RAPPORT
Issue 5 (August 2020)
was on track. This time however I
listened carefully and asked open
ended questions to determine how
they had gotten themselves into this
situation. I asked questions such as
"what they thought they needed to do
to ensure they meet deadlines and
that the work produced was of a high
standard." It was refreshing that the
student had come up with action
points from the questions asked and
during check out it was apparent that
key learning had taken place to
ensure that this situation did not
arise again.
It really highlighted the importance of
listening and challenged my ability to
ask questions to clarify the issue and
ask probing questions that provide
opportunities for the student to reflect
and help them to make choices.
Beyond these illustrations it is also
possible to discern elements of practice
associated with coaching and
mentoring approaches albeit where this
is not acknowledged explicitly.
For example, in the context of a case
study describing a first generation HE
student who met his assigned adviser on
several occasions during his time as a
student (Portfolio 6, CS 4). These
included a ‘difficult’ feedback meeting on
his formative assignment after about six
weeks of his first year. This achieved a
mark of 30%, lacking structure,
demonstrated ‘quite a poor level of
academic writing’ and needed significant
work on referencing. Subsequent meetings
related to his financial situation and his
perceived lack of academic attainment.
Elements of the practice presented in this
case study may be linked to a coaching
approach. In respect of the initial meeting
for example, the tutor wrote:
I listened to his concerns and we
discussed what he could do to make
improvements quickly that would
make a significant difference to his
work. We devised an Action Plan to
help make more substantial
developments to future summative
assessments and arranged to meet
in a few weeks to see how he was
progressing with the Action Plan -
this interim meeting seemed to be
needed due to his concern about
adjusting to the academic
requirements of university.
Equally this practice could be seen to have
the hallmarks of a mentoring perspective.
In respect of a further meeting, for
example, this student discussed leaving
University due to financial pressures, the
Tutor reporting:
we discussed options open to him in
terms of Student Financial Support
and just before the start of his
second year of studies he contacted
me to say that he was now planning
to return to University to complete his
studies.
The Tutor indicated their view that:
this aligns to the suggestion by
Yorke and Thomas (2003) that
students might be more likely to
persist in their studies if they have
developed a relationship with the
institution and critically that they feel
they will be supported to reach their
goals by a relevant individual…. I
had been able to build that
relationship and gave him an easy
point of contact to be able to identify
that he'd had second thoughts about
leaving.
Such an emphasis upon the quality of
relationship built over time connects
appropriately with the value of the socioemotional
elements of a relationship linked
56