Personal Tutor Role in Professional Education - Support from Personal Tutor

Discussion of the final aspect of findings from the unpublished research –

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M, 1999, ‘Exploring the Role of the Personal Tutor in Nurse Education, Department of Education, University of Surrey, unpublished.

The research was carried out using a sample of students and staff from 7 campus sites. On examining the responses regarding the qualities of a personal tutor, three main themes emerged – knowledge, communication skills and interpersonal skills.

 The earlier related blogs are:

Personal Tutor Role in Professional Education - Allocation of Personal Tutor

Personal Tutor Role in Professional Education - Qualities of a Personal Tutor

Personal Tutor Role in Professional Education - Student Tutor Relationship

Personal Tutor Role in Professional Education - System of Tutorials

Personal Tutor Role in Professional Education - Quality of Student - Tutor Communication

Academic support

There is a majority response, from both students and tutors, indicating that support of essay writing and presentation / seminar needs to cover areas like general advice and guidance, understanding of guidelines, presentation skills, and use of aids, to academic skills related to writing, level of work, referencing and relevant reading to be carried out. There is no difference noted in the needs regarding essay writing, between students from different academic years. The numbers of students who did not require help with content of essay and those who did not make a comment also remained consistent in all three academic years. Some tutors from site A have elaborated on the need for challenging assumptions / attitudes and opinions of students. The tutors are willing to give as much support as the student needs, time permitting, which also includes giving examples of model answers and additional handouts, a suggestion also made by Brennan (1995). Few tutors from sites A, C, D and F commented that they would direct the personal student to the module operator for the knowledge base of the essay or presentation. Nevertheless, Brennan (1995) clearly places the responsibility on the tutor to clarify, to the students the conventions of academic discourse, in particular the language, style, content and arguments in their essays.

Building of confidence, to carry out presentation / seminar is also seen to be a support a personal tutor can provide, according to some students from all sites except C and E. This is agreed by many tutors from all sites except E. The responses of the first year and second year students regarding support are similar. They need general advice and guidance for content, aids, presentation skills and support for building confidence. The number of students who would not require this support or use the module operator and those who did not comment remains similar in the first and second years. In the third year the number of students who require support has decreased a little, and very few feel there is a need to build confidence. There are more students, who do not wish for this support or would use the module operator, because by this time the students have gained some experience. The support would therefore be focused on the content being at degree level, so the module operator would be a more appropriate choice. The number who did not comment remains the same as the other two years.

Study skills

General advice / support and guidance regarding study skills and reading of relevant literature are the most popular comments from most students at all sites. The tutors also agree and various comments explain the study skills the students would require guidance for, note taking, depth and breadth of reading, appropriateness of literature and critical analysis.  When examined on the basis of academic progress, the need for general advice and support for study skills diminishes as students reach the third year, but help regarding reading of relevant literature increases. Again, the number of students who do not require this support or have chosen not to comment remains the same overall. This is a fairly high number. Some tutors from sites B, C, D and F makes comments that could provide an explanation for this. The reasons for not availing this support are the provision of a reading list within the module guide, support from module operator and the librarian.

Planning Study

Some students from all sites identified the need for advice to plan study time and balance study and leisure time. This need seems to decrease, from first year to third year. Some students stated that this support should be provided if necessary. This was emphasised more by students of first and third year. Probably due to the fact that students in their first year are adjusting to studying and course work while in the third year academic pressure increases so the need may arise again. Overall, majority of the students did not see the need for this kind of support or did not comment on it. This could be due to first year students either genuinely do not need support or are unaware of this need. While in the second and third year, it is more likely that students may have worked out their own time management rather than being unaware of the need.

Review and Feedback

Majority of the tutors from all sites except E stated that they could give assistance with study skills, setting up of realistic program of learning and prioritising workload. Other comment included review of progress to check if students are meeting deadlines. Some tutors from site C stated that they had not been asked to provide this kind of support and so they felt unable to comment on it. A small number of tutors from site F went on to say that it could be viewed as interfering and condescending. This coincides with a larger number of students from sites C and F not wanting or commenting about this kind of support. But surely if the tutor identifies this need in a personal student, support must be offered, and it is up to the student if they do not wish to accept it. The offer of this service could be clarified to the students at the onset of the relationship, making them aware of the available support. Then the student would be free to avail necessary support without the personal tutor being viewed as interfering or condescending.

Building confidence

Some students from all sites except E feel the personal tutor through reassurance, praise, encouragement and positive feedback can build their confidence. The first and second year students are more in need for this than third year students are. There is a small rise in the number of students stating this, from the first year. This could be due to the move of students from Common Foundation Program to Branch Program and increasing hours of clinical practice in the second year. Few students from site A, B and C state that it may be necessary to build confidence but they can get this support for others, a feeling which definitely increases among students as they progress from first to third year. Many first year students make no comment or have not wanted any support, maybe because they are still new to the program with more time spent in the classroom so there is a limited awareness regarding what support is needed and is available. The numbers stating this support is not required and those making no comments remain the same in second and third year.

While the tutors have been much more expansive on how confidence can be built. The most popular responses are by being supportive, giving time to the students, listening to the students and encouraging independence of thought and ideas, act as an advocate while allowing the student to develop autonomy through discussion, showing regard for their ideas as well as providing constructive criticism. Many tutors from sites B, D and F feel this is central to supervision and to the personal tutor role. However, some tutors from sites B and C acknowledge that building of confidence can be difficult as it is dependent on the individual student and generally it should come with increasing knowledge, understanding and maturity. 

Information Giving

Other comments made by the students relate to information giving and advice on the process of the course and university, advice on health matters, career advice, help to fill job application forms at the end of the course. Students in third year also wished for support to complete their learning log, particularly as in the third year the log has to be written at degree level and is also a part of the assessment.

Summary

During the discussion the views of the students and tutors have been examined and comparison made with the available literature. The reasons for the views held by the students and tutors have been explained. There is a general agreement on the need for having a choice of personal tutor. The qualities of the student – tutor relationship and those expected of the personal tutor are in congruence with the available literature. The one specific disagreement is that counselling should not be the role of a personal tutor. The emphasis on the personal tutor being a role model for learners and use of learning contracts to facilitate learning have not been raised by any respondent.

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.