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Teaching groups and one-to-one students can be quite different and equally challenging experience for both teachers and students. There are some reasons why. First of all, a teacher has to introduce a different course plan to one-on-one students and groups and modify his/her lesson plans all the time as students’ English level always differs. While working with individual clients, the teacher has to make sure that needs analysis is done accordingly. She/he has to introduce a course plan to one-to-one clients which is focused on improving their English in specific areas and in a way that each student is interested and involved in the lesson. On the other hand, it’s less likely that she/he can do needs analysis of every group member but instead she/he can do standardized tests to assess their language level. It’s almost impossible for teachers to make every group member interested and equally involved in every lesson as their interests/hobbies and profession varies, although, there are still lots of common topics to arouse interests. Secondly, one of the biggest differences between teaching one-to-one and groups is the lack of materials available for individual teaching. It’s always easier to find various teaching materials for the groups as there are plenty of resources available online and not only. There are lots of books which provide excellent exercises for group work. I remember I had to scroll lots of websites to find the proper materials for my one-on-one student and as I didn’t find what I was looking for. In the end, I had to modify and adjust tasks on my own. The material selection with one-on-ones becomes easier if we know our students and more we know about them more we can adjust materials for their development. Thirdly, one to one learners and groups get different amount of attention from the teacher. Individual clients have teachers’ 100% attention. They get individualized studying program, get corrected fast enough, receive feedback and can work at their own pace. Although, it’s not always easy for the teacher as it can get quite uncomfortable in one to one situation. As expectations tend to be high from the students view point, student and teacher might not get along because of their different personalities or opinions about some topics. It’s quite the opposite with the groups as they have to take turns and they get to learn about things they might not be interested at all. There is a lot of interaction between group members and lessons are more alive which makes teaching group less boring than one to one learning. Individual students have to do all the work and they don’t interact with other students and don’t socialize. For group members it’s the opposite. Group work can be motivating as they can interact, share interests and ideas with each other. Also, learning in a group is a peer collaboration. Students learn how to support each other, motivate and facilitate. Collaboration helps them to overcome shyness, get rid of complexes and discover leadership qualities in themselves. The student who is without a group is deprived of collaboration and doesn’t develop same skills equally. In conclusion,whether we’re teaching one-on-one students or groups, we always face challenges where we have to solve lots of issues related to course planning, students’ personalities, lack of materials or communication problems. But also, we have to approach differently individual clients and groups to make their learning experience at its best.
