Role of Personal Tutor in Professional Education - Introduction

Discussion section of unpublished research - 

Williams M, 1999, ‘Exploring the Role of the Personal Tutor in Nurse Education, Department of Education, University of Surrey, unpublished.

Research into the understanding of the needs of students and perceptions of the tutors (within nurse education) helped to tease out the issues that are important to both students and tutors, with regard to this role (Williams 1999).

The main influence on the tutors’ perception of this important role is the past experience, both as a tutor and as a student. Both, the positive and negative experiences of support from a personal tutor, have been mentioned, along with the development of personal philosophy of education and commitment. Very few tutors look on other tutors as role models for the development of this role. The other big influence is the time constraints, particularly with regard to differing needs and motivation of students. This means that the provision of this service is based on the demands of individual needs. This, though a suitable approach, is based on reaction to the situation rather than a proactive approach and decision to provide individualised support. Some point out the influence of changes within nurse education and the nursing profession itself. This includes the move into higher education and the use of modular system in delivery of courses.

While the role appears to have developed through experiential learning on the part of the tutors, learning through role models has been limited. It is interesting to note that lack of literature is obvious, as that has not been mentioned as a factor influencing perception of the role. It appears that changes have been made in a reactive approach to role development, instead of using proactive methods to develop what is stated as an essential service by both the tutors and the students. This is surmised through the changes made in the functioning of personal tutors. In the past, the personal tutor had both academic and pastoral support roles to play. The personal tutor was generally available and accessible on site. 

With the move into higher education and amalgamation of different schools, the tutors travel between sites so availability and access have decreased. The introduction of a modular system brought about a split of pastoral support role from academic support role. For, the academic support, the part relating to the actual knowledge base, is now referred to the module operator while the personal tutor supports academic skills. This split, however, cannot be made in reality so students hold tutorials with module operators, and obtain complete academic support. This, along with time constraints, has brought about a change in the way we support our students. Philips (1994) agrees that, the academic support is the main role of the personal tutor, however it stems from some pastoral care of support and friendship. This will mean bringing back together the pastoral care and academic support within the role of the personal tutor.

The role as identified by the university does not to take into account this dichotomy. Therefore, there is likely to be a conflict generated between what is asked of the tutors, their own perception of the role and the limitations due to afore mentioned changes. So the high response rate, to my research, can be taken to be an interest by the tutors to have clarification and guidance regarding their role as a personal tutor as suggested by Earwaker (1989a, b).

The changes have thus affected the service the students get, and when students from various sites meet, there is an exchange of ideas, regarding the course as well as the support provided. So interest of the students can stem from two factors. First, the students could, have noted a difference in provision of this service, between sites. Second, students are unsure of what support the personal tutor can provide to them because for academic content they have to see someone else. The provision of support is generally discussed with students during tutorials and evaluation of the modules.