RAPPORT
Issue 5 (August 2020)
Support was put in place to develop
study skills, manage workload and
time management. The student was
encouraged to join the gym and play
football again in an attempt to
increase self-esteem. (Portfolio 20,
CS 3)
To re-engage and motivate the
student to pass, short- and mediumterm
goals were established which
were to be reviewed on a regular
basis. Regular contact both formally
through structured APA meetings
and informally during or following
seminars was made. . . Monitoring
progress against targets ensured a
focussed approach to development
and opportunities to provide praise
which lead to improved self-esteem
and confidence. (Portfolio 20, CS 3)
I also wanted to ensure that Julie
was aware and was able to access
the support systems on her course.
This included talking about academic
support that was available via
(central academic skills service), as
well as the employability support we
are developing (particularly as she
wants to gain some relevant *********
work). These formal support systems
can be complemented by looking at
other systems of support. So, as her
academic tutor we need to talk about
her academic development at the
next tutorial. (Portfolio 11, CS 1)
These tasks seem designed to scaffold
student learning, and through task
completion engage the student in ‘a
process that enables [them] to solve a
task or achieve a goal that would be
beyond his unassisted efforts’ (Wood,
Bruner & Ross 1976: 90). While the term
has been critiqued, Brownfield and
Wilkinson (2018) identify three key
aspects of scaffolding: intersubjectivity;
contingent support; and release of
responsibility to the learner. These can be
mapped to what is happening in tutorials
in terms of establishing a functional tutortutee
relationship, providing sufficient and
appropriate support and then withdrawing
to encourage more autonomous
behaviour. This overall drive to support
development of student agency and
control over their own learning matches
tutor explanations of their own tutorial
activities:
This I believe will help students to be
partners in their own learning and will
ultimately help to scaffold their
personal academic development
thus reducing some of the over
dependency that currently exists.
(Portfolio 8, CS 4)
Another apt description of tutorial tasks is
Gourlay's use of the term 'threshold
practices'. His description of ‘analysis,
practice opportunities and formative
feedback’ covers the bulk of activities
completed in tutorials (Gourlay 2009).
This term draws on threshold concepts
that have the potential to ‘unlock dialogue
and uncover dissent surrounding tacit
knowledge’ (Lucas & Mladenovic 2007:
239-240).
The terms ‘threshold practices’ and
‘scaffolding learning’ are useful in
examining and unpacking tutorial
practices. They both reflect the rich,
dynamic, open-ended, learning-focused
tutorial conversations and practices.
However, in the tutorials cited in this last
section the tutor shifts from engaging the
student in learning, to learning
management and directs the tutee to
access additional external services to this
end.
This particular study provides little
scrutiny or evaluation of the efficacy of
this approach to signpost students on to
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