covid19: cope with remote...dr fran longstaff, cpsychol, hcpc registered sport and exercise...

Tutoring Matters Webinar Series


Tutoring Matters is sponsored by

Covid19: Cope with RemoteDr Fran Longstaff, CPsychol, HCPC Registered Sport and Exercise Psychologist, HEA Fellow

Head of Psychology, Fika

Welcome! Today’s seminar starts at 2pm BST. Please MUTE your microphone.

You can introduce yourself and ask questions in the zoom chat window.

https://www.solutionpath.co.uk/


Webinar Presenters

Andrew PyeHost

Dr Fran Longstaff,

Head of Psychology, Fika

ChairDr Andrew Pye

National Teaching Fellow, University

of Exeter.

Welcome and Housekeeping:


Overview

• Introduction to Fika, a mental fitness platform for university staff and

students

• Mental health challenges facing the sector and students

• Findings from Fika’s COVID-19: Cope with Remote Roundtable

• An overview of Fika’s Cope with Remote resources

• Practical resources

• Emotional resources

• Existential resources

• Looking to the future


Fika

Struggling

Incomplete

Mental Illness

Floundering

Complete

Mental Illness

Flourishing

Complete

Mental Health

Languishing

Incomplete

Mental Health

Mental HealthHigh

LowMental Health

Mental IllnessHigh

Mental IllnessLow

Keyes (2002)


Retention

Attainment

Employability

In a format

that

encourages:

Autonomy

Competence

Connection

Emotional

Literacy

Student

Experience

Psychological Processes

Underpinning Fika

Education

Self-Awareness/Reflection

Positive Action

+

MF Skills that Fika

Develops

Positivity

Confidence

Motivation

Connection

Stress

Meaning

Focus

Fika’s Model of Mental Fitness (MF)


This graph from Fika randomised control trial shows that use of Fika builds self confidence in just 6 weeks.

Psychology ResearchDr. Fran Longstaff Dr. Zoe Dimov

© 2020 Fika Community Limited. All rights reserved.

Scientist led, research and evidence driven


Fika’s Impact on Managing Transitions


* 16-24 year olds. Easton (2020) & Reidy (2020)

COVID-19 & Students: The Numbers


Roxby (2020)


COVID-19: Cope with Remote Fika Roundtable, Friday 27th March, 2020


What if the company pull the job I applied for? What will I do for work?

All the things that I was looking forward to at the end of this year have just vanished.

Why can’t the Uni just sort this out and tell us what is going to happen with our assignments? It’s so annoying!

My finals have been scrapped and my graduation ceremony is remote? What more can I say?

How am I going to get my assignments done at home? There are so many distractions! I would normally work in the library to avoid them...

What is life going to be like after this and what does it mean for me? Do I want to change anything?

Challenges students are facing

Tutoring Matters Webinar Series Hall & Packham (2020)

The lived experience


How do I engage with students who are disengaged at the moment?

I am not an expert, so I am worried I will say or do something wrong.

How do I make sure I send the right resources. I am not even sure what they are and what we have available.

Many students have not come back to me, I am not sure what to do next.

I don’t know how students are doing at the moment and what they feel.

What do I tell students? I am so worried myself and unsure how things will unravel.

● Worries about doing / saying the wrong thing● Lack of awareness about what support is available ● Lack of engagement from students

Challenges PTs are facing


What is helping?

Staying connected with friends and family, often online

Hobbies, crafts, reading, films and home improvements

Physical activity, such as walking, running and exercise classes

Staying calm, thanks to mindfulness, meditation, prayer or pets

Information intake - managing access to news and social media

Maintaining routine by having a daily plan

Roxby (2020)

Tutoring Matters Webinar Series https://wonkhe.com/blogs/keeping-emotionally-fit-for-the-long-term-starting-now/

Fika’s COVID-19 Provision

https://wonkhe.com/blogs/keeping-emotionally-fit-for-the-long-term-starting-now/


Create a study zone at home

- Creating boundaries and associations

Stay motivated and productive

- Coping without external structures- Daily routines- Daily goal setting- Celebrate achievements

Manage tempting distractions

- Willpower a limited resource?- Avoidance and replacement

activities- ‘If-then’ techniques

Practical resources


Manage uncertainty and anxiety

- Normalise human intolerance to uncertainty- Control the controllables- Mindfulness and acceptance techniques for

the ‘what ifs’

Stay connected while in isolation

- Connection is a basic psychological need- It’s ok to not be ok, and ask for help- Who needs you- Logistics

Make some time for yourself

- Hypercopresence- The need for ‘me’ time

Give your positivity a boost

- The positivity flourishing ratio- Gratitude- Simple pleasures

Emotional resources


Stay physically active

- Psychological benefits of PA- PA in the constraints

Keep trying new things

- Psychological flexibility- Accomplishment

Show yourself some self-kindness

- Benefits of self-compassion- Revaluation of expectations- Setting boundaries

Let your values guide you

- Importance of value-guided action

- Congruence and meaning

Make use of your strengths

- Character strengths

- Confidence and happiness

Emotional resources


An opportunity to re-evaluate what’s

important?

- Goals

- Values

What are you learning about life and yourself?

- Personal resources- Purpose and meaning

Resources for the big Qs


The future for universities

Over 230,000 fewer students predicted to enter higher education in 2020, over half of which are

international students (Grady, 2020)

Universities face at least £2.5bn loss in fee and grant income for 2020-21 as students both in the UK

and around the world defer or abandon their plans to study here (Grady, 2020)

Some universities are preparing to teach first year

students online from Sept 2020 (Fazackerley,

2020)

Retention of students may be problematic as

graduation rates can be lower than 22%

for remote learners (Sánchez-Elvira Paniagua &

Simpson, 2018; Simpson, 2013)


The future for staff & students

It anticipated that there may be long-term

consequences for the mental health of

incoming, current and graduating students (Roxby,

2020)

Before COVID19 84% of academic tutors reported that

they felt least confident in supporting

students with mental health (Basi et al., 2019).

Pre-COVID19, 17% of a sample of 478 students reported approaching their personal tutors for

mental health support. This was higher than the number who accessed centralised centralised

counselling services (10%; Russell, 2008).


Are universities and tutors ready for a move to remote pastoral support?


Fika and the future

● Free COVID-19 support for all interested universities until December 2020

● On-going remote COVID-19 content development (students and staff)

● Development of a mental fitness diagnostic tool to support the assignment of support to students

● Development of a portal, to accompany the Fika app, to allow PTs to assign mental fitness programmes and communities to students remotely

● Remote personal tutoring support

● UK GOV grant application: Remote mental fitness support for FE and HE students during and post COVID-19

● On-going academic research: The effects of social isolation and COVID-19 on university staff and students mental and physical health and fitness (this study is carried out in collaboration with Middlesex University and approved by Middlesex University ethics committee)


Basi, A., Broglia, E., Ayton, R., McKeever, M., Stenton, A., Attenborough, C. (2019). Raising Awareness, Raising Aspiration: Personal Tutors helping to

tackle attainment gaps. The University of Sheffield, UK. http://www.raratutor.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/A4-RARA-Report-2019_FINAL.pdf

Easton, M. (2020, April 9). Coronavirus: Significant minority find lockdown 'extremely difficult', poll suggests. BBC News. Retrieved fromhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52228169

Fazackerley, A. (2020, April 3). Forget freshers' week: universities prepare to teach new first years online. The Guardian. Retrieved fromhttps://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/03/forget-freshers-week-universities-prepare-to-teach-new-first-years-online

Grady, J. (2020, April 23). Universities are expecting 230,000 fewer students – that's serious financial pain. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/23/universities-are-expecting-230000-fewer-students-thats-serious-financial-pain?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Hall, R. & Packham, A. (2020, April 6). 'A weird time': students tell of a future snatched away. The Guardian. Retrieved fromhttps://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/06/students-tell-of-a-future-snatched-away-covid-19

Keyes, C. L. (2002). The mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 207-222.

Reidy, T. (2020, April 10). 'Recruitment is on hold': the students graduating into the Covid-19 recession. The Guardian. Retrieved fromhttps://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/10/recruitment-is-on-hold-the-students-graduating-into-the-covid-19-recession?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Roxby, P. (2020, April 16). ‘Coronavirus: 'Profound' mental health impact prompts calls for urgent research. BBC News. Retrieved fromhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52295894

Russell, G. 2008. “Student Social Anxiety.” University of Plymouth.

Sánchez-Elvira Paniagua, A., & Simpson, O. (2018). Developing student support for open and distance learning: The EMPOWER project. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2018(1).

Savage, M. (2020, April 11). Universities brace for huge losses as foreign students drop out. The Guardian. Retrieved fromhttps://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/11/universities-brace-for-huge-losses-as-foreign-students-drop-out?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Simpson, O. (2013). Supporting students for success in online and distance education: Routledge.

References

http://www.raratutor.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/A4-RARA-Report-2019_FINAL.pdf

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52228169

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/03/forget-freshers-week-universities-prepare-to-teach-new-first-years-online

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/23/universities-are-expecting-230000-fewer-students-thats-serious-financial-pain?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/06/students-tell-of-a-future-snatched-away-covid-19

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/06/students-tell-of-a-future-snatched-away-covid-19

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/10/recruitment-is-on-hold-the-students-graduating-into-the-covid-19-recession?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52295894

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52295894

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/11/universities-brace-for-huge-losses-as-foreign-students-drop-out?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other


Thank You

[email protected]

[email protected]


UKAT Professional Recognition

• Recognises professional practice in personal tutoring

• Evidence-based application (e-portfolio)

• Three levels of recognition

• Recognised Practitioner in Advising(RPA)

• Recognised Senior Advisor (RSA)

• Recognised Leader in Advising (RLA)

• Launches May 2020; currently in pilot with 13 institutions and 68 participants

• Bulk discounts for institutional members

• Demonstrates institutional commitment to personalised learning and student success


Sharing practice through the UKAT Blog:

Tutoring Matters Webinar Series Sign up at https://learning.ukat.uk/courses/36


7 May – Advising in Turbulent TimesKaren Sullivan-Vance, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

28 May - Training personal tutors to support the needs of diverse student populationsSean Bridgen, University of Pittsburgh; National Science Foundation

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