From ‘Form Teacher’ to ‘Tutor’: The Development from the Fifties to the Seventies

Michael Marland has drawn on his own experiences and the recollections of others to chart the development of the role of the form tutor in the post–war era. Through the memories of key people who were once in the roles of head teachers, LEA officers and tutors themselves, a picture emerges of schools adapting to meet the perceived needs of young people, by establishing form masters, houses and eventually the emergence of the tutor. This historical journey points to the enduring purpose of pastoral care, and to the enduring value of the tutor’s role in the care and guidance of the individual pupil. It also helps us to understand some of the difficulties and differences in the perception of the tutor’s role, for example by revisiting the ‘tutor ascendant – tutor subordinate’ continuum.