Teaching and tutoring are two distinct and effective approaches to helping students achieve academic success. While the end goal for both approaches is the same, they have different methodologies and applications. Understanding their differences is crucial for parents, students, and educators, especially when considering getting specialized help such as math tutoring.
In this article, we’ll be discussing the principal differences between teaching and tutoring, and recommend when a tutor might be needed in a child’s academic journey.
The Differences Between Tutoring and Teaching
Here are some of the ways teaching and tutoring differ:
Level of Personalization
One of the key differences between teaching and tutoring is the level of personalization. Tutoring offers students a customized learning experience. The learning systems put in place are tailored to meet the specific needs of the student. Tutoring focuses more on specific academic areas that students struggle with, like a particular topic or subject.
Teaching, on the other hand, is more generic. Teachers use a one-size-fits-all technique to educate students, with the hope that all students catch on.
Learning Schedule
Tutoring adopts a more flexible learning schedule. Students can choose to be tutored during the holidays, weekends, or any other time that works for them. Tutors and students usually discuss what time and schedule works best.
Teaching, however, is not as flexible. Depending on the curriculum and school, students have to attend lessons for at least seven hours every day during weekdays. Here, students can not negotiate schedules or choose a time that works best for them, they are required to attend based on the school’s academic calendar.
The Environment for Learning
The learning environment for tutoring is different from that of teaching. Tutoring can be done in any location that the tutor and student deem fit. It could be in a library, a café, or at home.
When it comes to teaching, the learning environment is restricted to school grounds. Students have to assemble every weekday of the school season, at the same time, to attend lessons.
The location for learning when it comes to teaching isn’t open for discussion. Students will only attend lessons out of school or the classroom under the supervision of teachers, as seen in planned excursions.
How Success is Assessed
Students have to do assignments and take tests or exams to prove that they understand what they’ve been taught throughout the school year. Feedback on their performance is translated into grades that determine whether or not the student will qualify to step into the next phase of their academic journey.
With tutoring, students are assessed based on their understanding of a particular concept or after a successful completion of a project. They do not necessarily have to be graded.
Attention Levels
Students have to compete for attention when it comes to teaching. The teacher has a group of students with whom they try to give equal attention. But no matter how hard they try, they do not have the luxury of time to give each student their undivided attention.
However, tutors only have one student to deal with at a time. The student gets all the attention and can quickly get feedback when required.
Teachers vs Tutors
The significant difference between teachers and tutors is their qualifications. Teachers have to get a degree from a reputable institution in the subjects they teach before they can be employed in any school while tutors only have to be proficient in the subject or topic.
Because of this single factor, a teacher can be a tutor, but a tutor can not be a teacher.
Conclusion
Tutoring works best for students who need extra help with their academics. It is supplementary education, not a substitute for traditional learning. So, if you know a student struggling with a particular topic or subject, hiring a tutor would be the next best step.
