The Future of Education

This paper aims to report about several recent pedagogical developments that have been taking place in HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences, Finland (Porvoo Campus).

To do so, the paper will summarise the training in coaching (ENTRE-COACH) that a group of HAAGA-HELIA lecturers have been taking part in and review its impact on the nature and the scope of tutoring as a pedagogical resource offered on Porvoo Campus to degree students of International Business and Tourism.

The review will highlight how the planning and the implementation of tutoring sessions based on coaching techniques can enable more responsible attitudes towards studies, relevant adjustments to pedagogical methods, and more fruitful cooperation among the staff and the students. The paper will also share the challenges and the solutions that the students, the teaching staff and the administration encounter when integrating and standardising tutoring practices on Porvoo Campus.

The results, based on surveys and interviews with the staff and the students, will suggest possible future directions for making the optimal use of tutoring as a teaching and learning practice that together with academic advising, project work and team work can contribute to faster graduation and better well-being of students on Porvoo Campus. The results will also suggest that continuous and consistent tutoring based on coaching techniques can be helpful in off-setting the decline in academic performance and motivation that are at times experienced by the students.

Additionally, the paper will discuss the evolving nature of learning environment in Universities of Applied Sciences, whereby much more learning takes places without actual teaching while the focus of the staff is shifting more towards administration and facilitation of learning, fund-raising activities, and cooperation with the industries.