Adam Caller – founder of leading global tutoring company Tutors International – expands on his recent BBC Radio 4 ‘In Business’ interview, in which he detailed why private tutors are motivated by a personal need to do more than a school allows them to do
OXFORD, UK: Tutors International founder Adam Caller has today issued a statement explaining why the private tuition industry offers a liberating career opportunity for qualified and experienced teachers. Caller’s comments follow his recent interview on BBC Radio 4’s ‘In Business’ programme, first aired on 6th December 2018. In the broadcast, presenter Caroline Bayley delved into the booming private tutoring industry which is now estimated to be worth £2 billion in the UK, and asked if tutoring is starting to change the way we educate our children.
Adam Caller is an educational consultant with over thirty years of experience in the industry. Speaking to BBC Radio 4 about why qualified teachers turn to high end private tutoring, Mr Caller said, “Most people who work for us are motivated by a personal need to do more than a school allows them to do. Schools constrict teachers to a few subjects, they must contend with the politics of working alongside their colleagues, and there is an enormous amount of paperwork; when you are a private tutor you are freed from all those things.”
Mr Caller illustrated the liberating nature of private tutoring by adding, “Tutors International currently employs a tutor who has been working for us for a number of years, and she is currently homeschooling one child in 15 iGCSE subjects by herself. She can interrelate the subjects as she sees fit, she can choose the equipment she needs, she’s got more or less unlimited budget, she can have whatever equipment she wants in the classroom, and if she were to suggest to the family that it might be better to learn about the Egyptians in Egypt, they would go to Egypt rather than looking at a book or YouTube. That is of course a pretty fantastic and liberating opportunity for a teacher.”
Paul [surname withheld for confidentiality purposes], a private tutor employed by Tutors International, explained in the programme, “After eight years of being a teacher in formal education I wanted a change. If you look at private tutoring from the outside you look at the glamour, but when you go into the pupil’s classroom it is very similar to teaching in a school environment: the work has to be done, you have to get the best out of the student, you have to relay information, and you have to inspire. So the skills you learn as a teacher are very transferable.”
Regarding future prospects for private tutors, Mr Caller noted in the interview, “The remuneration is of course excellent and the tutor rarely incurs any expenses, so one of our tutors could easily save £200,000 to £300,000 over a few years. Many do ultimately return to classroom teaching at a later date.”
The other interviewees in the BBC Radio 4 programme also highlighted the difficulty of teaching effectively in schools, and the importance of acquiring an experienced tutor.
Diane Reay, Professor of Education at Cambridge University, noted, “Schools are no longer adequately resourced or equipped to do the job properly and parents increasingly wish to compensate.” Mr Caller posits that this is true of parents at both ends of the financial spectrum, including the ultra-high net worth individuals approaching Tutors International for private tuition.
Private tutor Mark Maclaine also highlighted that many pupils have been left behind in the school system, but people can now do something about it. He noted, “If you want quick results or want to deal with a specific issue, hiring a slightly more expensive and experienced tutor can be much more efficient.”
Dr Lee Eliot Major, Chief Executive at the Sutton Trust, also acknowledged in the interview that “there is a hierarchy of tutoring; we know it’s very effective if you get a good tutor but there’s a lack of awareness of the variation in effectiveness of tutoring”.
To find out more about Tutors International and the services it provides, including elite full-time private tutoring, visit www.tutors-international.com. For career opportunities with Tutors International, visit www.tutors-international.net.
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Adam Caller, founder of Tutors International[/caption]
