Digital transformation in Portuguese shadow education

: the tutor perspective

Abstract

Often metaphorically called “shadow education”, the global private tutoring market was estimated to be valued at 146,1 billion dollars in 2022, making it a significant contributor to the economy. Despite this, there is a clear lack of literature on this topic. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns had a profound impact on society. Tutors were forced to adapt and provide online tutoring which accelerated digital transformation in this sector. However, it is still unclear what is happening post-pandemic, particularly in Portugal, where the government ignores this sector, and the literature is scarce. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the digital transformation of shadow education operations in Portugal, as well as its future implications. To better understand the problem at hand, a literature review was conducted, followed by a qualitative approach with 51 in-depth interviews with tutors providing tutoring services to secondary education students (nomenclature defined by UNESCO that includes “Ensino básico” and “Ensino secundário”). The findings demonstrate that COVID-19 accelerated the digital transformation in the shadow education sector in Portugal due to the forced adoption of online tutoring which required the use of new programs and software. Most of the tutors interviewed regard the digital transformation induced by COVID-19 as an ongoing process, with its impact limited by the negative performance of the schooling system during the lockdown period.

Date of Award	3 Jul 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Sofia Pinto (Supervisor) & Rita Ribeiro (Co-Supervisor)