Private tuition: Why Singapore education can't do without it

[Lance G.0723 King]

The key thing about the best students is that they use the best strategies - they have learned how to learn - something that many students never get right.

Here are some of my tips (from my 17 years teaching in this area):

TOP STRATEGIES OF THE BEST HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

1)\tget time tabled – calendars, diaries, year planner
-\twhole year with exam dates
-\tsemesters/terms with test dates
-\tweekly classes
-\tteacher availability outside class time
-\tall assignment due dates
For you to be organised requires your school and your teachers to be organised and to be able to provide you with all this information at the beginning of the year. Keep asking until you get it

2)\tget to classes - all classes - no excuses, you must keep up.

3)\ttake good notes in class:
a)\tdivide each page up vertically into two columns 1/3, 2/3, write all class notes only in the 2/3 column, leave the 1/3 column blank
b)\tlisten for ideas and write each new idea in a different colour

4)\tevery night - review (read over) all the notes taken that day and pull out the key points and write them in the 1/3 column, draw diagrams, pictures, flow charts to summarise the main ideas

5)\tif you do miss any classes, make sure you photocopy someone else’s notes for that class as soon as possible and review them to make sure you understand

6)\tif you have any questions, any things you don’t understand, think carefully about what exactly it is you don’t understand, formulate good questions, track down your teachers outside of class time and ask them

7)\tif you still don’t understand something, go to the net, there are a huge number of websites for every school subject and often they will present the same information to you as you are doing in class but in a way that suits you better. Check out my page on this site called “Study Tips for Students” that has a big list of useful websites for students

8)\talways notice your own self-motivation strategies – how do you get yourself to do things that you know are going to be hard or difficult? What is your strategy for courage? Practice using those same strategies to get you to keep concentrating and keep focused in the classes you find difficult or boring. Remember success means doing things that other people find hard.

9)\torganise your study area at home – desk, chair, light, instrumental music, water, fruit, take oxygenation breaks every 45 minutes when you are studying

10)\tlearn some memory techniques - for all the stuff that you just have to memorise, use the best memory techniques available – search them out in libraries, on the net

11)\tdoing assignments
a)\tas soon as you get an assignment mark the due date in your diary (on your phone) and later transfer that date to your wall calendar
b)\tin the lesson when you get told about the assignment, find out what is the word length, aim, objectives, deadline, marking criteria, and most importantly - can you submit a draft?

What are the stages of completing an assignment?
i)\tFinding the information – research \t\t\t(25% of the time?)
ii)\tProcessing the information – reading\t\t\t(25%?)
iii)\tPlanning the piece of work – sequencing ideas\t(5%?)
iv)\tDoing the writing\t\t\t\t\t\t(40%?)
v)\tProof reading, making corrections and handing it in\t(5%?)

c)\ttimeline every assignment - when will you need to have it 25% done by? 50% done? 75% done? Mark the dates on your calendar/year planner, aim always to finish all assignments with one day to spare

The solution to procrastination is organisation

d)\tdecide what mark are you aiming for A++  C, Achieve  Excellence
e)\tidentify topic, question to be answered and decide on your point of view - this is what teachers (and examiners) are looking for - a thoughtful point of view
f)\tresearch - get familiar with the library – where are the books, journals, reference section, videos, audio tapes for your subjects?
g)\tfind the best web sites for all your subjects

Remember - information is king - the first to find the best sources of information wins!

h)\treading – learn to skim read through textbooks, web pages just looking for key points, ideas that support your point of view
i)\tmake summaries of key points using mindmaps, THOrTmaps
j)\tplan out a sequence of points to make which lead to your conclusion and find one quote to back up each point
k)\tprepare a draft and (if possible) take it to your teacher for appraisal
l)\twrite the final copy
m)\tproof read, make corrections, hand in.

12)\tEach week make summaries of all the key points covered in each subject

13)\tOnce a month put all your weekly summaries together into a one month summary

14)\tWhen you have a test or exam then just work through all your summaries and do some old exam questions on the topics

15)\tIf you get de-motivated or stressed out by schoolwork, focus back on your purpose – what is school for? Why is it useful to do well at school? What can you get out of it? Make both short and long term goals to support your achievement

16)\tUse relaxation techniques to overcome exam nerves

[soda]

There are top school students going for tuition. But still, they’re the minority.


The new trend is: better learning skill, critical and analytical thinking skill, and organisation skill. Principal of top girls’ school told parents to let the girls learn on their own, tuition is not necessary, on the first formal briefing for year 1 in the school hall.

Such writing only spreads paranoia and drives more students to engage in tuitions. Which, translates to better business for them. No surprise that the article was written by someone in the tuition business.

[Lance G.0723 King]

You don't need tuition to learn how to learn well. There are a simple set of skills to learn and strategies to practice. Its not rocket science, anyone can learn how to learn more effectively.


I am in fact, against all tuition which focuses on subject matter - on teaching specific content. If a child is having difficulty managing schoolwork then just more school won't fix it. More Maths, more Chemistry, more English won't produce the results parents, and their children, want.

The only tuition I am in favour of is process tuition. Helping children to learn how to learn more effectively, more efficiently, faster, with greater understanding. This sort of tuition focuses on the strategies and methods a child is using when they are processing schoolwork and seeks to help them find ways to learn that work most effectively for them.

This kind of tuition is fast, effective and yields results immediately with most students.

[Han Seo]

Lance had given very good tips and advice (and no, I’m not related to him/her and I do not know him/her either) that I think all parents should take note.


I’m an educator myself (to be exact, I train preschool teachers) and second what he said. Learning how to learn; metacognition; intrinsic motivation - these are all key ingredients to doing well in school. And it all begins in early childhood.

[jedamum]

Lady Saber:

and I scored well at my O Levels only because my tuition teacher opened my eyes to how I should read and understand plots, sub-plots and characters.

i agree! sometimes tuition has that teaching methodology and materials that opens the eyes of those who know where to look.
my boy has been with a certain chinese enrichment centre that we had withdrew recently; while the teachings are typical of most upmarket tuition centres (i believe - 'non-process' tuition), it is how on and off that i discovered the usefulness of some materials that i am able to explain to my boy the purpose of why they structured the materials as such that lit a lightbulb in his head - else it is just another piece of worksheet/notes that just got filed into his folder. as such, while tedious and 'he usually get scolded as my expectations are higher if i am to invest my time with him 1-to-1', he said he prefers me to coach him (ah..he has learnt the art of tuning out to my naggings and scolding ) as i tend to explain the process of learning rather than the subject matter (which i am limited by my knowledge and the materials i have at hand). and i keep wondering why i still need to step in when i spend good money on tuition - because the process and purpose of learning a certain 'skill/topic' is not always communicated clearly to the students due to the limited time spent at each tuition session whereby the centre need to ensure certain topics are covered. this however, i now realises, can be overcomed if one manages to engage a good private tutor as 1-to-1 really makes a difference and especially so if the tutor is kind enough to share strategies with the parent (although now i am struggling with the lack of materials part ).