Tutoring is a quintessential experience in the IBDP. Almost every student in the programme will have some kind of tuition over the course of the two years. Tutoring in the IBDP is generally seen as a valuable supplement to the rigorous academic programme that is the IBDP. It is an adjunct that helps students substantiate their school learning, so that concepts can be reinforced. Unfortunately, tuition might even be some students’ first encounter with certain concepts that are not properly taught in school.
So, the question on nearly every parent’s mind is always something along the lines of “Where should I send my child for tuition?” or “What subjects does my child need tuition in?”. Often, such thoughts are borne out of fear, anxiety, and a little bit of peer pressure as other students have also been enrolled and are getting ahead in their studies. These anxieties are often so great that parents tend to miss out on the initial most important question – “Does my child need tuition in the first place?”. Is tuition really a necessary tool, or just another source of stress that students would be better off not having?
Why Should I Go for Tuition?
Tuition is no doubt a valuable learning tool. With good tutors, you get personalized guidance and any gaps in your understanding can easily be addressed. Students that have certain lapses in topics may find tuition invaluable, as it’s their only source of clarification. Moreover, there will always be students who want to explore subjects beyond the required scope of syllabus. These students may be aiming for high-ranking university placements, or are simply passionate about the subject. For them, tuition would definitely help.
In my experience, tuition helped me to excel in my Chemistry class because there were often times in the school classroom where I had doubts, be it because of the way the subject was taught or my inability to grasp the concept at first. Even though I had these lapses, my school teacher simply did not have the time to address my concerns and I found myself unsure. In Chemistry, for example, Born-Haber cycles in Energetics were always a pain and I could never get my teacher to sit down with me and talk it through. In other topics like medicinal Chemistry, which I grasped relatively quickly, I wanted to learn more but never knew where to start. Tuition allowed me avenues to explore this field and was therefore invaluable.
Additionally, while it may not be the best idea to just follow our friends to wherever they have tuition for the sake of it, doing so with the intent of cultivating a healthy and supportive learning environment definitely helps learning and even takes the stress out of attending tuition, as students are confident that this is a safe space for them to get things wrong, and truly learn. I attended my HL Chemistry tuition with a good circle of friends, and it was one of the best decisions I made for my Chemistry grade. It made an environment where learning was fun! It encouraged me to ask questions that furthered my appreciation for Chemistry, thereby making me actually want to understand the subject as opposed to just getting it memorised for the sake of an exam.
Peer Pressure in Tuition
Peer pressure can drive students toward tutoring even when it is not essential. In highly competitive environments, it’s easy to feel that everyone is getting extra help, creating a sense of inadequacy or fear of being left behind. This is a mindset that we all have, and we need to be conscious of it when making a decision like going for tuition.
This mindset can lead to unnecessary tutoring that adds little value and, in some cases, contributes to stress and over-scheduling. Going for tuition just because everybody else is doing it overlooks our own needs and can often have the opposite effect on grades. There have been IBDP students in the past attending tuition for SL Language and Literature, when it is a subject that tutoring generally does not help much with. The two hours spent weekly in that tuition centre (not accounting for travel time), just because others were doing it, could have been spent studying other, potentially weaker subjects, or at the very least destressing from the other commitments students are bound to have.
Over-tutoring is common in Singapore, and a large contributor to that problem is peer pressure – Something that parents and students face alike. Not only does this take away from the time students have for other activities, it is also inherently unnecessary if the student is bound to already perform well in a subject. Even if we think about softer aspects of the IBDP like developing life skills, tutoring forces the student to sit down and study, instead of teaching the student time management skills and the invaluable ability to break down and absorb content. Over-tutoring leads to things like unnecessary levels of stress, and potentially burnout. Neither of these is good for an IBDP student to have.
Moreover, not every student needs tutoring to succeed in the IBDP. We often underestimate the capacity of our own students and fail to recognise that many are capable of thriving through their own ways of developing disciplined study habits, effective time management, and active engagement with their teachers. If a student has a good school teacher that dedicates time and effort to developing understanding in the subject, tuition is not the most pressing need, especially when the student is dedicated and puts their own effort in.
Ultimately, the decision to seek tutoring should be guided by personal academic needs rather than external pressures. Students should assess their specific challenges – What is it that you really struggle with? Is it understanding the concept, managing workload, approaching exams, or something else entirely? Moreover, are you just inclined to go because your peers are going? It is important to remind ourselves that just because we are not taking part in an activity, it does not mean that we are getting left behind. Learning to manage your time and breaking down concepts on your own are invaluable skills in their own right, and doing these things independently may even put you ahead of your peers that believe tuition will solve all their problems.
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