Coaches are found in a variety of fields, including sports, business, fitness, finance, and education.
An educational coach provides one-on-one support to students, but so does a tutor. So you might be wondering, what makes an educational coach different from a tutor?
Tutors Focus on the Subject
Tutors are skilled in a specific subject matter, and they tend to focus on what a student needs to learn for a class. They use traditional teaching methods to help students work toward an outcome-oriented goal, usually earning a particular letter grade.
When a student is struggling with one subject in school, hiring a tutor is a great solution.
However, when a student is struggling in multiple subjects and can’t quite seem to wrangle all the skills involved in the learning process, consider hiring an educational coach.
Think about the coaches that you’ve encountered in your life and the role they played in helping you develop your strengths and achieve a goal.
For example, athletic coaches focus on teaching their athletes about the process of learning new skills through the use of a variety of strategies. A soccer coach would never instruct an athlete on how to shoot a goal and assume the remaining soccer skills are self-explanatory. Instead, the coach helps players learn and apply a comprehensive set of skills. The same is true for educational coaching.
Educational Coaches Focus on the Student
Educational Coaches take a well-rounded approach in assisting students. When working with students, Educational Coaches take into consideration a student’s academic, cognitive, and emotional strengths and challenges.
Rather than focusing on just the content, Educational Coaches support students in becoming better learners. Of course, we want our students to do well academically, but instead of focusing on the outcome, coaches shift the focus to the process of learning how to learn. This gives the student tools and strategies to use throughout their academic career and beyond.
Educational Coaching and Educational Therapy
The support and guidance our students receive goes beyond the one-on-one work they do with their Educational Coach. As TFALC’s Educational Therapist, Bonnie Weiss oversees the program of each individual student and collaborates with the student’s Educational Coach. In addition, when possible and approved by the parents, the student’s program is based on feedback from teachers and other professionals.
TFALC’s Educational Coaches have had extensive training in a broad range of learning disabilities. This training continues on a weekly basis by consulting with Bonnie, as well as other Educational Coaches, to learn and share new methods of coaching students to be successful lifelong learners.
When deciding between a tutor and an Educational Coach, it’s important to think about the kind of support your student needs. If you think your child might need educational coaching, read more about how to get started.