Professional Standards and Recognition for UK Personal Tutoring and Advising

Abstract

The Higher Education and Research Act established both a regulatory framework and the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) with associated metrics for student retention, progression and employability in the United Kingdom. As a key site in meeting these requirements, the significance of personal tutoring is clear. Despite this, according to existing institutional research, there is a need for developmental support, greater clarification on the requisite competencies, and adequate recognition for those undertaking this challenging role. Moreover, arguably compounding these concerns is the lack of distinct professional standards for personal tutoring and advising against which to measure effective practice, only recently addressed by the publication of The UKAT Professional Framework for Advising and Tutoring. Through a review of the literature supported by findings from a survey of practitioners, this paper discusses the need for such standards, and the skills and competencies populating them. Additionally, the usefulness of pre-existing standards pertinent to tutoring work (such as the United Kingdom Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Supporting Learning in HE) are evaluated and the value and recognition with which personal tutoring standards could be associated are advanced. The survey supported the need for specific standards-represented by the UKAT framework-as evident from the literature. Justifications provided for both this and the opposing view are examined. Clarity for both individual practitioners and institutions was stipulated along with meaningful recognition and reward for this work which is considered highly important and yet 'invisible.' The participants and literature reviewed identify relevant content along with illuminating the debate about the relationships between personal tutoring, teaching and professional advising roles. Valuable analysis of standards, recognition and reward also emerged. This is considered by discussing the connection between standards and changes to practice, responses to policy developments and the purpose of 'standards' in comparison to 'guidance.' The paper proposes that the recent introduction and use of a bespoke framework is a necessary response to alleviate some of the current tensions which beset personal tutoring and advising in higher education.

Role Perceptions of Teachers Concerning Student Mental Health in Higher Education

“…The outcome of this balancing act has implications for the support provided. A possibly complicating factor in maintaining boundaries is the student-centric focus in higher education, which implies a more personal teacher-student relationship [32,49] with a flattened power structure [50]. The existing literature describes TSR as a balancing act, requiring teachers to be mindful of not becoming overly close and supportive with students [32,43].…”

Exploring How Tutors in Higher Education Perceive Their Work and What Direction They Think it Should Take in the Future: A Case Study

“…If the tutoring and the tutors do not receive the attention they deserve from the institutions, the function might be perceived as low-priority compared to others such as teaching and research (Calcagno et al, 2017). There has been much debate about the need to professionalize this function and about whether standards should be established which could play a fundamental role in the development of policies to support tutors, to make them more visible, to encourage good practices, to clarify their functions and to set limits to their actions (Walker, 2020b). McClelland (2016) points out that when tutors are appreciated and rewarded, their results improve.…”

“…There is also the vagueness of the theoretical framework and the frequent mismatch between the tutors' view of their role and the students' needs and objectives (Wakelin, 2021;Yale, 2019). It is therefore important to identify the conceptual perspectives designed to support educational tutoring (Walker, 2020b) and analyse the specific practicesalong with the vision and proposals for improvementsof the agents involved, with the aim of achieving a suitable mix of theory and practice with which to meet whatever challenges are faced by each university. This qualitative study, which is contextualized in nature, aims to find out how the tutors that form part of the University of Alicante's (Spain) Tutorial Action Plan characterize their experience of tutoring so that we can infer from their discourses the perspective from which they carry out their actions.…”