How to Make the Switch from Teaching to Tutoring

What’s the difference between teaching and tutoring?

The two are very much interlinked, and the chances are if you’re good at one you’ll probably be good at the other. However, which one you prefer is all down to your preference on how you’d like to teach. Teaching involves following the curriculum and providing instruction to a large number of students at any one time, while tutoring, involves meeting your students in either one-to-one sessions or small groups.

Tutoring allows you to focus directly on the needs of a small number of students. In that respect, can feel much more rewarding when these students improve due to your personalised guidance.

Essential skills for tutors

Tutoring isn’t for everyone; there are those that make amazing teachers but just can’t get the hang of tutoring effectively. To be an effective tutor these are the skills we recommend that you have:

• Communication: Contrary to teaching, when you are dealing with a set learning plan, many students that tutors deal with need things explained in a way that’s easier to understand. A tutor must also be incredibly knowledgeable on the topic their teaching to be able to answer any curveball questions that the students may have.
• Patience: Tutors must have patience with their students who are struggling with topics. Give their students as much time as they need to fully understand the topic at hand.
• Flexibility: Tutors must be readily available to change their plans last minute if specific topics are more challenging.
• Organisation: Tutors must be organised and keep track of all their student’s progress with incredible care.
• Professionalism: Tutors must maintain a professional relationship with their students and keep the student’s best interests at heart. This means refraining from personal conversations, being punctual and reliable, and maintaining confidentiality.

How to make the transition from Teaching to Tutoring

Making the transition from teaching to tutoring can be a challenging experience. Before making the switch, we suggest taking on some volunteer tutoring roles whilst working as a teacher to test the waters. This not only helps confirm whether tutoring is a good fit for you, but it also helps you gain some notable experience in tutoring when looking for clients or for when you join a tutoring business like Powertutors.

If you’re fully dedicated to becoming a tutor you can get started on completing certifications. Being a teacher before becoming a tutor comes with the benefits of already having completed a lot of the mandatory qualifications you need before teaching a specialist area, such as getting a degree and completing teacher training. Additional qualifications will help you boost your desirability as a tutor.

Finally, it’s about getting yourself out there. Finding clients and creating a solid portfolio of work for yourself.

Tips for finding a tutoring business to join

Tutoring can be a solo career if that’s what you want, but we suggest joining a tutoring business like Powertutors who’ll help get you students, manage your finances and much more. Having a portfolio of past work, be it teaching or tutoring is a great start and will show a tutoring business that you know your stuff. To get started with Powertutors, we don’t require you to have any past tutoring experience. So, if you’re ready to make the jump straight from teaching to tutoring click here to get in touch.