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International Review of Education

, Volume 60, Issue 6, pp 803–819 | Cite as

The “magic” of tutorial centres in Hong Kong: An analysis of media marketing and pedagogy in a tutorial centre

  • Aaron Koh
Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

Why do more than three-quarters of Hong Kong’s senior secondary students flock to tutorial centres like moths to light? What is the “magic” that is driving the popularity of the tutorial centre enterprise? Indeed, looking at the ongoing boom of tutorial centres in Hong Kong (there are almost 1,000 of them), it is difficult not to ask these questions. This paper examines the phenomenon of tutorial centres in Hong Kong and seeks to understand what draws students to these centres. Combining theories of marketing semiotics and emotion studies, the author investigates the pivotal role of media marketing in generating the “magic” of tutorial centres, whose advertising strategy includes, for example, a display of billboard posters featuring stylishly-dressed “celebrity teachers”. The author reviews some of the literature available on the subject of tutorial centres. In a case study approach, he then maps out the pedagogy he observed in an English tutorial class, seeking heuristic insights into the kind of teaching students in the study were looking for. He argues that part of the “magical” attraction of what are essentially “cram schools” is their formulaic pedagogy of teaching and reinforcing exam skills. Finally, the paper considers the social implications of the tutorial centre industry in terms of media marketing of education and unequal access to tutorial services.

Keywords

Hong Kong Tutorial centre pedagogy Media marketing Education and culture 

Résumé

La « magie » des centres de soutien scolaire à Hong Kong : analyse du marketing médiatique et de la pédagogie – Pourquoi plus des trois quarts des lycéens de Hong Kong sont-ils attirés par les centres de soutien scolaire comme les papillons nocturnes par la lumière ? Quelle « magie » génère la popularité de ce modèle ? En observant la montée en flèche actuelle de ces centres à Hong Kong (au nombre de presque un millier), il est en effet inévitable de poser ces questions. L’auteur de cet article examine le phénomène des centres de soutien scolaire à Hong Kong et tente de cerner ce qui attire les élèves vers ces structures. Alliant les théories de la sémiotique du marketing et les études sur l’émotion, il explore le rôle central du marketing médiatique dans la « magie » de ces centres, dont la stratégie publicitaire inclut la conception d’affiches qui mettent en vedette des « célébrités enseignantes » élégamment vêtues. L’auteur recense une partie de la documentation disponible sur les centres de soutien scolaire. Dans le cadre d’une étude de cas, il trace les grandes lignes de la pédagogie qu’il a observée dans un cours d’anglais de soutien, scrutant des éléments heuristiques dans le type d’enseignement que les élèves recherchent. L’auteur avance que l’attrait « magique » de ces institutions essentiellement de bachotage réside en partie dans leur pédagogie stéréotypée pour l’enseignement et la consolidation des compétences nécessaires à la réussite d’un examen. Enfin, l’auteur évalue les implications sociales de l’industrie des centres de soutien scolaire sur le marketing médiatique dans le domaine éducatif et sur l’accès inégal aux prestations de soutien scolaire.

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Notes

Acknowledgements

I thank the Office of Educational Research (OER), NIE for a start-up grant (SUG 23/12 AK) which enabled me to conduct this research project. Jeffrey Lau offered generous information about the tutorial centre industry in Hong Kong, but the inaccuracies of analysis, if there are any, are inevitably mine. My thanks are also due to Victoria Carrington and Anneliese Kramer-Dahl, who read an early draft of this paper. I also appreciate the astute feedback given by the two anonymous reviewers.

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  2. Koh, A. (2012b). Fieldnotes, field work, Cambridge Tutorial Centre, Hong Kong, 4 Oct 2012 and 14 December 2012.Google Scholar

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht and UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Division of English Language & Literature, National Institute of EducationNanyang Technological UniversitySingaporeSingapore

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