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Shadowing the International Baccalaureate: private supplementary tutoring for the diploma programme in China

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Abstract

This paper outlines the findings of a mixed-method study of private supplementary tutoring received by students at international schools offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) in China. Phase One was an online survey of 151 IBDP graduates across 14 schools, while Phase Two included semi-structured interviews with school administrators, teachers, and students in five IBDP schools. Almost one quarter (23.8%) of surveyed graduates from the sample of IBDP schools reported having received private supplementary tutoring. A hierarchical regression analysis indicated that participation in private supplementary tutoring was negatively associated with final IBDP scores. Interview data illuminated that private supplementary tutoring was discouraged by most teachers and administrators due to a perception of tension with the IB’s educational philosophy, a view that private supplementary tutoring is not conducive to IBDP assessments, and that providers lacked specialised knowledge of the IBDP curriculum. Nevertheless, interviewees noted that low performing IBDP students often utilised private supplementary tutoring for remedial purposes, especially for Mathematics and languages.

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Notes

  1. A small number of public schools in China offer IB programmes. However, this research focused on the IBDP at international schools.

  2. The A Level and Advanced Placement are school leaving qualifications traditionally offered by educational bodies from the UK and US, respectively. Alongside the IBDP, the two programmes are the most commonly offered by international schools (Hayden et al. 2003).

  3. The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is a standardised test used for admissions to higher education institutions in the US.

  4. The methodology section was reconstructed from prior publications (Wright and Lee 2014a, b), which explored different aspects from the same research project on IBDP schools China.

  5. The final IBDP score is ranked out 45, with a pass score of 24.

  6. The survey asked “Did you seek the following types of private supplementary tutoring to help you with the IBDP e.g., one-to-one, small group, internet tutoring, lecture-style (live), and lecture style (video recording)?” Drawing from this question, participating in private supplementary tutoring was coded as 1 \(=\) participation, 0 \(=\) non-participation. Regarding the other measures, both father’s and mother’s education was coded as 1 \(=\) high school or lower, 2 \(=\) two-year university, 3 \(=\) four-year university, 4 \(=\) master’s degree, and 5 \(=\) doctoral degree (see Table 1 for details).

  7. An exception was discussion of the potential benefits of private supplementary tutoring that were only reported by participants in two of the five schools.

  8. In 2015, gross national income per capita in China was US$ 7930 per capita (World Bank 2017).

  9. The overall significance level of Model 3 decreased when the control variable of Asian country nationality was added.

  10. A requirement of the IBDP is that students learn an additional language by taking at least one modern or classical language course (IB 2016e).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the International Baccalaureate’s research grant in 2013 for the research team led by the first two authors of this article. The research was also supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korean government (NRF-2014S1A3A2044609).

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  1. Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

    Ewan Wright & Siyuan Feng

  2. Faculty of Education, Science, Technology & Maths, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia

    Moosung Lee

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  1. Ewan Wright
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Correspondence to Ewan Wright.

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Wright, E., Lee, M. & Feng, S. Shadowing the International Baccalaureate: private supplementary tutoring for the diploma programme in China. Educ Res Policy Prac 17, 127–143 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-017-9221-3

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