Sociocultural Aspects of Tutoring Practices in Contemporary Russia

In contemporary Russia private tutors are working in a complex institutional space between different educational institutions. However, both symbolic and legal statuses of a tutor in that space is not defined or established. This causes problems with interaction between tutors and other actors on different levels. Despite numerous attempts to study tutoring in the framework of quantitative analysis and examine its role in the context of extracurricular educational practices, few researchers pay attention to tutors themselves. The purpose of this research is to find out how and in what contexts the identity of a tutor is formed, and which specific characteristics their interaction with different actors are bringing about. The research is built on two types of sources: qualitative interviews with practicing tutors and Internet resources related to the sphere of the so called 'shadow education'. The sources are analyzed with the tools provided by the theory of multiple regimes of engagement by L. Thevenot and L. Boltanski and the theory of social networks by H. White. The study concluded that unlike an institutional educator whose identity often falls within the requirements of ‘total sociality’, identity of a tutor is more multifaceted, and a tutor easily switches from network to network and from one regime of engagement to another. Therefore, the tutor's identity is complex, conflicted, multi-faceted and constantly transforming. In general, dynamism as a characteristic is typical for the "shadow education", which began its active growth with the introduction of the Unified state exam and is still in a state of formation. The construction of 'shadow education' networks generally bears some specific traits of Russian network structure (described by I. Kukulin): in order to achieve their goals, tutors manipulate their inclusion in institutional ‘netdoms’ (the term of H. White) and create alternative ones.