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 mean this kindly, but I do not think that 6s or 5s in the subjects your son wants to do at A Level are good enough for him to do well at A Level and get into a university to study one of these subjects or a related subject. If the subject he likes best is one where he is struggling to attain a 5 then possibly he should look at different pathways.

The tutor is absolutely correct that there is no point in teaching revision methods to a student who has not absorbed the material when first taught it.

The baseline assessment at the start is absolutely standard and very important for the tutor to understand where your son is now.

I think you need to have a conversation with your son about how he tackles school in future. He needs, at a minimum, to be engaging with lessons and taking notes in order to revise from these in future.

But since your son is getting grades that would indicate that he's not a good candidate for A Level or further study, you probably need to start thinking about what might actually suit him in future rather than blaming the tutor for your son's lack of engagement.

And please start listening to the tutor or any future tutor and actually do what they suggest.

The tutor sounds great. Take your DH's advice- listen to and support the expert that you're paying to help here.

And if you want them to stick around, don't send them "advice" like mindmaps by email. They see probably trying to fill in knowledge gaps to the point where your son has something to revise.

Wow, you really don't get it. And do you actually believe your son was up revising, if he hasn't actually taken any notes to revise from? Is he even reading the text books, if his teacher is 'failing' so much?

Okay, now you have to be trolling. You are on your 3rd tutor, and you think the TUTORS and his actual TEACHER are the problem, and not your son?!

I did wonder this too…

There seems little point paying a tutor and then not letting them do their job. And it's all very well talking about revision skills but if DS hasn't got even rudimentary knowledge (e.g. gets confused about what the Cold War was) then he's not at the stage to start revising. He needs to study and understand the facts before starting to learn them.
If he's not good at essays then I'd suggest avoiding an essay- based subject for A level. The students who do well are the ones who can provide cogent and insightful analysis of events, and that requires great writing skills.

He sounds like a really good tutor to be honest. He is thinking about what's best for your DS and sharing that. Baseline assessment is good practice. Filling knowledge gaps is more important than revision, what use is revision without having the knowledge needed to revise? You already know revision techniques, you can share these with your DC yourself.
If your DC wants to go to university he needs to do well in his A Levels. If the reality is that he may fail a history A Level then he needs to understand that and be discouraged from choosing it.

Tutors aren't really there to help children revise. Their job is to teach - or at least go over - content that is taught at school. As for the advice he gave you, I think that's perfectly fair really. Given that he could string you along to earn more money, it sounds like he's trying to politely give you a heads up.

If he doesn't have the basic subject knowledge, learning how to revise is not going to help him very much. I'm a History teacher and the tutor's advice sounds spot on to me.

If any of his modules are covered on there, get him to look at a site called Monkeymonkeyrevision.co.uk which has 'gamified' History revison somewhat. It is very good for helping with basic factual recall.

It's a good few decades since I took A Level history and schools were very different then, but I do remember history was notable for the amount of content you had to recall. My main focus when revising for all my A Levels was to get a good sense of all the details. Mind maps etc help recall, they don't tell you what you don't know or understand. GCSE won't be as complex or as wide ranging, of course, so if he struggles to manage at this level, then I can't see A Level being likely. I loved, and continue to love history - your son doesn't seem to be all that interested in it. Plus essay writing is key..... I also loved writing...... One of my daughters enjoyed history but writing was not her forte and so she didn't select history as a GCSE option.

Look at it this way. He's received input from his class teacher, Tutor 1, Tutor 2 and now Tutor 3, and it has not made a jot of difference to his progress in this subject.

Maybe history is not his strong point, and is never likely to be, no matter how many tutors you throw at it.

Revision is for stuff you have already learned. But it sounds as though the problem is that your DS has not learned these things, so the tutor is having to teach him from scratch. And you absolutely need to listen to his advice about A-level. Fortunately, history is one of those things it’s easy to keep being interested in without studying it.

If the kid is as terrible at writing essays as the OP has claimed, since essay writing is the backbone of a degree in History, how is he going to pass Philosophy or Ethics?! I mean, 1/2 of Philosophy is studying history of thinkers, and the time periods they lived in that formed these concepts!

I think you are going about this in the wrong way OP. Surely your emphasis should be on getting the coursework learnt at school and the tutor supplementing that learning? What does his teacher say? Is it worth having a tutor? You mentioned in your first post he was advised by the school not to do history and yet he still chose it.
I would speak to the teacher to understand whether your DS is understanding the coursework first before querying the tutor on his revision technique. There's no point in 'revising' if the knowledge isn't there in the first place.

here, very. likely

Sadly people like the OP actually exists in real life. But teachers can't sack them and have to put up with them, and it's much worst in private school because "they want what they pay for"

Poor kids..and poor teachers.

I bite

how is "South Africa" relevant in this tale?

So if I’m clear, 3 tutors and the teacher are wrong in their approaches, but you, with no History or teaching experience are right?

You can't revise what you don't know. So the tutor is right to make sure the subject knowledge is learnt in the first place to be able to revise it. In the gentlest way possible that is what revision means. I'm sorry to say I agree with the tutor.

Not being funny, OP, and I haven't RTFT yet, but seriously, do not let him do it for A Level.

I got an A in my history GCSE. (I now also have a BA and an MA in a similar essay based humanities subject, so very good at essays, etc.). I loved history at GCSE. It was a topic and period of time I was interested in. Hence, the A grade. However, I stupidly assumed that meant I was passionate about all of history. I took it for A Level and got an E!

Did you hear that? I went from an A at GCSE to an E at A Level. It was ten times harder, and a time period I found incredibly boring.

So if he's struggling now, do not let him do it for A Level.

The tutor is right.

The kid might get 100% right because he pays attention or the tutor in that subject is spot on. Who knows? OP might know but most likely not choose to answer.

Revision is what happens after you have the basic knowledge.

If there is no basic knowledge, then really the "revision" is actually learning from scratch.

I feel that if there are basic gaps in knowledge, all the mind maps and revision tools in the world in the world are not really going to help here.

History has a lot of content, I'd definitely take the tutor's advice here in getting the key information into your ds's head first, even if you switch tutor.

I did A Level History. For context, I got one A and C or above in all other subjects. Guess what I got in history… an E. I’m reasonably academic and studious but history A level is hard. Facts alone won’t get your son through. You need to be good at making arguments and have sociopolitical knowledge of the time period. It’s not just who did what when. I was more focused on my other subjects and History is one that needs full attention and effort with lots of reading. Your son would have to completely change his attitude to hard work, listen to his teachers and tutors, and go all in. Or pick a different A level.

Mind maps are great for a subject like English but not as useful for history. If you do want to do them, your friend has already explained it and they are fairly easy for you to implement yourself with your son. It probably would be best to just let the tutor get on with it.

I’m a tutor and I think you’re being so unreasonable that the tutor would be better not tutoring for you! You seem to want to second guess everything and have firm ideas about how you want him to be taught, but you aren’t grasping what the tutor is saying. Gaps in knowledge must be filled in first. It’s right for the tutor to prioritise this. Revising from scrappy, incomplete notes is a waste of time but you’re insistent on it. The tutor is being honest is telling you that your son isn’t a good fit for an a-level in the subject and you’re ignoring that too. Why pay for tuition and seek advice if you know best?

OP, you can't focus on revision if you haven't done the 'vising' in the first place.

Your son needs to do a LOT of reading, both the materials set for his subject, and around them. This will help him evaluate sources, develop arguments and write essays. He can't rely on the teacher (who he thinks isn't very good) or tutors (who you think keep letting him down).

He has to do the work.

(A mind-map!!! I mean, yes, it's a tool... but the idea you only need the right mind-map to do well at a deeply-academic subject...)

Lots of history to study with SA. Good choice of spending half term hands on.