Edinburgh Napier University

  This aim of this thesis is to demonstrate how the research that has been conducted by the author, as illustrated through the publications presented, adds to the domain of academic support – specifically the theory and practice of academic support within UK higher education institutions. The core of the work is a series of publications, each the outcome of research studies led (in a turntaking approach) by the author, which present individual and cumulative insights set out using the metaphor of the ‘journey’. Although dominant assumptions
(abstract objectivist approaches) around academic support claim to consider the importance of context and dialogue for language and support, they inevitably fail to do so because they see language as essentially stable and immutable. Through qualitative research, with research findings continually applied to practice through ‘reflections on action’, this thesis presents the argument that an acknowledgement of, and engagement with, the heart of a subject is necessary for successful skills support (individual subjectivist approach). Critically examining subject attributes for success, and further considering the deeper existential bases of subjects, the thesis establishes the concept of the ‘paradigmatic heart’ of subjects including design, nursing, business and computing. The psychological and ideological elements of the paradigmatic hearts of these subjects are explored and the value of engaging with these for academic support and learning purposes represents the main contribution to
knowledge of the work. The thesis includes a critical reflection of nine
publications in the field, which show a progression in the author’s position of how the support of student learning and success should be conducted through approaches from within an individual subjectivist paradigm The author’s contribution to the academic understanding of the field of individual subjectivist learning support is demonstrated through reflections on the publications’ contributions.