Hey all. Thx for all the feedback on “Exam Prep” vs. “Test Prep” a couple weeks ago. Great points were made here in the forums and we had a lot of good replies on Twitter as well. We’ve decided to go with “Exam Prep” and you’ll see that reflected throughout the site in the coming weeks.

Now we have another to ask for your feedback on: “Tutor” vs “Teacher” :)

When we started eduFire it was all about 1-on-1 learning and so calling all of you “Tutors” made the most sense. However, as most of you know we’ve expanded our offerings into multi-student classrooms and calling someone who teaches multiple students at a time a “tutor” is a bit non-standard. We can certainly refer to those who are teaching on our site as both “tutors” and “teachers” but my concern is that could end up being a bit confusing, especially to our newer guests and members.

Changing the messaging from “tutor” to “teacher” seems straight-forward enough but I think there are some very important considerations here, not the least of which is that “teacher” has connotations of formality, etc. in many areas and that’s not exactly the vibe we’re trying to send. :)

Would love to hear your thoughts? What should we collectively call all of you talented people who are tutoring and teaching on our site?! :)

It’s a sticky wicket…. hmm….

I usually refer to myself as a teacher, because for most of my regular students, I’m their primary instructor. Then again, for some of my students, I act as just an outside-of-class resource, for which I am their tutor.

I like the informal vibe that “tutor” has, but I feel like “teacher” offers the structure that a lot of students are looking for. Kind of like there’s a continuum between “teacher” and “conversation partner,” and “tutor” seems somewhere in the middle.

I don’t know how I feel. My natural instinct is “teacher,” because I’m usually prepared with lesson plans and procedure, but so many connotations can come out of it.

Yeah, that was probably unhelpful.

It’s a tough question, I would consider one a teacher when s/he’s holding classes, but a tutor when s/he is working one on one with someone at a personal level. I myself don’t hold classes so I would consider myself a tutor.

I’m a teacher

Putting on my legal hat, does teacher imply that we all have teaching certification or credentials? I do like the term “teacher” better. If I sign up for a foreign language course, since I only know one language, eduFire is providing me a teacher. To me a tutor provides additional help with a subject that the student has some familiarity. Just want to make sure potential students don’t feel misrepresented by their interpretation of the word “teacher”. How about “instructor”?

My friends call me professor, but that’s another story.

When I think of 1:M classes, I think of teacher. When I think of 1:1 classes, I think of tutor.

A “tutor” sounds more like a person who may or may not be in the education field, but has a special expertise in a specific subject.

This actually is a very hard choice. I’m going back and forth. I usually refer to myself as a teacher because I am! :) I work everyday (M-F) in a school. But, I also tutor one to one, so I am also a tutor! I guess it all depends on the situation!

Maybe it would be a good idea to let everyone choose what they are to be called. Make it a pull down tab. “I am a (Tutor,Teacher,Instructor)”

Good feedback all. Please keep it coming. You guys have identified a lot of the issues that make this one so tough! :)

This perhaps echoes part of Valerie’s post but, there is an adage about teachers not being made but born. I don’t think the same applies to tutors. A tutor may be able to educate another (or many) through the possession of particular knowledge, whereas a teacher perhaps has a wider knowledge base that includes the most effective methods of communicating information in the format that best suits the learning style of individual learners. I think some of the most effective teachers are not necessarily the ones with specialist knowledge, but they are generally the most inspirational ones. But that is not to suggest that some tutors can’t be teachers too.

Everything Jacquie said! :)

Many people associate “teacher” with someone who has a teaching certification. If we use teacher, we’ll have a flood of inquiries whether all teachers at Edufire are certified. I suggest that we use “tutor,” but give tutors with teaching certifications/degrees an option to highlight their qualifications with a “certified teacher” badge (or something similar) in their profiles.

Decided to check dictionary.com to see the definitions for teacher and instructor.

teacher – a person who teaches or instructs, esp. as a profession;

instructor – 1. a person who instructs; teacher.
2. a teacher in a college or university who ranks below an assistant professor.

teach – to impart knowledge of or skill in; give instruction in

instruct – to furnish with knowledge, esp. by a systematic method; teach; train; educate.

Jon, I think the best thing to do is ask people not directly associated with eduFire, if someone online said they were a teacher of English or any subject, would they expect that person to have teaching certification, to be able to teach in a public school?

Public school is a good “unit of reference.” For example, I am TEFL-certified which allows me to teach at private schools or in language schools overseas. However, I could not teach nor substitute teach in any Massachusetts public school.

I think it boils down to the customers’ perceptions and expectations.

Outside of eduFire, I have worked as both a Tutor and Teacher (although I prefer to refer to myself as an Instructor whenever that is the case). From my point of view, if I’m doing a 1 to 1 session with a student to work on answer questions and reinforcing a specific topic. If on the other hand I either conduct a 1 to many session, or follow a structured syllabus, or both; I wouldn’t mind being called a Teacher or an Instructor.

Ultimately however, I think the decision of what to call us comes down to the student. Because of this, they must understand that if they do decide to call us Teachers or Instructors, we might not fully comply with everything that their local laws and standards might define anyone as such, like an official state or national teacher certification.

Of course that doesn’t mean we won’t provide the best quality instruction why got to offer. Up until this point, we have been getting positive results from those that decide to try our service as is. As for those that might still be a bit skeptical; well, aside from any credential, I believe that our feedback from students is what will show that we are people they can rely on for their educational needs.

Hi everyone!, I have been reading your ideas and in my opinion I like the word “teacher”, mainly because it has been my profession for many years, and I didn´t feel very comfortable with the word tutor at first. Then I thought it might be a matter or usage, and I thought, ok, let´s call myself a tutor.

The name is not the thing named, but it does have an impact on what the “reader” perceives, so actually, I think it depends on what message Edufire wants to give to prospective and current students. (We are not calling “students” any other words, aren´t we?)

Also, I have found many tutors and teachers that have what it takes to be a good “facilitator, teacher, tutor”, the “HEART” it takes to empower your students (and many others that don´t as well)

So, it all comes down to one aspect: Do you have the heart to empower a person, that may be your student, and then become his/her teacher?

I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s distinction and reasoning of the title usage “tutor” and “teacher”: formality, certification, 1:1 vs 1:M, etc. I understand it all and agree at differing degrees. My understanding is Tutor: a helper of reviewing material that has already been covered by a “teacher” vs. Teacher: someone who instructs a skill or knowledge in depth and inspires the student to want to learn more. Teacher does sound more formal, and suggest more expertise & experience. I feel like more of a “teacher” in 1:M classes or when I’m teaching more basic levels of the language. When teaching (a group of) intermediate or higher student(s), I want to be a facilitator of learning, because a lot of times, learning occurs with little push and assistance from the “teacher”.
I do understand the “temperature” of eduFire wanting to be/stay more on the friendly/informal side, and also the US value (or more an ideal) of teacher-student being on a level playing field.
I personally consider myself a teacher, at all times during class (ex.address me as "sensei"). For some professions (ex.counselor) or from cultural standpoints (ex.Japanese), you can only be one role at a time: you are a teacher or a friend, you can’t be both at the same time :)
I emotionally agree with Jacqui & Fabiana’s posts the “anyone can be a tutor but few can be a real teacher” sentiment. Teachers, in my view, are held at a higher standard of being role models as well. I think this topic really warrants further discussion!

Well I do not like the teacher concept a person who is a teacher usually refers to their selfs as if they are doing this just for a living or something to pass time. A tutor is person who sticks with you along the way that you learn and challenges you if not inspires you to achieve what ever goal you set. This is just my opinion I hoped you like it.

*Nods. Personally, I think that ‘Teacher’ has a lot of weight to it.

For example, we often call peers or people we just hire to help us with work our ‘tutor’ (usually the work is done in the home 1-on-1) and refer to our educators at schools as ‘teachers’.

So, perhaps restricting the usage of ‘Teacher’ to those people that have ‘official’ (as in, can teach in schools/University – etc) qualifications. For those who are just instructing with no world-recognised qualifications, call them tutors.

That said, we would have to consider whether it is in everyone’s best interests to separate those with world-qualifications and those without…

How about we all become ‘educators’?

Since I work in the corporate world, I define myself as a corporate trainer (formateur/formatrice)…. on my biz card, I am a “FSL Training Consultant”….

Around here, a tutor is someone who helps kids (outside regular school hours) with subjects they’re struggling with. Generally speaking, adults learners don’t have tutors…. they have teachers and trainers….

Teacher here.

I believe I would prefer the term instructor, although I acknowledge that the term implies formal training and experience.

At various times I have been referred to as a flight instructor, ground instructor, aviation training consultant, English instructor, English teacher, ‘acharn’ which is the Thai equivalent of professor, or ‘kru’ which simply means teacher.

Since I am both TEFL and aviation qualified, it doesn’t really matter whether I’m called a teacher, instructor, consultant, tutor or facilitator.

What does matter to me is that I function as a facilitator in either a language or aviation context. In other words I act to facilitate learning while the class remains ‘student centred’ in recognition of the fact that students can learn a lot from each other as well as from the instructor. Conversely, he or she can always learn from the students.

I like ‘educator’ because it chimes with eduFire and it really does say what we all try to do – from the Latin educo, educere, eduxi eductum – to lead out. We lead students out from lack of understanding and into the light :-) we do this whether we are instructing or consulting or teaching or facilitating …. we are taking a lead in educating others. Maybe we could fiddle about with this a bit though and coin a new word that mimics the eduFire name : eduLeader, eduFriend, any other ideas?

Mair, your idea is great!
eduBurner and eduBurning? Teachers can start the fire, students are burning.
Or some similar metaphor….
Mine is not very immediate.
Maybe something better comes to your mind, people.

By the way, I think that a TRUE teacher should have some badge, some advice, and maybe a bit icon near his/her picture to demonstrate the degrees obtained, the experience in real life and so on. Katherine said that, if I am right.

Great idea Marzia – we need to bring in the fire part! eduLighter? eduSpark?

I think the word used should have the broadest, and most neutral meaning possible. Some “edufire tutors” are professional teachers that do classes, some are tutors that guide you in their specific field of knowledge, some may be counselors, trainers, educators, consultants…. Close meanings, but not always synonyms. Each tutor/teacher/etc. may certainly have a different opinion on what their job consists in, and on what title is best suited to represent said job. Which is fine, diversity is a good thing! :-) However, having different titles for different people seems to me a little weird, and impractical. For one, it would make choosing a new name for the “tutor list” on the home page quite tricky. Actually, to explain who you are, what you really do (“I’m a professional teacher”, “I’m a native dude with experience helping people learning my language”, “I’m a consultant”, etc), the curriculum page is just fine, and much more detailed than any title could be.

So, is there a word, in the English language, which is a broad a neutral way to say “A person that makes other people learn something, in one way or another”? “Educator” sounds fine to me, but I am not a native English speaker.