Tutor Qualifications / what to look for?

[FiddleOnTheRoof]

Used an agency to find a tutor for DC Easter to get through summer exams. When she visited for first lesson, during conversation it came up that she had a PGCE in education and degree in computer science. Didn’t want to be rude and ask what seemed obvious to me but can anyone help me understand how this relates to being able to teach maths and biology to secondary aged child. Need to decide whether to continue or switch ...

Any advise on what is acceptable? Should I even be concerned? Does it really even matter?

I a man an experienced teacher, did my degree in linguistics but I'm very good at explaining Maths too. And could quite confidently teach some other subjects: I have the subject knowledge but would need to get up to date with exam specifications. Hopefully, your tutor is a similarly geeky kind.

Maybe just raise it with her, though? See if you find the answers satisfactory.

Or if you're worried, you could always find specialist teachers of Maths and Biology with up-to-date experience.

If they’re experienced in tutoring those subjects with good references and results, I’m not sure that the exact qualifications matter. Plenty of teachers don’t have degrees in the exact subjects that they teach.

All PGCEs are in “education”, that’s what the “E” is. Was her specialist subject computer science? Lots of schools have their science teachers teaching maths as well.

Thanks jojo and purple I will try to broach the topic with her. Just hope she is not offended. A subject specific teacher might be better long term but what I think is most important when you are paying £50 an hr is that she is aware of what is required for the exam and ensures these areas are taught/covered... or we could end up wasting a lot of money and not getting the desired result.

The E for education is interesting. Do all teachers complete their PGCE subject specific? Or is this qualification general?

For secondary teachers it is subject specific. For example, you’d spend your time learning to teach French and Spanish or Maths or PE. However, a lot of the skills are transferable from one subject to another. There will, however, be some subject specific tricks and ideas that teachers of those subjects will be familiar with and other teachers less so. Experienced subject teachers will also know the GCSE exam spec inside out and will be able to mark exam questions with their eyes closed (if they have up-to-date experience).
I have taught other subjects and it can be done very successfully provided someone prepares thoroughly and is generally switched on.

Dear FiddleOnTheRoof

That seems ridiculous! Surely you would want a tutor to be qualified in the subject they are teaching your child??? I know I would!!! LOL

I have been using Bright Young Things tuition for all my three boys throughout their time in school and all of the tutors that have taught my boys have had degrees in the subject they teach! It seems ridiculous that an agency would put forward a tutor that hasn't even studied maths and biology!!!!

I would complain if I were yuo!

When I was at school my very best maths teacher didn't have a maths qualification. She knew the curriculum inside out and was a brilliant teacher because she understood that maths (for many people) isn't easy.

The worst was very maths oriented and really couldn't get his head round students not understanding. To him, the level he was trying to teach us was so easy and obvious it was boring and he was only interested in the other 'maths' oriented students.

He believed and demonstrated the belief that those of us who struggled must be thick as it was 'SSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOO easy'.

Do they know the curriculum?
Do they connect with your child?
Are the two most important questions in my opinion.

As I feared, conversation with tutor did not go well. She appear offended by my questioning. Maybe I approached it wrongly or maybe it’s just something that would have been easier to address from the outset. Either way, I have decided to continue my search for a subject specific qualified teacher.
If anyone can suggest an agency or tutor in the south London/Surrey area this would be great!

Offended?!?!?

In terms of finding a tutor, there are several tutor-specific websites, e.g. TutorHunt. The tutors list their qualifications and discuss experience so you know who you're contacting. Childcare.co.uk also has tutors advertising on it.

OP

There is a lot of maths in a computer science degree, in fact you can only get a degree in computing or IT if you don't take any maths modules.

My PGCE is in Computer Science, but I have spent more time teaching health and social care than anything else. This is due to a previous career as a clinical physiologist.

I have taught GCSE maths and I'm currently taking an OU maths degree.

Hi I think it depends what you want exactly. For example, I don't have a maths degree, but I did study maths up to A level and I do have a degree in business economics where I took elective modules in statistics. I do maths tutoring up to year 9 (key stage 3 Sat's) as I feel I have studied enough maths that I am confident in teaching.

Also, I've always been one of those people that would always help my nieces and nephews out with their homework so I'm super comfortable teaching kids.

There are some people who have amazing maths qualifications but have no idea how to talk to children. So really does depend on what you're looking for.

I definitely agree with a lot of people on here you and your DC has to be confident in who you choose.

@FiddleOnTheRoof Your question is interesting, so for other's looking at this thread later I will put forward my view... You definitely need a tutor who has good technical subject knowledge and understanding, however having a degree in maths or biology is not necessary for the kind of understanding required at GCSE level. A degree in the subject doesn't mean a person is any good at explaining the subject at the right level for the student. Of course if they don't hold a relevant degree how do you feel confident of a person's subject knowledge? The tutor should be comfortable to tell you their background in it and where their knowledge comes from. At A-Level I think a deeper knowlede of the subjects becomes more important and you'd likely want someone with a physical sciences related degree for the maths and a biological sciences background for the biology. It rather depends on the student - someone with an engineering, physics or physcical chemistry background may suit a student who's not in maths for the love of pure maths better than a pure maths person who's not so familiar with real world applications of maths, whereas a student who can be enthused by the beauty of mathematics and it's value for developing logic and reasoning skills, may benefit more from someone with a maths degree although many engineers and scientists also greatly value this aspect of maths and will want to transmit it if they can. It is also helpful if the tutor is familiar with the specific exam syllabus as while understanding the subject well is essential, so is knowing how marks are awarded in the exam.

I have a PGCE specificially in secondary maths from Edinburgh University, so am a GTC registered maths teacher in Scotland. To get that qualification at the time I did not need a degree in maths, I'm not entirely sure what the current Scottish regulations are. In England there was traditionally less requirement for subject specific degrees... During training I thought that myself and another student, who also did not have a maths degree but an Engineering degree, appeared to have a better understanding of maths than those with maths degrees... possibly suggesting that the strongest maths graduates are not often going into teaching. I have part 1 of an Mech Eng tripos from Imperial College and a 1st class degree and PhD in Chemistry from Edinburgh and needed a lot of maths for my PhD. So I tutor mostly maths and chemistry.

Look for someone who is currently a teacher ideally teaching the same spec. I’d weight their teaching experience over qualification, eg I’d take a teacher with a bsc over a non teacher with a phd

I’ve been tutoring chemistry and biology for 15 years. I’d absolutely recommend someone who’s a qualified and experienced school teacher and preferably a senior examiner. It’s essential to get on people’s waiting lists early. I normally book up 3 years in advance. Wishing you lots of luck