to teach students how to read and evaluate literature. They are teaching students to pay attention to small portions of text and derive information from them. They are trying to teach the concepts of metaphors, characterization, and the importance of plot. The text itself may be an interesting text, but it is secondary; the primary goal is to learn how to analyze: a skill set. 

I move forward in this article now with the assumption that skills training and the learning of certain core concepts is the purpose of English education, rather than the comprehension of specific texts themselves. 

How Are Skills Learned?

Learning a skill does not happen by reading about it, it happens by applying that skill. So, one doesn’t learn how to write an essay, how to annotate, how to proofread, or how to comprehend literature by simply reading about these skills. They have to get their hands (and their minds) into the materials themselves. They have to work and apply knowledge and craft pieces of writing. In this way, they learn skills. 

How Tutors Interrupt the Learning Process

Often, it is the case that a student comes to tutoring with an essay that they require help with and a timeline that they have to meet for completion. The tutor will do some or all of the following:

• Read the text with the student and explain vocabulary and ideas to them 

• Discuss the text’s interpretation in light of their assignment requirements 

• Write sample introductions, thesis statements, argument statements, and body paragraphs 

• Provide additional, external links that the student may use

• Proofread the student’s final work

• Help them with their reference list 

At the end of the process, the essay is a much better work than the student may have done alone, and the student learns something. The parents are happy, the student is happy, and the tutor gets paid. So, what’s wrong with all of that?

Well, the student didn’t struggle. In fact, they got all of the answers provided to them by the tutor. Every time there was misunderstanding, the tutor filled the gap. Every time the student missed the mark, the tutor corrected them. So, what did the student learn? Nothing. Because the tutor (and I’ve done this a lot myself) has provided valuable information, but they’ve failed to help the student develop their skill-set. The truth is, the less tutoring of this kind that someone receives, the more learning (the ultimate goal) the student achieves. 

A Tutoring Approach That Works 

I believe that the correct approach for tutoring is to do two things: 1) assign homework and 2) identify and explain mistakes & provide clues as to where to find correct answers. As a student, mistakes are often made that they’re unaware of. So, I believe that a tutor is most helpful to the student when they identify and explain their mistakes to them. In the explanation, it is important that tutors not provide students the one thing they want, an answer. Identify errors, provide clues, but don’t give answers. This will frustrate students; it will frustrate parents, and it will mean that students don’t get the grades that they want. But if you want to be useful as a tutor and enable rather than undermine the learning process, you should apply such an approach.  

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