Difference Between Teachers and Tutors

By: | Updated: Jan-3, 2023
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Probable, you have ever thought about the difference between a teacher and a tutor. And why it is so important not to confuse these two different professions. In this article, you will find a detailed description of the activities of these people and can decide for yourself which learning format is closer to your spirit.

Difference Between Teachers and Tutors

Learning something new is a long and exciting process. And it is very essential that there is someone nearby who will teach, point out mistakes and help. Basically, there are two particular people in the educational process: the teacher and the tutor. These two people are very similar, but at the same time, they have differences. They both help students archive and expand their knowledge. At the same time, tutors work with students individually and provide additional personalized help in what is difficult for them, teachers teach an entire class with 20-30 students and can’t pay attention to everyone.

Difference Between Teachers and Tutors

In this article, we will analyze in detail the differences between tutoring and teaching in order to better understand what suits you or your children and understand the topic.

Tutor

Homeschoolers and students often hire various tutors for different subjects in order to improve their grades. But it happens that some may have problems with a certain subject or who may need extra help outside of school to achieve their academic goals. So a tutor is hired. As part of his duties, he analyzes his students’ work to identify the skills or concepts they struggle with, and then develops a strategy to help improve their understanding of a topic. Because the tutor usually provides an informal source of education, he is more likely than the teacher to encourage independent thinking in his students. The tutor can also help fill gaps in knowledge or learning methods, and boost with specific subjects, projects, or skills.

A tutor does not need to have a pedagogical qualification like a teacher. Anyone who has knowledge s in a particular area can become one. Even a student who teaches another student is considered a tutor. Tutoring for students is a popular way to earn extra money while studying. Such people are often self-employed or hired by an online tutoring company. And when choosing a platform on which to study, it is very important to know the pros and cons, and what reviews people have left.  For example, you can read Preply.com review to see if it is right for you. There are hundreds of thousands of tutors from different countries on the platform who will help you learn a foreign language. Studying with them is a good addition to classical education, as native speakers, they can give much more unique knowledge than an ordinary teacher.

The big advantage is that studying with a tutor is always a flexible schedule. Unlike school and student studies, you can plan classes for the late evening or early morning. In addition, teachers who work with students in small groups or one-on-one at universities are often called tutors. Therefore, if a person is bored with studying alone, he can join a mini group.

Teacher

A teacher presents subjects at a school, high school, college or university, often to large groups. Therefore, it can be difficult for him to pay attention to each student. A teacher has to follow a strict curriculum. The lesson plans follow a standard procedure with very little flexibility. He or she has a different teaching concept to a tutor. The focus of the lessons is to pass on information to students with a method that suits most of them, but not all. Very often teachers need to provide additional learning material for students as there is not enough time during the lesson. However, sometimes the teacher can come up with something original to interest the group and diversify their routine.

Different from a tutor’s career path in education, to become a teacher, you need pedagogical teaching qualifications. The minimum educational degree is a bachelor’s degree. The salary varies from country to country. He or she must also have a teaching license. While elementary school teachers may teach a number of different subjects, middle and high school teachers typically focus on teaching in an area of specialization. Some teachers may decide to pursue a graduate degree and become instructional coordinators or school administrators.

Job responsibilities of a teacher include:  grading assignments (what tutors don’t do), answering students’ questions, meeting with parents or other educational professionals (if it is for school), updating students’ records with their grades, and delivering learning at a pace suitable for the majority of students. Teachers work only during the hours allotted by law.

So what is the best to choose?

As you can see, these two professions are somewhat similar, but to a greater extent, they are pretty different. The teaching profession offers a stable career and income with social security, while the job of a tutor provides more flexibility and the ability to work online. The teacher uses group work methods, and the tutor sees the rapid development of his students’ learning in individual classes. Anyone can become a tutor, while it takes years to become a teacher and this is mostly a vocation.
If we talk about who is better, then we would advise combining. It is not necessary to devalue the work of teachers, as well as to think that all tutors are ignoramuses. Each of them can give their own unique knowledge. It remains only to apply them correctly and create your own education schedule.

 

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