‘The most popular star-tutor of English’: discursive construction of tutor identities in shadow education

A question of time and place: student tutors’ narrative identities in for- and non-profit contexts in Sweden

“…Up until now, comparative studies on tutors have gathered and analysed quantitative data on tutor characteristics in terms of education, employment, main profession, and age. There is, however, a growing number of qualitative studies looking more closely at tutor identities and roles in different ST contexts (Barkhuizen 2017;Davis 2013;Hallsén and Karlsson 2019;Kozar 2013;Popa and Acedo 2006;Trent 2016;Yung and Yuan 2020). These studies focus, as qualitative research tends to do, on local manifestations of ST.…”

“…The tutors targeting school students emphasised preparation for high-stakes exams, whereas those targeting a wider range of students, such as adult learners and preschool students, referred to goals such as personal development and communication skills. The role of high-stakes exams in the formal educational system is relevant to tutor identities, as shown by Yung and Yuan (2020) study of tutor biographies posted online in Hong Kong, in which a discourse analysis illustrates how an entertainment business discourse was used to promote the hybrid tutor identity of the 'exam expert-star teacher ' (p. 11). Formal education may be relevant to online marketing in other ways as well, as shown in a study of online ST marketing by Hallsén and Karlsson (2019).…”

“…Both students are preparing for tests, to get good grades in or to gain entrance to upper secondary education. That tutors' work supplements formal education by preparing students for tests is a well-known characteristic of ST all over the world (Kozar 2013;Yung and Yuan 2020). The question for this paper concerns how ST can extend formal education in different organisational contexts.…”

Learning, Teaching, and Researching in Shadow Education in Hong Kong: An Autobiographical Narrative Inquiry

“…Among the different modes, the most prominent one in Hong Kong is lectures in cram schools operated by entrepreneurs. These cram schools often advertise their tutors as "stars" or "kings and queens" in public vehicles, promotional leaflets, billboards, and websites (Koh, 2016;Yung & Yuan, 2018). In the tutorial centers, students sit in connected classrooms with glass walls so that over 100 students can attend tutorial lessons together and see the tutors (Lee, 2010;Yung, 2011).…”

“…Students therefore may find tutors more helpful than their schoolteachers in fulfilling their pragmatic needs of preparing for examinations. Their preference for tutors may also be strengthened because they can choose their tutors but not their schoolteachers, particularly when star tutors are advertising themselves as examination experts who have helped thousands of students to attain outstanding examination results (Yung & Yuan, 2018). The fact that students or their families are paying money to their tutors while school education is free of charge may also lead to students to pay more attention to their tutors and less to their schoolteachers (Fung, 2003).…”