How We Care? An exploration of tutors’ experiences of developing caring relationship with mature students in an online learning environment

Abstract

The study addresses the dilemmas of building and maintaining caring relationships between academic staff and mature students who transitioned from further education studies to a higher education programme delivered online. Teacher care is considered as an important factor in students’ outcomes, experiences, and well-being (Tang, et al., 2022) while the role of care for students who find studying challenging, and who are affected by lack of confidence or personal and societal issues is even more significant (Barrow, 2015). The purpose of this study was to conduct a phenomenological inquiry into academic staff’s perceptions and lived experiences of caring relationships with their students. To gather data, narrative methods were employed. Seven participants wrote reflective texts which were analysed, and the preliminary findings were discussed in a focus group with three participants. The data from the reflective texts and the focus group discussion was converged and led to identification of four themes which describe the phenomenon of caring relations as situated, individualised, reciprocal and vulnerable. These themes inform recommendations to provide support at the organisational level to the academic staff and students which would lead to more effective relationships and improve the learning environment for all.