Quality tutoring practices in higher education
The role of writing centres in supporting postgraduate students in South Africa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20853/40-5-8516Keywords:
Writing Centre, tutors, postgraduate students, training, academic writing support, higher educationAbstract
Writing centres are integral in the promotion of quality tutoring practices that address the varied and evolving writing needs of students in higher education. As postgraduate writers navigate complex academic and research expectations, university writing centres serve as key spaces for developing academic writing competence and confidence. Ensuring quality tutoring in these spaces requires a deep understanding of postgraduate students’ writing needs and systematic training for tutors who provide this support. Drawing on Humanising Pedagogy and Communities of Practice, this study examines how writing centres foster quality tutoring that empowers postgraduate writers.
Anchored within an interpretivist qualitative framework, this study the writing centre’s role in in supporting postgraduate students and examined how quality tutoring practices are cultivated through targeted tutor development. Data was generated through a focus group discussion with fourteen writing centre tutors, ten interviews with postgraduate students, as well as six interviews with writing centre practitioners at two Universities of Technology (UoTs) in South Africa. Using thematic analysis, supported by NVivo 15, the findings highlight that while tutors possess strong foundational knowledge, many feel underprepared for the specialised demands of postgraduate academic writing. This underscores the need for continuous professional training, institutional integration of writing centre support, and the promotion of empathetic, collaborative tutoring approaches. This study concludes that quality tutoring is characterised by confident, reflective, and adaptive tutors who engage postgraduate writers as partners in the learning process. Most writing centre research centres on undergraduate writers; thus, this article fills this gap by specifically focusing on postgraduate writers’ needs and tutor preparedness for that level. By investing in tutor training and institutional collaboration, writing centres can enhance postgraduate writing success and overall academic quality in South African higher education.
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