Right to respond

Exploitation from below?

Tutoring in the School of Sociology at UKZN-Howard College.

By Yajiv Haripersad

A recent restructuring of the tutorship programme within the School of Social Sciences has resulted in the restriction of the number of hours that post-graduate students are allowed to work as tutors. In addition, budget cuts have meant a decrease in tutors' wages.

This restructuring process has also caused a compression of work that demands tutors to be increasingly productive with their time. The alleged mismatch between remuneration and the role of tutors has sparked much debate amongst tutors as to whether or not they are, in fact being exploited in yet another way by the university structure.

Tutor training sessions early in 2008 specifically outlined the role of tutors as facilitators of learning. Therefore, the primary role of the tutor is to ensure that students understand key concepts that were highlighted in lectures and resolve any difficulties that students may have with the prescribed literature. This training session, along with the handbook supplied, specifically communicates the role of tutors as being different to the role of lecturers, and hence locates the tutor's place in the university structure.

Their role as facilitators of learning, pose few challenges when facilitating discussions in classes where students have attended lectures, read the prescribed literature or have done some form of preparation before attending the tutorial. In cases like these, tutors are not required to perform functions that go beyond their specified role to facilitate student learning. This is because students who have prepared for the tutorial do not need to be ''re-lectured'' information to develop responses to tutorial questions. These students merely need some direction on how to focus their responses in terms of the tutorial questions. In the same way, marking the scripts of such students poses few challenges, as they usually submit a well-written tutorial that is adequately referenced, and is likely to pass with above fifty-eight percent.

Tutoring these types of students and marking their scripts, falls within serving as a facilitator of learning. In cases such as these, many tutors experience the orthodox and conventional forms of exploitation from above, i.e. management.

However, there are students who do not follow the etiquette of being learners at a university. These students do not attend required lectures, nor do they attempt to read the prescribed literature, and in this way they fail to prepare adequately for tutorials and tutorial submissions. These students enter tutorials without having properly started their learning process for the tutorial. This is where many tutors face obstacles that hamper their role as facilitators of learning. Upon encountering students like these, tutors are almost forced into giving mini-lectures, rather than facilitating learning. Mini-lectures become part of the solution to the problem of silence and blank stares from students who do not follow the etiquette of being learners at a university. Nonetheless, even having conducted mini-lectures, most of these students remain puzzled and mystified by the 'big words' (often overwhelming sociological concepts) being used, and constantly look at their readings to locate these words in an attempt to formulate quick answers. Usually, these are the students who do not accomplish the objectives of tutorial submissions making it extremely tedious to mark their scripts.

It can be seen how tutoring in the above scenario demands the tutor to perform functions that are not part of their role of facilitators of learning. The demand here is mostly placed by students who do not seem to be committed to learning at a university. These students expect tutors to give them all the answers, and if they do not understand them, hold a mini-lecture for them. Tutors inevitably have to spend more time marking the scripts written by such students. Many tutors feel a sense of moral obligation to help students like these, and perform functions that are beyond their role as tutors. This is how tutors experience exploitation from below, i.e. students.

As an overall analysis of this situation, we need to bear in mind that the hourly rate has not been cut, and has actually increased according to the annual legislative increase. What has happened is a compression of work that looks like another form of conventional exploitation from above, but is actually more exploitation from below. This serves to reveal deeper issues with regards to South Africa's education system, and raises concerns that need to be addressed.

Yajiv Haripersad is a MA student at Industrial Organizational & Labour Studies, UKZN