RAPPORT
Issue 5 (August 2020)
such work ‘attentive facework’ and
suggest it offers many benefits:
‘Skilled instructional facework
predicted students’ less defensive
responses to criticism and their
higher credibility ratings of their
instructors. Findings support
attentive instructional facework as a
communication mechanism whose
skilful use aids feedback’s reception
and integration and enhances
instructors’ credibility as worthy
feedback providers.’
This has significant implications for staff
training and provision of ongoing support
for staff in this role. If we acknowledge the
skillset demonstrated here then there is a
need to move on from treating tutorials as
an ‘assumed activity’ (Small, 2013: 4) and
scrutinise exactly what expert tutors do
and which aspects of expert practice
universities would like to foster and
develop more widely.
Secondly it also implies a need to
radically question the extent to which
such learning development conversations
can be replicated by multiple personnel
not known to the students. While crossteam
referral is an everyday feature of
academic support in massive UK
institutions, it is an area of practice that is
under-scrutinized and embodies the
contested nature of academic support in
Higher Education.
The value evident in these discussions
with an insider and informant who fully
understands the academic context further
supports the need to contest
oversimplified accounts of academic and
personal tutoring which position learners
as autonomous consumers. The portfolios
analysed here present a rich account of
academic support that points towards the
need for further research to examine how
well academic support services interact
and how consistently and effectively
students are able to navigate these crossinstitutional
pathways independently.
From this small sample we can say that
when tutors provide academic support
they are teaching and this is a messier,
more dynamic process than our
theoretical or institutional accounts would
allow. To paraphrase; ‘effective tutoring is
as difficult as the learning it seeks to
promote’ (Wood et al.,1998).
References
Bailey, R. (2010) The role and efficacy of
generic learning and study support:
What is the experience and perspective
of academic staff? Journal of Learning
Development in Higher Education,
Issue 2, p 2-14.
Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006) Using
thematic analysis in psychology,
Qualitative Research in Psychology,
3(2), 77-101
Brownfield, K. & Wilkinson, A. (2018)
Examining the impact of scaffolding on
literacy learning: A critical examination
of research and guidelines to advance
inquiry. International Journal of
Educational Research, 90, 177-190
Clegg, S. & Rowland, S. (2010) Kindness
in pedagogical practice and academic
life. British Journal of Sociology of
Education, 31(6): 719-735
Centre for Development of Teaching and
Learning, Reading University (2020)
Report on A-Z of Assessment Methods,
At:
https://www.reading.ac.uk/web/files/eia/A-
Z_of_Assessment_Methods_FINAL_table.
pdf (accessed 05.08.20)
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