RAPPORT
Issue 5 (August 2020)
The effective operation of personal
tutoring systems faces number of
challenges, which many of the case
studies in the CRA/SEDA portfolios have
explored. The literature on personal
tutoring mentions recurrent concerns,
which the case studies reflect: lack of
reward and recognition for the role
(Luck, 2010; Myers, 2008); a disparity of
views among tutors on what the role
entails and how it should be carried out
(Owen, 2002; Wootton, 2006); the
difficulty of getting staff engaged and
enthusiastic about the role (Grant, 2006;
Luck, 2010); the need for training and
support for tutors (Hughes et al., 2018;
Luck, 2010; Macfarlane, 2016; Owen,
2002; Ridley, 2006); and the need for
better liaison between central support
services and the faculties (Grant, 2006;
2007).
Those leading personal tutoring at a local
level, either as senior tutors or as leaders
of a specific project in personal tutoring,
can be hampered by gaps in policy and
uncooperative colleagues. At times,
senior tutors may be overwhelmed by the
feeling that the overall responsibility for
student welfare in their area lies with
them. They may need to motivate staff
towards attitudes and behaviours that
foster student engagement. While a
number of the case studies mention
training for personal tutoring, interestingly
there is no mention among them of
support or training specifically for the
senior tutor role. Much training and
development happens on the job by
identifying and dealing with challenges,
followed by reflection, as the case
studies attest. The academic literature
identifies some approaches to
professional development for tutors
(Luck, 2010; Macfarlane, 2016) and
most, if not all, university personal
tutoring policies mention briefing and
training for tutors (usually the
responsibility of the senior personal tutor
or tutor co-ordinator). However, only a
handful of tutoring policies allude to
training for the role of Senior Personal
Tutor. Of course, most contributors to
this Special Edition, while not necessarily
senior tutors, have completed the CRA /
SEDA award in Personal Tutoring and
Academic Advising, a substantial
development activity, and in the following
case studies, we can see how
participants engaged in development
focussed either on themselves or others.
What the case studies tell us
Organisation and leadership
A number of different structural issues
were identified as being stumbling blocks
to effective tutoring. The way the system
is set up may militate against it being
effective in creating successful
relationships between tutor and tutee.
While university policy may require that
students are allocated a tutor and
informed of who that is, the allocation
may not follow any criteria to ensure
optimal matching, and tutors may be
overloaded with more tutees than they
can relate to (as in Portfolio 31, CS 3).
In addition, the system itself may be
cumbersome to work with, making the
allocation more difficult:
The initial allocation of Personal
Tutors to students was in itself
complex as the university systems
could not provide up to date lists of
staff who were available to be
assigned the role of Personal Tutors
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