Peer tutoring: an educational practice allied to university permanence

Abstract

This study focuses on discussions about the permanence of university students after the process of expansion and social inclusion in Brazilian public higher education in the last two decades. Considering the pedagogical support actions, this article aims to analyze the experience of peer tutoring as an educational practice combined with university permanence, examining, particularly, the perceptions of student tutors and tutoreds. The article is the result of a qualitative and field research, based on Pierre Bourdieu and Brazilian researchers who adapt Bourdieusian analysis to the current Brazilian scenario. As data collection instruments, online questionnaires were applied and semi-structured individual and group interviews were conducted with university students enrolled in the tutoring group ‘Programa de Acompanhamento Acadêmico ao Estudante de Graduação (PAAEG)' (tutoreds and tutors), at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar). The results indicate that the PAAEG tutoring group can contribute to academic success by providing peer learning, a situation in which students feel more comfortable answering questions with tutors than with teachers, in addition to providing greater bonds and academic follow-up. Despite the weakness found in the proposal, due to the limits of the training of tutors in view of the complex student demand, peer tutoring has been an important student and institutional strategy for staying at the university.