Teachers and tutors are the pioneers of education. They are the reason you and I can read and write today. Many teachers are part-time tutors, so we can assume that teaching and tutoring propagate from the same niche. Teachers can be viewed as the primary source of our knowledge and tutors are more of a secondary or supplementary resource. We make acquaintance with several superb teachers in school and college, but not every one of us has spent time with a tutor.
Tutoring is a more intimate experience of learning, and the anchor we need when classroom lessons are not enough or simply fail us. The teacher communicates to a large group as a whole, whereas a tutor has the liberty to provide one-on-one sessions. It is popular belief that while teachers are qualified or designated to teach a specific subject, tutors can touch as many subjects as the student requires. It is understandable when speaking of generic subjects like English, Mathematics, and Science taught up to high school. On the contrary, university students would require a tutor from a specialized field or relevant educational background.
As a matter of fact, someone who majored in business studies cannot coach a student struggling with topics of veterinary medicine. Similarly, a person who has acquired a diploma in Mandarin is no use to an individual seeking assistance for spoken German language. Nonetheless, there are always exceptions; a personal injury lawyer in the U.S is more than capable of tutoring law school freshmen, as well as any exchange student majoring in English literature.
In order to take the position of a teacher at a school or college, an individual has to fulfill some minimum requirements, such as a university degree or work experience. Private tutors do not necessarily need to complete a four-year college program or demonstrate experience for bagging the job. The most promising tutors are students themselves; many seniors at school prove to be an absolute asset for junior students looking for afterschool tuition. For instance, a medical student in the fourth year would be better acquainted with the syllabus as compared to a doctor who has been practicing in a particular facility for over ten years.
While a tutor has to focus all their energy on the needs of a single student at a time, the teacher has to cater a large number of students altogether. The teacher is required to follow a strict curriculum supplied by the educational institute that has hired him/her. They must cover a prospectus within a given time period. The teacher’s duty is fulfilled as long as he/she has delivered all prescribed lessons and the majority of students have fathomed them.
A teacher conveys information that is new for us and the tutor’s job is to elaborate what we have already been taught. Tutoring is more flexible than teaching because there are no hard and fast rules to it. It is impossible for the teacher to explain a theory differently to each and every student according to their acumen. A tutor has the time and space to devise the best strategies that shall assist the student in grasping a particular concept.
Unlike a teacher, the tutor does not have to follow a book or schedule. A tutor can make use of unofficial resources and teach in correspondence to the student’s demand. The student cannot dictate what a teacher shall explain, but he/she retains this power with the tutor. A tutor is not necessarily hired to revise an entire course. Students may encounter issues with a small part of the course, which cannot be attended to at school. A tutor makes up for these gaps, and that is how the system works.
Teachers are obliged to supply students with study material and assign homework/projects. They also design tests/exams to assess the aptitude of the class. The tutor’s responsibilities are somewhat reversed; he/she helps the student finish these assignments and prepare for any tests or exams.
