AIBU to think this tutor has an attitude?

[SoCloseToNothing1981]

First time posting on here (long-time lurker). I'm not sure what I'm looking for here tbh, maybe just a hand-hold or just (brutally) honest opinions, but I'm just feeling a bit weird about a Zoom call I had with my DS' history tutor yesterday. I might be overreacting but it's just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Me and DH decided to get DS a tutor for GCSE History. He's in Year 11 and he's had a bit of a shit time with the course. When he was choosing his options in year 9, his history teacher did recommend that he do geography instead because his essay-writing and memory surrounding dates was not good (he did roughly the same in terms of achievement in both history and geography). The thing is he is interested in it, but he just can't remember key dates very well. The thing is he wants to do history at A Level. I feel bad for him because he likes the subject, but he's just not very good at it and obviously that's problematic if he is considering this subject as a potential academic or career pathway.

So we meet this tutor and he says in our initial meeting with him that tutoring is to complement ongoing revision. I don't agree with this because I view tutoring as teaching my DS how to revise. The tutor says that he likes to do a baseline assessment with the students so he can determine their areas they need work on, which again I found a bit overkill because why are you already testing DS when you haven't taught him how to revise yet?? We scheduled a lesson for later that week, but DS was running a little bit late as he'd woken up late so we only had 30 minutes of a lesson with the tutor (it's all done on Zoom). DS thought he had been working on the Cold War that week in school and so the tutor set him some questions on the Cold War. DS, bless him, really struggled with the first question so didn't have time to look at the rest of the questions. The tutor ran through the questions with DS, and that was when DS realised he hadn't actually done the Cold War and he'd gotten the name confused with something else.

The tutoring has been going on for 2 months, and the tutor scheduled a Zoom call with me to basically tell me that we may want to reconsider choosing History as an A Level option. This really caught me off guard, and it came across as him telling me how to parent my child! He said that there are loads of issues regarding essay-writing and analysing sources and interpretations, and whilst he is totally happy to support DS with this he can't ignore the fact that if these skills aren't being mastered in Year 11 history then this is going to severely set DS back when he starts Year 12. I ask the tutor about what revision methods he has taught DS, and the tutor said that the subject knowledge is a key area of weakness, and DS apparently said to him that he doesn't make notes in the lessons because his teacher isn't good. I said to the tutor that I think DS just needs to be taught how to create his own quizzes, and how to create flashcards and mindmaps. The tutor said that with mocks coming up those "knowledge gaps" need to be filled in. But I'd prefer him to prioritise teaching DS how to revise history, and if I'm asking for a particular service surely I should receive it?

So, AIBU to think this tutor has a bit of an attitude and is overstepping the mark a bit? I don’t need him to tell us which subjects DS should or shouldn’t do at sixth form, I just want him to teach DS how to revise properly!

I have tutored in the past and the likes of OP and her ds are exactly the reason why it wasn't worth it. Children (boys in particular) who aren't prepared to do work and parents who think one hour tutoring a week will get them an A*. When you try to be realistic about the child the parent takes it very personally and assumes you have some sort of personal vendetta.

He shouldn't go near chatgpt. He needs to learn how to engage and think for himself, chatgpt will reinforce the opposite

The "key issue" is actually that you cannot "revise" something you have never known. Revision techniques are no use to your son if he never knew the history facts in the first place.

You don’t seem to be understanding that, despite the number of people who have told you. The value of mind maps is that they help remind a student of all the different aspects of a topic. But suppose your son used a mind map and it reminded him he needed to mention a particular aspect of a topic - if he doesn’t know the facts he needs to mention, that’s not going to do him any good, is it?

When you are on your third tutor and 99% of the respondents here are telling you YABU, I really think you need to start questioning whether your approach is mistaken and your confidence that you are right is misplaced.

Hello
It sounds like your son isn’t sure how to revise/make mind maps / flashcards etc.

At this point before mocks I would buy him the appropriate set of History flashcards (don’t bother with making them) and give him a quick quiz in the topic he is studying at the moment eg Cold War. Every one he gets correct put on one side of you in an pile, every one he gets wrong put on the other side of you in a pile. Then his job is to start memorising the facts on the cards he got incorrect. This way he will get the facts into his head. Keep testing him (or get him to test himself and move cards to the correct pile as he memorises more) Don’t forget to keep going over ALL the cards weekly to “keep the facts in his memory” Hope that helps a bit.

Do this with all of the areas he is studying for the mocks eg medicine, WW1 etc

Keep the tutor as they do sound really good but perhaps don’t have great social skills if they are talking to you in a rude way? Try to look past this and think that your son is getting extra help.

For A level it’s best to choose the subjects you find easy at gcse as the step up is huge.
Goodluck!

I don't know what you're expecting, but the fact is that not every subject is suitable for every student. Your DS mixed the Cold War up with what?? Sorry but that's a pretty big mix up. And no, a tutor isn't just there to help him to learn how to revise.

Did I also read it right that he missed half of his session because he didn't get out of bed? If he was mine there's no way I'd be paying for a tutor if he couldn't even be arsed attending the sessions. It's not even like he has to go anywhere!

I haven't read the replies and I don't want to sound harsh (I have two boys myself of differing abilities) but his History teacher advised him to pick Geography and now his tutor is advising him to rethink it as an A-Level. He's not judging your parenting, he's trying to manage yours and your son's expectations based on his professional experience as a History teacher. The thing is, it may not even be your son's choice. If he does not get the grades then he will not be able to do History at A-Level. My DH's nephew wanted to do History but he got a 4 in his GCSE so he couldn't. It was all pretty embarrassing as my MIL had been banging on about him taking after her as she has a "Master's in History" (she has a BA in History and a PGCE, and thinks we all have short memories), and she had been tutoring him.

I didn't take History at A-Level but the subjects I did take really cranked up at A-Level. I could be wrong, but it sounds like the tutor is trying to teach him about History but you want him to teach him to remember the key facts by rote to pass his exams. Which is not a good foundation for A-Levels. How will your son feel then?

You can't revise something you have no knowledge of, that's not what revision is. Revision is compounding, reinforcing, developing the knowledge you have from class and or prior study. Your example from your friend worked because the pupils knew the book but struggled with connections and analysis. Your son doesn't know the basics. The tutor is telling you this - that he has huge knowledge gaps, you can't revise what you don't already know, that's just learning not revision!

You don't understand and your son doesn't seem to care, late for the first session after a lie in, not bothering to take notes in class, you then pushing back an hour because you underestimated when you were able to get back to the hotel, charisma questioning his skills and expertise from a position where you don't seem to really understand the learning process. I'm very surprised the tutor hasn't fired you already.

I was a straight A student and did A level history, it's not for the faint hearted. I would say with a 6 in English he should focus away from essay based subjects.

You are the one who has an attitude @SoCloseToNothing1981. You have said your son was late again in half term. Tutors have timetables, they are not just hanging around for your child. I expect it won’t be a problem much longer if this tutor has any sense.

Op I’m so sorry to hear your dc is struggling with history GCSE. Stepping back from the tutoring issue, what is he good at and what does he enjoy? It sounds like getting him to do history A level would likely be setting him up to fail.

Is there any non-essay based subject he’s better at? Or is he good at essay based subjects which don’t involve this type of factual recall?

The 'doesn't know how to revise' thing is a red herring.

I teach my kids, in school and own dc, how to revise. They know all the strategies. I even give them detailed revision plans and tasks.

Some will still come to me and say 'I don't know how to revise. Can you tell me how to do x?' Because revising effectively requires effort and really, they just want to flick through some notes and ace the exam.

Admittedly ds2 did science subjects but he found Seneca was a brilliant way to do short bursts of learning facts and improving recall. Cheaper than a tutor anyway.

I used to tutor many years ago and I would teach students how to revise but only at the point where they had the subject knowledge to revise. If you don't have that what are you revising?

As a teacher of an essay based subject at both GCSE and A Level, the key point you seem
to be missing OP is that if your son does not have the basic knowledge of his course, there is no point in him learning revision skills as what exactly will he be revising? He doesn’t have the knowledge to revise. The tutor is bang on in saying that your son needs to improve his understanding of the course content (and at a minimum, should be making notes in class!) and once he has a better understanding of the content of each topic, he can then look at revision techniques to help him revisit these. Without the baseline knowledge (and this will be why the tutor asked for a baseline test at the start - baseline being the starting point), there is nothing to revise. I can’t really get past the idea that he is not writing notes in class. How does he imagine he’s going to retain the huge amount of History content without any notes and what are you imagining he is going to revise from if he has nothing written in his book?

I’m starting to think this poster is a troll.

The tutor sounds totally reasonable to me. Also, I don’t think study techniques is the role of a subject specific tutor. I think if that’s what you wanted then you hired the wrong type of tutor. But also what would be the point in teaching your son how to make a mind map if he hasn’t learned the underlying subject (whether because the teaching is rubbish or because he hasn’t paid attention and hasn’t taken notes)?

Baseline. Starting point. Not after the fact.

The problem here is NOT the tutor. Not even remotely!
clearly you have your own opinions, the way/method you want your son taught, so why even bother with the tutor?

OP, get hold of the markscheme for the exam board, they are easily available online. You will see that marks are weighted in favour of analysis, over knowledge. This means your son needs to have good subject knowledge first, in order to apply analytical skills, like evaluating sources and making judgements on historians’ interpretations. This will also include identifying causation, change, turning points, significance.

Content is taught in class. Your son will need to have a knowledge of the chronology of each topic and to understand each topic in detail. This knowledge supports his analysis in his essays. The GCSE spec has a lot of content to learn. Analytical skills and how to answer questions are also covered in class as a matter of routine. Homework etc. Will support that learning of both content and skills.

If your son doesn’t have even the basic knowledge, then he cannot revise it. You say you want revision, but what your son needs to do is learn it first. Teaching and learning are a 2 way street. The teacher facilitates the learning, but it is your son’s responsibility to commit to that learning. Then you can move onto revision. Flash cards etc.

You don’t have long to construct an essay in the exam, so right now, with mocks coming up, your son should have knowledge already embedded to call upon in the exam, so that can apply his (mastered) analytical skills. This is dependent on learner commitment.

All of this is hard work and the students that receive the best marks are the ones who commit to the course from the beginning and responds to the feedback his teacher gives on his responses to practice questions.

At this stage, your tutor will be thinking about how your son applies his skills using his existing knowledge. He can then help your son to master those skills. Without the knowledge, your son is, essentially, starting from scratch. So revising something that isn’t already there, isn’t going to work. If your son isn’t activating his cognitive skills in class, by making notes and responding to feedback, then he isn’t learning. Therefore, he cannot revise.

Students are taught revision techniques in all subjects. The techniques are the same. Every subject does mind maps.

Most schools will still be covering content and asking students to apply what they have learned to practice questions, feedback is offered and students should respond to the feedback in order to improve.

At A level, these skills are used on content that is more complex with a requirement to write essays in a greater level of analytical detail, not just in exams, but also coursework where students are asked to evaluate a number of historians’ interpretations of an enquiry.

Your tutor knows the spec back to front and knows what is required to achieve each grade level. Listen to him, you’re paying for that expertise. Bluntly, and with no wish to cause offence, you’re not the expert here.

If you feel it's that easy to teach your son how to revise, why aren't you doing so yourself and having the tutor fill in the knowledge gaps which are the crux of the issue? Frankly if your child is needing tutored to hit a grade 5, they shouldn't be considering A-level in that subject.

Find a tutor who will do what you want?
Or trust the one you have to do the job?
Oh and be respectful of the tutor's time - turning in late or last minute attempts at rescheduling impact on other clients and income.

Honestly it seems that you are missing the point. Your son has huge gaps.in his knowledge, to the point where he didnt even know what period of history he had been studying. And you're more worried about revision techniques!
To revise he has to know the facts. You could do the mind map at home with him yourself. You said you have the template.
Also contacting a tutor at the weekend and expecting f a reply and being frustrated because they haven't is so entitled.
The teacher at his school advised him not to take history so why are you surprised and frustrated with the tutor for saying he will find it at a struggle at A level? This is not new information to you.

He will probably reply with a message telling you to find another tutor. I dbubt if he needs your suggestions as to how to do his job.

I've never known a tutor to teach someone 'how to revise' in year 11. Has he never taken an exam before? It sounds perfectly reasonable.
You say his memory for dates is crap amd always had been so I don't see how the tutor can force him to take in information and remember it.

This. You are wasting his time.

I have sent the tutor a sample mind-map template my friend uses with her class as I thought it might help him see what I mean. He hasn't replied yet, which again is frustrating.

I think you're going to be looking for tutor number 4 very soon...