Tackling the personal tutoring conundrum: A qualitative study on the impact of developmental support for tutors

Ben W Walker

doi:10.1177/1469787420926007

Abstract

The significance of personal tutoring continues to increase as a result of contextual developments and the outcomes of key research on student retention and success, and yet these developments simultaneously create significant challenges in delivery within the pastoral model of personal tutoring. In addition, it remains an under-developed and under-researched area. Personal tutors’ needs and concerns have been established, and assessment of an intervention to address them has been recommended. This study examines the impact of the intervention of tailored professional development materials for tutoring within a pastoral model created in response to these issues. It reveals the usefulness of this developmental support and the need for such guidance for this work. It is argued that there are implications in terms of approaches to tutoring within this pastoral model, developmental support provision and a need for consistency of standards in personal tutoring across the sector.

Highlights

The significance of personal tutoring continues to increase as a result of contextual developments and the outcomes of key research on student retention and success, and yet these developments simultaneously create significant challenges in delivery within the pastoral model of personal tutoring
The evolution of Earwaker’s (1992) three baseline tutoring models is evident from the range of hybrid versions existing in today’s institutions, including that of McIntosh’s (2018) ‘integrated model’ of personal tutoring, which combines the proactive elements of these three models
During the first set of interviews, personal tutors were asked for their views on the importance or otherwise of being a personal tutor, how confident they felt in the role and why, how they would define an ‘effective personal tutor’ and what the key attributes and functions of one would be, the recurring topics/issues raised by students in their tutorials, the support available and their use/usefulness or otherwise, what ‘gaps’ there might be in terms of the support provided, the impact/influence that they felt a personal tutor had on their students, their department and the university more widely and the relationship between personal tutoring and teaching

Summary

Methodology

The study was approved by the School of Education Research Committee at the University of Lincoln and a qualitative method was employed. Personal tutoring at the University of Lincoln reflects the ‘pastoral model’ (Earwaker, 1992) and, through having ‘senior tutors’ co-ordinating tutoring in academic schools, elements of the ‘integrated’ model (McIntosh, 2018)

Participants

Design

Findings

Discussion and conclusion