IS PERSONAL ACADEMIC TUTORING CHANGING THE WAY WE SUPPORT STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, HOW DO TUTORS FEEL ABOUT PERFORMING THE ROLE?

The Teaching Excellence Framework (2016) has a clear focus to improve the student experience through good quality teaching whilst demonstrating value for money education. This has led to a greater emphasis on the metrics of student satisfaction, retention and achievement and graduate employment. The introduction of dashboards and administrative systems to support personal tutors in monitoring and flagging “at risk” students seems to be the preferred method for universities to meet the challenge of these key changes.

An evolving system of student support is changing the way we record and audit the personal tutorial but is it changing the way we conduct the tutorials? My research asks personal academic tutors how they feel about performing the role. Although there are many models and theories to guide them, I have found varied practices based on individuals experience, confidence and skill.

In my presentation I will consider models and theory of personal tutoring, discuss different practices and support mechanisms for conducting a tutorial and explain the use of emotional labour and analyse the Personal academic tutor’s feelings of performing the role through the listening guides I poems (Gilligan 2006). Some of the key words may resonate with you and your experiences of conducting a personal academic tutorial.

In conclusion do you feel you “care” for your students well or are you “unsure” of how best to support them? Key words from the I poems will be used to assess how personal academic tutors feel about the role they play in supporting students to enjoy university, stay engaged and achieve a good outcome that will aid employability in a chosen career.