Beyond Supplementary Instruction: Indonesian Private Tutors' Perspectives, Challenges, and Expectations in Delivering the Singaporean Primary Curriculum

Abstract

Across many education systems, families increasingly turn to fee-based instruction that runs alongside formal schooling, a phenomenon widely known as shadow education. In Indonesia, this shadow sector has expanded from simple homework assistance into full delivery of an internationally recognized curriculum, namely the Singaporean primary curriculum for Mathematics, Science, and English delivered through the My Pals Are Here series. This qualitative multiple case study examined how six self-employed private tutors in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, perceive, struggle with, and hope to improve their delivery of this curriculum to young learners. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis, informed by teacher agency and shadow education frameworks. Findings show that tutors' initial assumptions about the curriculum shifted, through lived practice, toward an appreciation of its emphasis on conceptual understanding, problem-solving, and real-life application. Tutors described recurring challenges related to English proficiency, translating unfamiliar pedagogies such as the Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract approach and inquiry-based learning into practice, and reconciling the curriculum's gradual pacing with parents' expectations of immediate results. Tutors also expressed strong aspirations for continued self-directed learning and closer professional networks. The study extends teacher agency theory into the underexamined shadow education context of Eastern Indonesia.