Constructions of private tutoring in Slovenian online chatrooms : a content analysis

Abstract

This chapter presents an exploratory study of discourses about private tutoring. Slovenia, as a young democracy just entering its third decade, is still struggling to embrace the free market economy. It has many grey areas with no or little tax regulation. Private tutoring has been widely recognised as one of the strongest components of the shadow economy, but no previous research has been undertaken on its scale and implications. For the present study, a qualitative analysis was chosen to explore the content and nature of discourses on different forums and websites reflecting both demand and supply of tutoring. The findings are discussed and compared with international knowledge about the phenomenon.