Undertaking the personal tutoring role with sports students at a United Kingdom university

ABSTRACT

Personal tutoring is renowned for the positive role it can play in supporting student satisfaction, engagement and attainment outcomes in higher education. Surprisingly though, few studies have specifically investigated the demands of this role from the perspective of the personal tutor. Through the theoretical lens of Role Theory, this study explored university tutors’ experiences of their personal tutoring role within a sport educational setting at a United Kingdom university. All data was collected through face-to-face semi structured qualitative interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Key findings were the negative impact of personal tutoring on participants role multiplicity, intra-role accumulation and role identity. Most participants viewed the role as being time consuming, emotionally challenging and one they would prefer not to undertake (role multiplicity), feeling under qualified and ill-equipped in assisting their tutees because of the increasingly serious and complex nature of non-academic related issues presented (intra-role accumulation). Several lacked confidence and interest in the role, finding it to be stressful and instead favouring greater research responsibilities within their workloads (role identity). The collective findings provide academic colleagues and senior university management teams with evidence to inform future institutional policies and practices. This will help ensure personal tutors working across multiple disciplines and academic levels fully understand what the role is, the demands they are likely to encounter, the continued professional development required to facilitate and support the role and how the role should be better recognised in academic promotion criteria. Study limitations and future research avenues are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic experiences
• higher education
• personal tutoring
• role theory
• sports students

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rick Hayman

Rick Hayman is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation and the Health and Life Sciences Faculty Director for Access and Participation at Northumbria University, United Kingdom. Rick is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education with research interests in widening participation and student transitions into, through and out of higher education.

Andy Coyles

Andy Coyles is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Lead for i2i Sport Management, Coaching, Exercise and Sports Science and Exercise and Nutrition with the Department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation at Northumbria University, United Kingdom. Andy has extensive leadership experience in the design, implementation and evaluation of personal tutoring policy and practice within higher education. Outside of academia, Andy’s specialism in sport is football and is currently the head coach of the England University Men’s football team.

Karl Wharton

Karl Wharton is Head of Subject for Sport Development, Sport Management and Sport Coaching within the Department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation at Northumbria University and an international gymnastics coach. Karl is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy with research interests centred around student engagement in higher education settings.

Erika Borkoles

Erika Borkoles is a Lecturer in Public Health, at Griffith University School of Medicine in Australia. Erika is a British Psychological Society Chartered Psychologist and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Remco Polman

Remco Polman is Head of Department for Exercise and Nutritional Sciences at Queensland University of Technology. Remco is British Psychological Society Chartered Psychologist. He has an international reputation for sport psychology research which has been published extensively over the past two decades.