“They Would Do Just Fine Without Me”: Experiences of Private Tutoring in Denmark - Article

Oct 15, 2026

Qualitative case study based on parents and tutors previously linked to a major commercial tutoring company investigates experiences of private tutoring in Denmark. Using affective analysis of eight interviews (three parents, five tutors), the study explains how participants decide to hire for or work for the company. Findings show affective patterns that shape sense-making and feelings, forming a “mood” sustained by teacher intimacy, institutional professionalism, and nonexclusivity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction: Between private tutoring and egalitarian education

Research questions and motivation

“They Would Do Just Fine Without Me”: Experiences of Private Tutoring in Denmark Lucas Cone Aarhus University ECNU Review of Education 2021, Vol. 4(3) 566–589 ª The Author(s) 2021 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/2096531120940718](DOI: 10.1177/2096531120940718)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/2096531120940718)[journals.sagepub.com/home/roe](journals.sagepub.com/home/roe) Abstract Purpose: Building on a qualitative case study of parents and tutors previously involved with a large commercial tutoring company, this article investigates experiences of private tutoring in Denmark. Design/Approach/Methods: The case study centers around an affective analysis of eight interviews—three parents and five tutors—centering on why and how the interlocutors decided to hire services from or work for the tutoring company. Findings: The article illustrates how the parents’ and tutors’ experiences of private tutoring are colored by a series of affective patterns that set the tone for how the parents and tutors make sense of and feel about the phenomenon. Three patterns are drawn forth which together sustain the “mood” in which the parents and tutors encounter the tutoring phenomenon: teacher intimacy, institutional professionalism, and nonexclusivity. Originality/Value: The article provides an empirically grounded perspective on the stakes of commercializing education in spaces characterized by egalitarian ideals in education. Keywords Affective patterns, commercialization, egalitarianism, moods, private supplementary tutoring, shadow education Date received: 10 February 2020; accepted: 17 June 2020 Corresponding author: Lucas Cone, Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, Tuborgvej 164, Copenhagen, 2400 Denmark. Email: [luco@edu.au.dk](luco@edu.au.dk) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). Introduction: Between private tutoring and egalitarian education For a growing number of students, the school day does not end with the ring of a bell. Over the course of the last two decades, the use of supplementary education services after school has been on the rise around the world, most commonly offered by companies specializing in subject-specific improvements, personal motivation, or exam preparation. The Scandinavian countries have not escaped this trend (Bray, 2021) . Referring broadly to education services sold to families with children enrolled in the formal school system (Hallsn & Karlsson, 2018, p. 631), the increasing use of private tutoring has, in short time, upended the assumption that the formal provisions of education in Scandinavia generally “satisfy the expectations of families” (Bray, 2011, p. 7) . Following a broader trend of marketizing matters historically satisfied by state-provision, these shifts beg the need to examine how the use of private education services unfolds in spaces characterized by strong, egalitarian commitments to education (Antikainen, 2006; Bray, 2011; Dovemark et al. , 2018; Wiborg, 2013) .1 It is from this tension between private, commercial action, and egalitarian traditions of democratic education that the questions guiding this exploration emerge. How do parents respond to the possibility of buying help for their children in spaces characterized by promises of equal opportunity and access in education? What motivates the choice to work as a tutor in such spaces? And how,

FAQs

What is the article’s purpose in studying private tutoring in Denmark?

The article investigates experiences of private tutoring by building on a qualitative case study of parents and tutors connected to a large commercial tutoring company.

What method and data does the study use?

It relies on an affective analysis of eight interviews: three parents and five tutors, focusing on why and how participants chose to hire for or work for the company.

Which affective patterns are identified as shaping the “mood” of tutoring encounters?

Three patterns sustain the participants’ “mood”: teacher intimacy, institutional professionalism, and nonexclusivity.

Oct 15, 2026

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