tutor

Tutoring is private academic support, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assistance or tutelage to one or more people on certain subject areas or skills. The tutor spends a few hours on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis to transfer their expertise on the topic or skill to the student (also called a tutee). Tutoring can take place in different settings. History Formal education is first attested among the scribes of ancient Egypt but, in most fields, instruction was traditionally handled on a personal basis, with most skills and professions long handed down within families or via apprenticeship until the modern era. In classical antiquity, the lower classes could pay for instruction in group settings like ludi but the upper classes preferred personalized home tutoring. In ancient China, some aristocratic tutors like Confucius and Mencius attracted so many students that they established influential philosophies. In ancient Greece, some sophists established lucrative careers teaching the important skills of public speaking for the assembly or courts; in Plato's works, Socrates provides similar services for free while criticizing the sophists for their presumed lack of concern for actual truth and understanding. In the case of the ancient Romans, the education of the patricians and wealthy plebeians was frequently provided by Greek slaves.