Tutoring in Higher Education in Focus at the International Tutoring4Success Conference

Poster

The International Conference Tutoring4Success: Building the Future and Student Development took place on 3 June on the Porto campus of Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Promoted as part of the UCP4SUCCESS project and UCP Tutoring, the event brought together around 70 participants, including lecturers, students and researchers.

The opening session was attended by Isabel Vasconcelos, Vice-Rector of Católica, Raquel Matos, Director of the Faculty of Education and Psychology, and Armanda Gonçalves, a member of the project’s coordination team.

The first talk was given by Marina Herbaut, from the Institut Catholique d’Arts et Métiers (ICAM, France), who presented tutoring models in a European context. The speaker highlighted the importance of the initiative, saying: “It was a special opportunity to share the ICAM tutoring model, answer questions and discuss the practices of the universities and schools represented. The discussions were rich and inspiring!”.

During the morning, five oral presentations were given on tutoring practices developed in national and international institutions, namely the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, the University of Coimbra and Universidade Católica Portuguesa. There was also a poster presentation panel, focusing on innovative projects.

For Maria José Correia, a lecturer at the Faculty of Dental Medicine on the Viseu campus, it was “an event in which every moment of the day was extremely interesting and from which we took ideas that we can implement in our faculty”. Maria José Correia added that “even those who already provide tutoring and mentoring successfully always have room for improvement and to help others with their experience”.

In the afternoon, Ewa Domagała-Zyśk, from the Catholic University of Lublin (Poland), addressed the relevance of inclusive tutoring models capable of responding to student diversity. This was followed by a round table with representatives of Instituto Superior Técnico | ULisboa, the University of Aveiro and the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), who shared national experiences in this field.

According to Susana Costa Ramalho, coordinator of UCP4SUCCESS in Lisbon, “this Conference provided a fresh look at the role of tutoring in Higher Education, its many possibilities and also its challenges”.

The final panel was dedicated to the perspective of students from Católica’s four campuses. Sofia Veloso Veiga Ribeiro, a Psychology student in Braga and a mentor in the MENTORIZATE group, said: “Taking part in the International Tutoring4Success Conference and joining the student panel was an extremely enriching experience”. It was a moment “especially relevant to understanding how tutoring can be integrated into existing resources and how the whole academic community can and should be involved in this process”.

The conference ended with a Port wine reception, closing a day marked by the sharing of good practices, joint reflection and the commitment to keep building, together, a more attentive, inclusive and student-centred academic community.