A taught approach to personal tutoring

Abstract

This paper reflects upon the development and introduction of a 10-credit, postgraduate module on personal tutoring, introduced within the master’s programme, Learning and Teaching in Higher Education at The University of Winchester. Applying Lowenstein’s (2014) integrative learning theory, the authors argue for both a practical and conceptual shift, adopted from practice in the U.S. to support academic developers to enable academic staff to cultivate effective personal tutoring practices. Because of the ever-increasing importance of belonging in higher education, underpinned by a heightened appreciation of the wider socio-emotional dimensions of the student experience, the authors conclude that the explicit teaching of personal tutoring is now an integral duty for academic developers to undertake.