the policy and practice of support for the individual student.
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Transcript the policy and practice of support for the individual student.
Up Close and Personal: The
policy and practice of support
for the individual student
Jenny Kean
I’m really depressed. I can’t sleep, then I
can’t get up to face the world. It’s all
getting out of control.
I’ve got problems going on at home – my
parents are splitting up and my dad’s got
serious health issues.
My grand-dad’s paying for me to be here –
but I just don’t want to be doing this. It’s
going to break his heart if I go - but I don’t
want to stay. How can I tell my family?
I have to travel to Sheffield 3 days a week
for work – is there any way I can access
some kind of hardship fund?
I’m suffering quite badly from anxiety.
Should I go to the doctors?
I don’t get on with my flatmates at all. I
just can’t seem to make friends
I’ve wanted to come to university since I
was 11 years old. It was my dream – but
I’m just not enjoying it.
I’m not learning anything – what am I
getting for my money?
The context
Thomas & Hixenbaugh (2006 p.3)
Increasing student numbers
Worsening staff/student ratios - staff
to student ratio at University of
Hertfordshire Business School went
from 25:1 to 35:1 in 6 years to 2006
(Bunce 2006)
The context (contd)
Greater student diversity – Owen
(2002)
Competing demands on staff
(learning & teaching, research,
admin)
Pressure to ensure high rates of
student retention and success
Bunce, S (2007)
Does personal tutoring matter?
Student satisfaction and success
(Thomas & Hixenbaugh 2006, Race 2010, Neville 2007
p.138)
Retention – “to increase retention you
must personalise your relationship with
your students” (Chapman 2003, Neville 2007
p.12)
Follow the money -“It’s cheaper to
retain than to recruit”; the student not
just as “consumer” but “investor”
(Thomas & Hixenbaugh 2006 )
Does personal tutoring matter?
We’ve said it does. Although…
“This is usually work that goes on
literally and metaphorically behind
closed doors and without accolades.”
How much do we really value it?
Neville 2007 p.3
What the students want
Regular, frequent, scheduled
meetings
A PT who takes an active role
throughout their degree
A PT who is accessible, approachable
and reliable
A PT who is enthusiastic and cares
about them
They want to be “known, ‘tracked’
and supported” throughout
Owen 2002, Thomas & Hixenbaugh 2006
“Only Connect”
E.M. Forster
“It is becoming clear that relationships are
at the heart of the issue of the students’
experience of university.”
Thomas & Hixenbaugh 2006 p.55
What personal tutors say
I’m looking after all these students –
but who’s looking after me?
The cling-on effect
I wouldn’t give it up. [It’s] one part of the job
where it is possible to make a difference to
someone.
Thomas & Hixenbaugh 2006
The Pastoral model
Earwaker 1992
May be reactive or proactive
Are regular meetings structured in?
Is the role of the personal tutor clearly
defined to both the tutor and student?
“Niche” time
“In the mass university, the ideal [of the
caring, committed pastoral tutor] works
only at a huge cost in terms of peoplehours and stress.” (Owen 2002)
The Professional model
Based on providing ‘professional’ support
services
Different models – one-stop shop, Student
Support and Guidance (including Academic
Advisers)
Available when students need it
Highly reactive
No consistency, no relationship
Teaching staff ‘pass the buck’
Thomas & Hixenbaugh 2006, Bunce 2007
The curriculum model
Module with personal tutor group
Learning skills, info about institution and HE
generally
Allows relationships to develop between
student and PT, but also amongst peers
Makes it a positive developmental
experience, rather than just being about
‘problems’
Takes time out of the curriculum
Students don’t readily buy into anything
perceived as ‘not what I’m here to do’
Bunce 2007, Thomas & Hixenbaugh 2006
My practice – what worked
Part of induction
Scheduled meetings built in to profile
Appointments, not fill-your-own-slot
Referring ‘doubters’ to 2nd yr students
My practice – what didn’t work
Lack of clarity about roles and liaison with
other depts
Lack of follow-up
‘Knowing, tracking, supporting’ (Owen
2002) – little or none of the 1st two
Lack of knowledge about uni regs,
systems, other services that could help
them
Lack of training or help in skills I might
need to help students
An action plan
Get to know SL officer and meet regularly
Build in follow-up
Google docs to share marks/attendance?
Contact hours (Neville 2007 p.33)
Mentoring
Training/induction for new tutors
Try a more curriculum-embedded model?
Magic wands
and
happy endings?
Leeds Met puts students at the
heart of everything we do…
Assessment, Learning & Teaching Strategy 2008-12
Leeds Metropolitan University
References
Neville, L., 2007 The Personal tutor’s handbook. Basingstoke, Palgrave
Race, P. & LMU Teacher Fellows, 2010 Making personal tutoring work. Leeds
Met Press
Thomas, L .& Hixenbaugh, P. (eds), 2006 Personal tutoring in higher education.
Stoke on Trent, Trentham Books
JOURNALS
Bunce, S. (2006) ‘Establishing a student support and guidance office to replace
personal tutoring in University of Hertfordshire Business School’, The Higher
Education Academy, August
Bunce, S. (2007) ‘Personal or Systematic? Do we have to take the ‘personal’
out of personal tutoring in HE?’, Higher Education Review 40 (1) Autumn pp
85-87
Owen, M. (2002) ‘Sometimes you feel you’re in niche time: The personal tutor
system, a case study’, Active Learning in Higher Education, 3: 7
Stephen, D., O’Connell, P. & Hall, M. (2008) ‘’Going the extra mile’, ‘firefighting’ or ‘laissez-faire? Re-evaluating personal tutoring relationships within
mass higher education’, Teaching in Higher Education,13 (4) August pp449-460
Trotter, E (2004) ‘Personal Tutoring: Policy v. Reality of Practice’, Education in
Changing Environment conference, University of Salford