Accessibility Centres in Higher Education Institutions: Inclusiveness and Peer-Tutoring Programmes
摘要
A growing number of students with disabilities attend institutions of higher education, and according to evidenced-based data, it seems that they face many obstacles regarding their academic access and inclusion. For this, accessibility centres have come to the fore in many higher education institutions. Accessibility centres offer various support services in order to respond to the needs of students with disability. In this paper, we present a study regarding an important and well-known programme, namely peer tutoring. Specifically, the aim of the current paper is to describe the experiences of tutees and tutors regarding their relationship that was developed throughout peer tutoring. Twelve tutors and eight tutees with disabilities participated in the study whose experiences were explored through interviews and were analysed in a qualitative way. In our study all tutees and most of the tutors described their relationship as friendly, while a few tutors preferred a more formal relationship. Also, both tutors and tutees described some of the challenges such as setting limits or arranging an appointment. Based on the result of this study peer tutoring appeared as a very promising service that in order to be effective requires its smooth operation for both tutors and tutees.