Blended tutoring: an exploration of tutor emotional competences valued by learners in a higher education context

This paper reports on research into the emotional competences that mature higher education (HE) students, working in blended learning contexts and studying part-time (PT), vocationally relevant, degrees within a School of Education, value in their tutors. A mixed methods approach was adopted to conduct a detailed exploration of eight tutors’ practice with data gathered from three principal sources. Interviews with tutors explored their approaches to delivery and considered factors that impacted on quality; students’ perceptions of their learning experiences were assessed using an attitude survey; and, an analysis of the content and communications in the virtual learning environment provided insight into tutors’ online practice. Goleman’s (2001) ‘Framework of Emotional Competences’ provided an initial structure but, after analysis, some competences were rejected and others were added. The paper suggests that a new group of competences are required that could support effective blended tutoring for mature learners as well as the recruitment and selection of tutors.