Understanding the Difference Between Tutors & Teachers

When we talk about the people who are paid to help educate our children (and, in some cases, ourselves), we often think about teachers. Sometimes, we even confuse tutors for teachers, mostly because they have the same goal – to educate.

But while tutors are also educational professionals, they are not necessarily the same teachers, even if they may have the same goals. Below, you’ll learn the fundamental difference between tutors and teachers.

1. The Learning Environment

Teachers usually educate in a traditional education environment. Regardless of whether this is in the public or private sector, their teaching environment usually is within the classroom. But, with tutors, the arrangement is usually in a private learning environment, like at home, or a JC physics tuition centre.

2. The Curriculum

The government and the educational institution decides what kind of subjects, and usually what kind of tests, are used when educating students in the classroom setting. Also, students are very rarely able to choose their teachers, or the kind of method that will be used to teach them, or what subjects they need to talk. However, tutors and students taught by tutors have far more liberty. Because they are merely supplemental to traditional education, students can choose their tutors based on the methodology they want to be used and what kind of subjects they want to learn.

The main benefit of having a tutor is that they can work on specific topics with students so that they can cope up if they are behind, or stay ahead if they want to achieve high marks.

3. Number of Students

It’s no secret that teachers handle a lot of students at the same time. Although it mainly depends on the class that they are handling or where they are teaching, it’s not unusual for teachers to handle dozens of students at any point in time. Not to mention, teachers might also have to handle multiple subjects, depending on what’s asked of them.

On the other hand, tutors offer a more private and customised experience, especially in one-on-one tutoring sessions.

A tutor may be a former teacher, and a teacher might be a former tutor, but they are not, in any way, the same.

Regardless, however, they are both important components towards helping your child’s education.

If you are a parent, you need to realise the value of both individuals in your child’s education. In an ever-growing competitive world, making sure that your child gets the best quality education possible and is taught good study habits early on is key to making sure that they succeed as adults.

While teachers do everything they can to make sure that your child gets a quality education at school, sometimes, they are not enough. In such cases, you can hire private tutors, or enrol your child in a JC physics tuition centre to help supplement their learning at school and make sure that they do not lag, especially in complicated subject matters like physics, chemistry, mathematics, and more.