Supplying private tuition: edu-business and Asian migration in Australia

Abstract

This article reports a study of the supply of private supplementary tuition in literacy for primary school students. The data set consisted of websites and advertisements of 46 suppliers active in an area of suburban Australia with a substantial population of migrants from East Asia. To conceptualise the supply of private tuition as edu-business, the study articulated sociological understandings of pedagogy with principles of economic sociology. Qualitative field analysis identified three types of product (schoolwork help, school-like programmes, school-relevant courses), and differences in the ways personal tutors and tuition organisations marshalled and mobilised capital in pursuit of profit through these. Conclusions are drawn about the utility of the concept of field for research on private tuition.