Tutor
Encyclopedia
A tutor is a person employed in the education
of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor (as a verb) is to perform the functions of a tutor.
, Australia
n, New Zealand
, Italian
, and some Canadian
universities, a tutor is often, but not always, a postgraduate student
or a lecturer
assigned to conduct a seminar
for undergraduate students, often known as a tutorial
. The equivalent of this kind of tutor in the United States
and the rest of Canada is known as a teaching assistant
or graduate student instructor (GSI).
In the University of Cambridge
, a Tutor is an officer of a college responsible for the pastoral care of a number of students in cognate disciplines, as against a Director of Studies who is responsible for the academic progress of a group of students in their own discipline, with both Tutors and Directors of Study answering to a Senior Tutor. In the University of Oxford
, the colleges fuse pastoral and academic care into the single office of Fellow and Tutor, also known as a CUF Lecturer.
In the United States, the term tutor is generally associated with one who gives professional
instruction (sometimes within a school setting but often independently) in a given topic or field.
and Irish
secondary school
s, form tutors are given the responsibilities of a form
or class
of students in a particular year group (up to 30 students). They usually work in Year Teams headed by a Year Leader, Year Head, or Guidance Teacher.
Form tutors take on these responsibilities in addition to teaching, planning, and monitoring their academic (subject) classes.
Form tutors will provide parents with most of the information about their child's progress and any problems they might be experiencing. Ordinarily, the form tutor is the person who contacts a parent if there is a problem at school; however, the Year Leader or Guidance Teacher may contact the parents, since the form tutor has full-time responsibility as a specialist subject teacher.
or small group of students. Such attention allows the student to improve knowledge or skills far more rapidly than in a classroom
setting. Tutors are often privately hired and paid by the student, the student's family or an agency. Many are used for remedial students or others needing special attention; many provide more advanced material for exceptionally capable and highly motivated students, or in the context of homeschooling
. Tutelage is the process of being under the guidance of a tutor. Tutoring also occurs when one adult helps another adult student to study a specific course or subject that he/she is taking to get a better result. The adult can also let the student work on his/her own, and can be there if the student has any questions.
, time management, stress management, effective reading, note-taking, test-taking, and understanding how to use a syllabus. Academic coaches meet with the student regularly throughout the semester, usually once a week. Coaches work with students in all kinds of situations, not just those who are struggling academically. Some highly motivated, high-achieving students will have a coach to improve their learning efficiency. Academic coaching also occurs to help students prepare for entrance exams to gain entry to schools or universities. Academic coaching is a huge industry in Asia. For example, in India, a majority of students, be it of any class or stream, visit a coaching center or a "study circle."
Online tutoring has been gaining popularity over the past couple of years due to the ease of being able to connect to a tutor at moment's notice when help is required. This is especially effective when a student is studying for a test that is scheduled for the next day at school and is stumped on a particular problem. Not all online tutoring companies offer an on-demand tutoring service.
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor (as a verb) is to perform the functions of a tutor.
Teaching assistance
In BritishGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and some Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
universities, a tutor is often, but not always, a postgraduate student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
or a lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
assigned to conduct a seminar
Seminar
Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...
for undergraduate students, often known as a tutorial
Tutorial
A tutorial is one method of transferring knowledge and may be used as a part of a learning process. More interactive and specific than a book or a lecture; a tutorial seeks to teach by example and supply the information to complete a certain task....
. The equivalent of this kind of tutor in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the rest of Canada is known as a teaching assistant
Teaching assistant
A teaching assistant is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include graduate teaching assistants , who are graduate students; undergraduate teaching assistants , who are undergraduate students; secondary school TAs, who are either high school...
or graduate student instructor (GSI).
In the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, a Tutor is an officer of a college responsible for the pastoral care of a number of students in cognate disciplines, as against a Director of Studies who is responsible for the academic progress of a group of students in their own discipline, with both Tutors and Directors of Study answering to a Senior Tutor. In the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, the colleges fuse pastoral and academic care into the single office of Fellow and Tutor, also known as a CUF Lecturer.
In the United States, the term tutor is generally associated with one who gives professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
instruction (sometimes within a school setting but often independently) in a given topic or field.
British and Irish secondary schools
In EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
s, form tutors are given the responsibilities of a form
Form (education)
A form is a class or grouping of students in a school. The term is used predominantly in the United Kingdom, although some schools, mostly private, in other countries also use the title...
or class
Class (education)
A class in education has a variety of related meanings.It can be the group of students which attends a specific course or lesson at a university, school or other educational institution, see Form ....
of students in a particular year group (up to 30 students). They usually work in Year Teams headed by a Year Leader, Year Head, or Guidance Teacher.
Form tutors take on these responsibilities in addition to teaching, planning, and monitoring their academic (subject) classes.
Form tutors will provide parents with most of the information about their child's progress and any problems they might be experiencing. Ordinarily, the form tutor is the person who contacts a parent if there is a problem at school; however, the Year Leader or Guidance Teacher may contact the parents, since the form tutor has full-time responsibility as a specialist subject teacher.
Private tutors
A private tutor is a private instructor who teaches a specific educational subject or skill to an individual studentStudent
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
or small group of students. Such attention allows the student to improve knowledge or skills far more rapidly than in a classroom
Classroom
A classroom is a room in which teaching or learning activities can take place. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, including public and private schools, corporations, and religious and humanitarian organizations...
setting. Tutors are often privately hired and paid by the student, the student's family or an agency. Many are used for remedial students or others needing special attention; many provide more advanced material for exceptionally capable and highly motivated students, or in the context of homeschooling
Homeschooling
Homeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...
. Tutelage is the process of being under the guidance of a tutor. Tutoring also occurs when one adult helps another adult student to study a specific course or subject that he/she is taking to get a better result. The adult can also let the student work on his/her own, and can be there if the student has any questions.
Academic coaching
Academic coaching is an evolution of mentoring applied to academics. Mentoring implies the student is an empty vessel into which knowledge is poured. Coaching involves a more collaborative approach, assuming the student is already in the "game" of learning. Coaches help students learn how they best learn and how to operate in an academic environment. Tutors help students learn the material in individual courses while coaches help students learn how to be successful in school. In college, that includes such topics as: study skillsStudy Skills
Study skills or study strategies are approaches applied to learning. They are generally critical to success in school, are considered essential for acquiring good grades, and are useful for learning throughout one's life....
, time management, stress management, effective reading, note-taking, test-taking, and understanding how to use a syllabus. Academic coaches meet with the student regularly throughout the semester, usually once a week. Coaches work with students in all kinds of situations, not just those who are struggling academically. Some highly motivated, high-achieving students will have a coach to improve their learning efficiency. Academic coaching also occurs to help students prepare for entrance exams to gain entry to schools or universities. Academic coaching is a huge industry in Asia. For example, in India, a majority of students, be it of any class or stream, visit a coaching center or a "study circle."
Academic tutoring
Students currently enrolled in a type of higher education passing down the knowledge to other peers in an academic field of study is known as academic tutoring. This is seen as important for students who are struggling to get help from others in an academic setting so that they can excel. A classroom setting is typically not enough for students to learn all of the material that they need to know in order to pass the test or to go on to harder classes. Academic tutoring from students at a higher grade level or experience (Ivy League Schools) in an academic setting can help to encourage and strengthen a student so that they do not fall behind.Online tutoring
Online tutoring is a new way for a student to receive help, either scheduled or on-demand. Sessions are done through a proprietary application where a student and tutor can communicate. Common tools include chat, whiteboard, web conferencing, teleconferencing and other specialized applets which make it easier to convey information back and forth. For example, there may be a specialized applet designed specifically for mathematics which allow the use of symbols.Online tutoring has been gaining popularity over the past couple of years due to the ease of being able to connect to a tutor at moment's notice when help is required. This is especially effective when a student is studying for a test that is scheduled for the next day at school and is stumped on a particular problem. Not all online tutoring companies offer an on-demand tutoring service.
Home tutoring
In-home tutoring is a form of tutoring that occurs in the home. It is also known as "Private Tutoring" or "Personal Tutoring". Tutoring is receiving guidance or instruction by a tutor. Most often the tutoring relates to an academic subject or test preparation. This is in contrast to tutoring centers or tutoring provided through after-school programs. The service most often involves one-on-one attention provided to the pupil.Solution assistance
Solution assistance is a growing trend in the field of mathematics tutoring. This method of checking the accuracy of answers is particularly helpful for students without a computer or those students that live in remote areas.Writing tutor
In Canada and the United States, writing tutor is the common term used for individuals working one-on-one with students in college and university writing centers. The terms tutor and consultant are often used interchangeably, and both terms are used with deliberation as they are seen to represent a specific relationship, role, or activity between tutor and tutee. For example, Griffin, Keller, Pandey, Pedersen, and Skinner in their 2003-2004 survey of North American writing centers describe a tutor as an expert providing a less expert learner with knowledge, implying a transmission approach. In contrast, the consultant, also expert, collaborates with the tutee in addressing the writing task, implying a social constructivist approach. Others who use the term writing tutor describe the tutor as facilitating learning through active listening, responding, as well as using silence and wait time. Taking the cue from the student, these writing tutors function much like the consultants described by Griffin et al., offering suggestions and working together on a given writing task. Regardless of the title, the intent and actions of the tutor are important to writing center practitioners. A tutor may say he/she is acting collaboratively with the student and unknowingly be enforcing her or his own agenda.See also
- Learning by teachingLearning by teachingIn professional education, learning by teaching designates currently the method by Jean-Pol Martin that allows pupils and students to prepare and to teach lessons, or parts of lessons...
- MentorshipMentorshipMentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person....
- Peer-mediated instructionPeer-mediated instructionPeer-mediated instruction is an approach in special education where peers of the target students are trained to provide necessary tutoring in educational, behavioral, and/or social concerns....
- Teaching assistantTeaching assistantA teaching assistant is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include graduate teaching assistants , who are graduate students; undergraduate teaching assistants , who are undergraduate students; secondary school TAs, who are either high school...
- Tuition agencyTuition agencyA tuition agency is a commercial organisation which specialises in introducing tutors to students requiring help in the academic area. Tuition agencies exist largely due to the problems parents and students face in finding a specialist who can help them with the study of one or more specific...
- TutorialTutorialA tutorial is one method of transferring knowledge and may be used as a part of a learning process. More interactive and specific than a book or a lecture; a tutorial seeks to teach by example and supply the information to complete a certain task....
- Virtual educationVirtual educationVirtual education refers to instruction in a learning environment where teacher and student are separated by time or space, or both, and the teacher provides course content through the use of methods such as course management applications, multimedia resources, the internet, and videoconferencing...