conclusion

From a student’s perspective, participation in extra-lessons can be from different standpoints as they may really need the remedial help, examination drills, or they may simply view the class as a chance to socialise. In France, Oller and Glasman (2013, p.7) have pointed out that tutoring support programmes:

act as ‘intermediary spaces’ in which children and adolescents have the chance to admit gaps in their knowledge without being punished at school or harassed by impatient parents. Students can thus do and redo tasks they did not perform well and, ultimately, take charge of their own learning. (Oller and Glasman 2013, p.7).

In this kind of setting students may feel more comfortable to make mistakes and even learn from them which may redound to improved learning and improved academic performance. The reality that students’ in-school performances go on their official transcripts that may then be forwarded to Universities, do place extra pressure on students to want to perform successfully at all times within the school setting. This type of pressure is not applicable in the extra-lessons setting, and actually provides an example of how the ‘shadow’ is different from mainstream schooling. It may reasonably follow that not having the threat of poor performance on record may effectively allow students a more relaxing environment that may positively influence their ability to learn. These benefits may reasonably be categorised as the facilitation of effective learning and academic success. Thus, students’ choices may vary based on their own perceptions of being weak or average and wanting to improve, being very good and wanting to become excellent or simply going for social interaction.

The social benefits of attending extra-lessons bring into focus the social and cultural aspect. Bray (2011, p.37) highlights motives other than academic achievement in noting that ‘such reasons could include a desire to meet friends and fit into peer groups.’ Wenger (2009, p.240) acknowledges the importance of learners being social beings and the concept of ‘learning as social participation.’ Hence the extra-lessons environment may fulfil this role of learning through social participation all to the benefit of participants. This type of social interaction can be reasonably linked to the age group of the students, as at Excellence High the prospective student participants are all teenagers, and the form six students are eighteen years and over. Ziehe (2009, p.215) talks about the importance of connecting learning style and youth culture

especially in noting that ‘youth cultures are formed by changes in general underlying convictions.’ Students may feel that extra-lessons are par for the course for the year group that they belong to. Thus, investigating how extra-lessons fit into the culture of the students at the examinations level at Excellence High will be quite informative.

While it may be reasonable to suggest that tutoring may be sought by pupils, and their respective parents, whose academic performance is weak and may need remedial assistance, there is the other perspective of good students who want to improve and sharpen their skills. Bray (2007, p.42) talks of these students and even suggests that they may be in the majority as:

the dominant group is of students whose performance is already good, and who want to maintain their competitive edge. (Bray 2007, p.42).

In the setting of Excellence High, this type of tutoring for a competitive edge may well be a notable finding as the school is already viewed as one of the top schools in T&T, hence additional help may reasonably be to gain an academic advantage amongst their peers. Nevertheless, from the parents’ perspective, their investment in private tutoring may give the confidence that they are best helping their children at these crucial stages as ‘effective tutoring arguably enhances overall levels of human capital for society’ (Bray 2013, p.20). In the T&T context, Lochan and Barrow (2012, p.413-414) put forward findings from an unemployed disabled father who claimed that:

[l]essons was every evening after school till about five or half past five. The cost was TT$ 75 per month. I did not mind paying it because I could not help him like some other parents who could help their children.

(Lochan and Barrow 2012, p. 413-414).

Thus, parents may feel pressured to take whatever measures deemed necessary, within their means, towards ensuring their children’s success. However, there is the possibility that parents may choose to opt for extra-lessons to appease their own concerns rather than recognising their children’s needs.

In Malta, supplementary tutoring in academic school subjects is to either replicate or compensate for insufficiencies in daytime schooling that is provided by tutors for financial gain outside the school and the family (Buhagiar and Chetcuti, 2013), quite similar to T&T. At a girls’ high school in Malta, somewhat similar to Excellence

High, private lessons were investigated among form five girls and Gauci and Wetz (2009, p.8) noted that:

[p]arents send students to private lessons in order to feel that they are doing all they could to help them. It is probably the case that [at least some] local students attend private lessons even when there is no real need.

(Gauci and Wetz 2009, p.8).

Thus, the behaviour of parents may reflect perceived social norms and apprehensions together with what they deem as the educational needs of their children. It is hoped that my educational research will go a fair way into exploring this type of phenomenon at Excellence High, and so inform the extra-lessons narrative in T&T.

However, while there are possible positive effects on academic achievement there are other challenges that supplementary tutoring may pose.

From both the teaching and learning perspectives there may develop a ‘laissez faire’

approach. From the teaching perspective, if many students in a class are attending extra-lessons then the possibility exists that the teacher may not have to work as hard (Bray 2007, p.51) as these teachers may find consolation in the knowledge that the children will cover the work regardless. Moreover, the in-school curriculum may not be taught in the same order of the extra-lessons curriculum for corresponding subjects and so may prove challenging for the students to keep up. These disparities of curricula delivery, knowledge and understanding displayed in the classroom setting due to the extra-lessons influence may now present further teaching challenges in the classroom. Bray (2007, p.51) recognises this challenge in noting that:

[s]ome teachers respond to these disparities by assisting the slower learners; but others may take the students who receive tutoring as the norm, and permit the gaps between students to grow. In the latter case, all parents are placed under pressure to invest in private tutoring for their children. (Bray 2007, p.51).

Nevertheless, as a teacher professional in the mainstream classroom, regardless of the effects of extra-lessons, the critical role of teacher learning and preparation must be emphasised, understood and accepted. The personal and professional development of teachers is crucial and impacts heavily on students’ skills development, behaviour and self-confidence (Barth 1990, p.47). From the student perspective, the perceived safety net of extra-lessons may negatively affect their attention and effort in class.

Whether the teacher is well prepared, or to what extent the student is attentive in the

classroom setting, parents and students still seem attracted to extra-lessons and supplementary tutoring.

2.2 Extra Lessons and Supplementary Tutoring