In 1997 the White Paper on Higher Education (South Africa) calls for an open and flexible system and significant changes in the traditional modes of programme delivery. Flexibility of access, exit, curriculum and learning modes require the adoption of a new teaching paradigm (Moore, 1997:8-10). Technikon Southern Africa TSA defined its role as a flexible, distance learning institution with the implementation of the Integrated Learner-Centered Distance Education (ILCDE) model in 1994. This model should offer a greater variety of learning opportunities to corporate clients and learners (Moore, 1996:10) and implied the implementation of a decentralising process and a tutor system.The decentralising process implied the establishment of regional offices in different regions/parts of the country and as part of this process the tutor system was implemented. The implementation of the tutor system was an attempt to take the distance out of the distance learning and to appoint tutors who can help/assist the learners in their learning processes. The tutors play a very important role in the process of facilitation of learning because they take great responsibility for the learning processes of our learners. Currently there is no effective learning programme for the tutors. Should there not be a need to assessthe learning needs of the tutors to enable them to facilitate real learning and to support the learners?The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyse the learning needs of tutors as facilitators of adult, open and distance learning at Technikon Southern Africa (TSA) in order to explore new frontiers. Research for this paper is done in a qualitative manner by means of semi-structured interviews on a national basis. |