A private tutor is a person who works with students one-on-one to provide extra help and instruction in a specific subject. Tutors for younger students may provide general assistance with schoolwork, such as assisting students in developing good study skills or assisting them in test preparation. A private tutor may be paid for his or her services, or he or she may do it as a volunteer. Some colleges and universities will give students college credit for tutoring other students if they complete a certain number of hours per semester, but this is not common.
Anyone with knowledge of a particular subject can choose to work as a private tutor. Peers or older students tutor each other, or older students work with younger students, in many schools. Students working in a specific major in college may work with students who are required to take courses in that major but are having difficulty with it. Students pursuing English or communications degrees, for example, will frequently work as private tutors at a campus “writing center” or other study center to assist students with writing and editing class papers.
A person who is not currently enrolled in school may choose to become a private tutor, as these services are frequently paid. Retired teachers, for example, frequently tutor students, and parents are generally more comfortable with this. A teacher may work with a student in a specific area where he or she is having difficulty and offer assistance, or the teacher may develop lesson plans to assist students more broadly. Individuals who are simply experts in certain fields, whether or not they have previously taught professionally, may choose to become private tutors.
Academic work isn’t the only thing that private tutoring can help with. Individuals learning a musical instrument or improving their singing voice may benefit from private tutoring. Students who are particularly committed to a sport, such as those seeking a college scholarship in the sport, may hire someone to work with them one-on-one to help them develop the skills they need to succeed. There is almost no better way to learn than receiving one-on-one instruction from a subject matter expert, which is why so many people hire a private tutor at some point in their lives.