Student Engagement Strategies in Higher Education

This chapter considers how institutional support programmes such as a peer tutor programme enhance students’ educational engagement by exploring their experiences of engaging in such a programme. Peer tutoring has shown that it has a role to play in supporting students in higher education with regard to the transition from school to university as well as from university to the world of work. Higher education institutions (HEI) in South Africa have experienced significant shifts, as the collective student body called for a radical transformation in academic discourse and practice. Academic support programmes such as peer tutoring assist in engaging students and in facilitating connections between staff and other students in which dialogue and feedback can take place. The chapter concludes that the peer tutor programme offers students and HEIs more than just an academic opportunity but, rather, an opportunity to address students’ transformational issues and their lack of connection with the institution.