Helping Isolated Rural Parents: The Home Tutor Support Program Dr. Colin Boylan Faculty of Education Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga. Abstract The Home Tutor Support Program has developed as an educational partnership between Charles Sturt University and the Broken Hill School of the Air. The principle purpose of the program is to assist home tutors implement the primary distance education materials for their children. The characteristics of the home tutors and their specific needs will be discussed. An overview of the program and its modular structure will be provided and the reactions by the home tutors to the modules will be included. Introduction Participation in primary education for children living on remote rural properties is most frequently conducted at home. These children enrol in a distance education school or centre and receive regular print based correspondence materials. Either a parent (often the mother) or a governess takes on a new, daunting and challenging role in supervising their child's education:- the home tutor. The home tutor usually has no or limited prior training in appreciating what this new role entails (Taylor, 1993). Yet, as Tomlinson and Taylor (1984) asserted 'Extensive fieldwork confirmed the notion that the education program of the isolated child is dependent for its success on the active involvement of the home tutor' (p. iii). In an extensive review of the literature on home tutors, Boylan and Squires (1996) concluded i) the home tutor has a central or pivotal role to play in the education of the child; ii) the home tutor plays a central intermediary between the distance education teacher and the child; iii) the roles expected of the home tutor are complex and varied; iv) the home tutor requires regular communication with the distance education teacher to implement successfully the learning materials; and v) there is an urgent need for specific programs to train and support the home tutor in this essential education role. Origins of the program In late 1994, the principal of Broken Hill School of The Air contacted Charles Sturt University with a request for assistance in developing a program for their home tutors. In February 1995, discussions with the home tutors were initiated during the Home Tutors Workshop at Broken Hill School of The Air. The eighteen (18) participants were divided into 4 groups and using a focus group method of generating ideas, issues and concerns each group listed their particular needs as home tutors. These group generated needs were collated and sorted into themes with the combined responses being presented to all participants in a second session. Here a modified Delphi technique was used to gain group consensus and prioritise their needs about the nature and focus of the program. After this second session the program outline was sent to all home tutors with children enrolled at Broken Hill School of The Air for a third round of consultation. The positive responses from the participants at the February workshops and the subsequent written responses from home tutors ensured that the Home Tutor Support Program would proceed. The Home Tutor Support Program: Objectives The program's fundamental aim is to assist home tutors in understanding educational processes so that they can provide maximum support to their students' learning. Primary distance education in NSW is predicated on an instructional model which involves a three-way partnership between the essential elements: LEARNING MATERIALS <--> TEACHER <--> HOME SUPERVISOR For this to function effectively there needs to be a conscious and explicit program which will develop communications and understandings between writers of materials and each of the other two partners. This includes the possession by the participants of a common language and sets of concepts with which they can describe, explain and understand the philosophies and processes of instruction. One major objective of the Home Tutor Support Program is to assist in the development of that common language and to empower tutors in their role. At Broken Hill SOTA a number of families employ a governess to supervise their children. To some extent the expectations of the Home Tutor Support Program expressed by governesses were different from those of many of the parent-supervisors. Governesses were more likely to be seeking formal employment-related qualifications which could strengthen their employability as governesses and which might later gain credit towards a post secondary qualification. Parent-supervisors were also concerned that the program give them some tangible recognition of their achievement, but a smaller proportion of them were concerned about the convertibility of the qualification. The program's second objective is to provide tangible recognition of the skills acquired by home tutors in distance education by giving them a formal qualification which has the potential for articulation with tertiary or TAFE programs. The Home Tutor Support Program: Program Development The agreed outcomes of the three rounds of consultation regarding the focus, content and nature of the Home Tutor Support Program are described below. Workshop Outcomes:Identifying the Needs and Wishes of the Participants The following 4 themes or topics surfaced as important to all home tutors. High priority areas shown in italics CURRICULUM LEARNING DEVELOPMENT THE TUTOR ¥ broad knowledge of each KLA ¥current DSE policies and approaches to content and sequencing of learning materials ¥reasons/rationale for content selected ¥ recognising expected depth of treatment for different areas of content ¥ways in which children learn ¥enthusing/ motivating children to learn ¥ monitoring progress ¥planning alternative activities ¥extending the learner ¥developmental stages/child development ¥matching expectations and content with child's development ¥social and interpersonal skills ¥classroom management and keeping the child on task ¥recognising and managing learning difficulties ¥ defining the role ¥separating roles eg mum/tutor/friend ¥access to sources of help (teaching materials, resources, support people) ¥tutor/teacher relations The Home Tutor Support Program: Participant Expectations From the consultation process, two key themes that the participants saw as essential features for the program emerged. These themes related to the home tutor's children and to the recognition of their achievement in the program. These outcomes are summarised below. What participants would like from the program In relation to educating children In relation to personal achievement ¥A better understanding of the educational process ¥How to apply that knowledge to our children's learning ¥Giving our children the best possible education ¥Gaining formal recognition and qualification ¥Gaining access to further studies eg teacher training ¥Satisfaction in doing the job in a more informed way The Home Tutor Support Program Structure The course has been organised into a series of ten modules. Each module's duration is about six weeks. The 'Curriculum' and 'Learning' columns have been combined -- ie to look at 'Learning' in the context of each separate Key Learning Area (eg, Maths, Science and Technology, etc). Module Titles 1. Learning about English K-6 2. Learning about Mathematics K-6 3. Learning about Science & Technology K-6 4. Learning about Human Society & Its Environment K-6 5. Learning about Personal development, Health & Physical Education K-6 6. Learning about Creative & Performing Arts K-6 7. Children & Their Development (ages 5-8) 8. Children & Their Development (ages 9-12) 9. Managing Learning 10.The Home Tutor Course Duration ¥from 6 - 12 months (maximum duration) ¥flexible entry/exit points (esp. with different needs of governesses/mothers taken into account) Course Presentation ¥ the materials need to be user-friendly. The background and experiences of the tutors must be considered so that educational language, departmental jargon and acronyms (eg, KLA) are well-explained. The materials must be practical, with examples from the SOTA learning materials used as much as possible. Course Focus ¥the program is designed to be a support program, so support for tutor's work is highest priority. Course Coordination ¥Dr Colin Boylan, from Charles Sturt University was appointed to this role. Characteristics of the Home Tutors Earlier, mention was made of a survey sent to all Broken Hill School of The Air home tutors. One part of the survey focussed on the structure, organisation and content of the Home Tutor Support Program which has been described earlier. A second part of the survey sought biographical information about the home tutors. This was included to provide information to these questions:- ¥Who are the home tutors? ¥What is their experience in home tutoring? ¥What educational attainment levels do they have? The biographical survey was returned by 14 home tutors (response rate 28%). The first question sought to identify who were the home tutors. In most situations the mother of the family was the home tutor (12 cases), with the remaining respondents (2) being employed governesses. This finding was comparable to Squires and Smith (1994) work which indicated that the state wide figure for parent-supervisors was 90%. The second question sought information on the range of home tutoring experience of the group. This ranged from those being in the first year as a home tutor (both governesses and mothers) through to 13 years (mothers). For the majority (57%) they had less than 4 years home tutoring experience. Most home tutors, almost two-thirds (64%), were responsible for supervising 2 or 3 primary children with the remainder (36%) being responsible for 1 primary child. The third question dealt with the highest level of educational attainment of the home tutors. All home tutors had completed Year 10 (School Certificate) secondary education. For 3 home tutors, their highest level of educational attainment was Year 11. The remaining home tutors (11) had completed Year 12 or the Higher School Certificate. For 6 of this group of 11 home tutors (including the 2 governesses), this was their highest level of educational attainment. Of the remaining 5 home tutors, 3 had completed a TAFE qualification and 2 had completed a university qualification. The Home Tutor Support Program: 1996 Situation The program commenced in October 1995 with 22 home tutors expressing a wish to receive the ten (10) modules constituting the program. The following modules have been developed and sent to the participants: 1)Child Development (5-8 years) 2)Child Development (9-12 years) 3)English K-6 4)Managing Learning 5)Mathematics K-6 The remaining modules will be developed and dispatched to participants over the forthcoming six months of 1996. 6)Creative and Performing Arts K-6 7)Science and Technology K-6 8)Human Society and Its Environment K-6 9)Personal Development, Health and Physical Education K-6 10)The Home Tutor A sample of the structure of the Child Development (ages 5-8 years) module is shown below to provide readers with an overview of the structure of each module. Figure 1 Content and Structure of Child Development (5-8 years) Module INTRODUCTION PART 1 PART 4 Understanding Similarities and DifferencesClassroom Management and Becoming an Observer of ChildrenLearning Behaviour A Quick Look at Children from 1 - 4 PART 2 PART 5 Physical DevelopmentSocial and Interpersonal Skills Perceptual Development Social and Emotional Development PART 6 Cognitive DevelopmentLearning Difficulties Language DevelopmentHearing Impairment Visual Impairment PART 3Hyperactivity The Child and LearningSpeech and Language Impairment Specific Learning Disabilities Formative Evaluation of the Program During 1996, two main sources have provided information for the formative evaluation of the program in operation. First, in July 1996, each participant in the Home Tutor Support Program was telephone interviewed to gain a progress report on the program. The purposes of the interview were to: i)determine who was participating in the program; ii)seek participants' reactions to the program so far; iii)seek comments and suggestions on the content of the modules developed; and iv)discuss the assessment process in the program. Some of the key finding from this interview process are listed below. When the Home Tutor Support Program commenced, there were 22 participants. Twelve (12) months later (July 1996) there were 17 participants. Six participants had ceased to be involved with the program and one late starter had been included. Of the six participants who left the program, three (3) had moved off the property and were no longer associated with the Broken Hill School of The Air. The remaining three participants indicated that they were unable to devote any time to reading the materials and requested to be not associated with the program. For the remaining 17 participants, the telephone interview provided useful, formative information about the program, the module's content and the assessment tasks. The overall response to the program has been positive. All 17 participants reported they found the program interesting, personally satisfying and helpful in their teaching of their children. eg. 'I thoroughly enjoyed both the Child Development modules as they were related directly to where my child is' (Mother #1); 'It has helped me teach my own children better' (Mother #2); 'I'm not a teacher and I was looking for help to teach my child correctly' (Mother #1). Participants also commented favourably on their improved knowledge about educational practice and teaching skills which empowered them to discuss their concerns with their child's teacher in Broken Hill. eg. 'I feel more confident in what I'm doing' (Mother #6); 'I now have different ideas and different approaches to teaching the work' (Home Tutor #9). At the personal level, a number of the participants mentioned that they found the intellectual stimulation from reading the materials was personally satisfying, eg. 'My personal self-esteem has benefitted' (Mother #10); 'I was really overawed at the start [when first child started on SOTA - 2 years ago] and I felt very swamped with the responsibility of teaching my child. I now have developed confidence in what I do in the classroom' (Mother #13); 'I enjoy the intellectual stimulation' (Mother #5). 'I now have ways of extending the children's knowledge and interests by fanning out sideways rather than upwards' (Mother #8). Responses to specific questions relating to the modules received so far in the program indicated most participants found each module was well organised, easy to read, any educational jargon was clearly explained and the materials were written in an easy to understand way. Generally they reported the depth of treatment within each module was satisfactory. Some critical comments about the English K-6 module were made. These comments were constructive suggestions on ways to improve the module by identifying the need to add more practical examples on basic language issues such as spelling and grammar. During the interview, the issue of assessment tasks was raised. About one third (6 of the 17 participants) are completing the assignment that accompanies each module. The remainder stated that they do not submit the written assignment. Their reasons were varied: eg time constraints preclude this aspect of the program, the participant only wants to receive the materials, the participant is not seeking formal recognition for completion of the course. Second, in May and August 1996 the SOTA principal was interviewed by telephone to gather his impressions of the effectiveness of the program. The principal reported chiefly on the effects of the program on illuminating and clarifying the differences between the roles and expectations of distance education teachers and home tutors. Operation of the program has served to identify the extent and nature of the 'gap' between the skills and knowledge of the trained distance education teachers and those of home tutors. This gap has been masked in the past by a lack of opportunities and / or a strong need to closely examine the respective uses of educational languages and concepts by teachers and lay tutors. The program has allowed participants to critically analyse their skills and understandings and to come to a more informed realisation of their extent and limitations. From the school's point of view the program has made them realise that the home tutors generally did not have the skills and understandings which have been attributed to them and that they require a good deal of additional support in order to better understand basic teaching principles and practices. The school has, in the past, been assuming too high a level of common ground on issues such as pedagogy, principles of curriculum design and educational philosophy. This has probably made the home tutors' task more difficult and may have militated against the learning process. To sum up, this formative feedback from the home tutors and the principal indicated that the program is meeting the needs of the participants, they have found the content within the modules has been relevant and directly applicable to what they do in the classroom and has assisted in understanding why their child(ren) behave the way they do. This has produced a new level of self confidence in the home tutors and in their ability to successfully teach their child. The home tutors have made constructive suggestions on the organisation of the modules which will be included in still to be developed modules. As one mother stated: 'none of us choose to be teachers, it's just we married the wrong man' (Mother #13) yet they have accepted the task and strive to do the best for their children. Within this context, the Home Tutor Support Program has succeeded in helping these isolated home tutors understand the educative process, has provided valuable insights into the essential differences between the home tutor and the distance education teacher roles and has greatly helped the school and its teachers to understand and appreciate the needs of home tutors for support in the role they have thrust upon them. Recent Developments Since the first module appeared and the 'bush telegraph' started to spread the word about the program, five developments have occurred. ¥Requests for access and use of the materials have been received from 3 other western primary Distance Education Centres (Hay, Dubbo and Tibooburra). ¥Requests for access and use of the materials from a number of face-to-face schools who wish to use the program with parents at their school. ¥The NSW Department of School Education has become a stakeholder in the program with a view to offer the program as a state-wide initiative for all home tutors of primary aged children. ¥The Broken Hill School of The Air has sent the English K-6 Module to every home tutor with a child enrolled in the school, as a result of the positive comments made by the participants in the program once they had received this module. ¥The principal has commented to the course coordinator that home tutors are communicating with their distance education teacher more regularly and are using the educational language used by teachers to explain their questions, concerns or enquiries. Conclusion From a demonstrated need to assist isolated home tutors, a tripartite partnership between the Broken Hill School of the Air, Charles Sturt University and the NSW Department of School Education has evolved. The focus of the partnership has been to develop a program for home tutors to improve their ability to understand and implement the distance based learning materials and act as the central intermediary in the learning process for their child(ren). This is known as the Home Tutor Support Program. The program is a systematic, sustained and comprehensive coverage of the educational, pedagogical and curricular issues surrounding the role expectations of home tutors. To date, the feedback from participants about the program is positive. Many participants value the content contained within each module and its relevance to their role as a home tutor. Additionally, they have found the assistance and guidance provided to them to become more confident in mediating between the learning materials, the distance education teacher and organising the learning experiences of their child(ren). Further developments suggest the program has application in other Distance Education Centres as well as a training program for parents with children in face-to-face school situations. References Boylan, C. and Squires, D. (1996) Supporting Home Tutors in Providing Quality Education. Paper presented at 12th National Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia conference Hobart, August. Taylor, D. (1993) Study of the scaffolding process of home tutoring with particular reference to the role of dialogue. In D. Riley (Ed.) Towards 2000: Schooling Through Distance Education. 9th National S.P.E.R.A. Conference, Cairns, July. Toowoomba: S.P.E.R.A. Inc. Taylor, P. & Tomlinson, D. (1984) Primary Distance Education.. National Centre for Research in Rural Education, Perth: University of Western Australia. Paper presented at AARE-ERA Conference, Singapore, November 1996Page _