I used to be a student who had a tutor; and later I became a tutor myself. My underachievement in mathematics irritated me from full joy of schooling. Therefore, I went to a math tutor. She was an expert in her sphere with several years of experience. Tutoring was her additional work; her major one was at school. The world of getting into math was full of difficulties. Nevertheless, as it is said, hard work pays off. It did, I could finally make it from an underachievement to an achievement. Since then, math was one of my favorite subjects. Later, while pursuing my bachelor’s degree I used to do tutoring. Teaching English for preschool and elementary children was fun and useful way of spending holidays. Somewhere inside I understand that my former math tutor inspired me to become a tutor.
Although I no longer do tutoring, I have been thinking whether it is possible to make it as major way of making a living. There is a big stereotype that tutoring is only done by those who cannot obtain other normal job, housewives or students. Many people believe that it not a real job. In order to find an answer we need to look at both sides of tutoring job: pros and cons.
The main pros of being a tutor are the followings:
- Freedom of managing your own time. No one controls your working hours because you are a boss yourself.
- Healthier and less stressful tutor. It is an accepted fact that teaching a class of twenty or more students can be a stressful experience. When you are teaching one-on-one, all of the concentration surrounds that student.
- You see your fruits. A tutor can out all his or her energy to one student, instead of a whole class. An enormous pleasure brings seeing how your student grows and develops.
Besides these, there are some cons with tutoring as main profession:
- Seasonal feature. Time during school breaks is the most demanded for tutoring. In other words, your work depends on seasons.
- Unpaid word load. In comparison with schoolteachers, tutors have akin responsibilities such as preparing a lessons plan and materials for a lesson.
- No insurance and pension. As you work on yourself, there is no possibility for insurance and pension.
- No career development. There are no opportunities for making a tutoring a career unless you have enough money to open your own company with tutoring services.
By considering pros and cons of tutoring, as in any profession there are black and white patterns existing in tutoring. It is up to a person to decide if he or she wants pursue it as a major work.
References:
Tezpro.kz (2014, May). Preimushestva i riski v rabote repetitora [Advantages and risks in tutoring]. Retrieved from http://tezpro.kz/article/preimuschestva-i-riski-v-rabote-repetitora-p114
NUWG 
From my perspective, tutoring can be a real job. As you know, the number of students in classes rise rapidly and teachers at schools unable to give all students a quality education. I see tutoring as additional tool that helps students and their teachers in learning process. Moreover, tutoring is based on student-centered learning which, I think, the greatest thing in educational process. However, most of the times it is hard to find a real good tutor and the cost that parents have to pay to the children’s tutors is very high that not everyone can afford it. As for the career development and pension, I found out that everyone who wants to register its own business in Kazakhstan can open a sole proprietorship (ИП) in any service center (ЦОН) which costs only 20$.
LikeLike
Well, I think tutoring is a good start for young professionals to gain the experience of teaching. Also, it is the best way to practice your teaching skills. When you teach someone you have to remember all rules and prepare before conducting a class. It makes you to be ready for unexpected questions from your students. I agree with aseld that sometimes tutoring is more effective for students than just classes with a teacher where 20-25 students, because all attention of a teacher or tutor is on a student. Moreover, when you are teach someone at the same time you are learning, too. Tutoring is a great opportunity for 3th or 4th year students to earn money and gain experience as teachers.
LikeLike
Dear Asha, I think it is an excellent topic to debate!
I, as a person, who never had tutors, think that tutoring is unnecessary. From my personal experience, I always remember our teachers indefatigablely say us- “If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask” or “If you could not understand something, we can stay after classes”. Many teachers are eager to help their pupils. But the problem I see here: children themselves do not display the desire to ask the teacher to repeat or explain again. ( I suppose, many infants have fear to ask help).
I might be wrong, though, but I think it is like a new “spirit of the times”! It is kinda fashionable to send children to tutors or to different courses. Not long ago, I have witnessed a conversation of two mothers:
– You know, my child goes to maths tutor and to English courses!
– I tell you more: My son either goes to these subjects! Besides, I decided to send him also to the Russian language tutor.
I also believe that parents themselves can help thier offspring by mutual colloboration with teachers. It is vital to mention here, that youngsters can use Internet to pull up their knowledge. While sitting in the library, I see many students using youtube, where different tutors (or people who are good judge of their fields) online and FREE of CHARGE explore different techniques to sovle tasks in maths or physics.
Even if parents hire tutors, they should make certain that a tutor is really profient in the subject. Because many today just make money not caring whether they impart good knowledge.
LikeLiked by 1 person