I’d Rather Teach Individual Students: Pros and Cons of Tutoring

In the classroom, there can be different ways of teaching, and ways this can be adjusted to meet all students’ needs. This helps ensure all students are on the same level of understanding by the end of the lesson before moving on to another topic. Teaching one-to-one can help meet individual students’ needs and wants, while teaching in a group allows all students to work together in pairs to help each other out, and may even make them feel more comfortable. This essay will look at the specific differences, including the positive and negative factors, of teaching one-to-one and in a group setting.

This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Seniz G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.

What’s the difference between teaching one-to-one and group?

Indeed, varying teaching methods demonstrate utility in the classroom. For example, a one-to-one The model could provide students with additional and individually catered support. Further, group teaching could be deemed efficacious in enhancing students’ social engagement and subsequently, creating a supportive network within the classroom. Thus, this essay endeavors to explore the utility and drawbacks of one-to-one and group teaching.

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Benefits and downsides of tutoring

One to one teaching has many benefits for the student. One of these is that it minimizes stress for the student as they only have to interact with the teacher rather than with the whole class. It also allows the student to ask specific questions to the teacher, helping the student to learn at there own pace and ability. This creates a positive learning environment where the student can gain valuable educational outcomes.

However, teaching one to one also has its disadvantage as this type of teaching could restrict possibilities for the student to student interaction and group belonging. This may affect the student’s life skills and how they work together in the future with groups of people and how they interact. An example of this could be a lack of confidence, speaking in front of people, engaging with peers, and having shared their own opinion in a group.

Another negative factor is that it may encourage students to depend and rely on the teacher to always be around helping them and always having full attention. This may then lead to the student not being independent later on in life when this is most vital.

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Attracting attention

One main way to gather the students' attention and teach collectively is through group activities. This style of teaching creates a sense of belonging for all students, helping them to make friends during this educational period. Also, group teaching is an excellent way for young people to interact and meet people from different backgrounds and experiences. The introduction of meeting different people in group classes will be a skill each student will take with them as they go through life.

Alongside these factors group teaching works well for not only the students but quicker and easier to organize for the teacher. The reason being is as this gathers the whole class's attention where they can focus on activities at a quicker pace. Allowing students of difficult academic levels to help those in the class that is struggling and possibly leads to making new friends in a supportive and positive, learning and fun.

Also Read: The Specifics, Advantages, and Disadvantages of Teaching English One-to-One

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Even though there are many positive factors, group teaching does have its downfalls. Children with not much confidence might struggle to participate in group teaching as they tend to shy away from speaking up in class and sharing their ideas. It is important to remember each student is an individual and all have a different upbringing which may also affect the way they interact in group lessons. An example of this would be a student who may be an only child they may have not much family around there age to mix with and are used to being alone with there own company. This sort of student may find it hard to work in a group and be more comfortable with a one to one lesson.

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