First of all, there is the understanding that in terms of student motivation, there is
the intrinsic/extrinsic ‘symbiosis’ to be considered. Secondly, there is the
interpersonal dimension of tutor/student relationships for while there are models of
‘the tutor’ – and dominant cultural mental models - that emphasise the powerdistance
dimension (Hofstede, 2001) in those relationships, the literature on
motivation seems to show that “equality-closeness” is (paradoxically) a more
powerful motivator. Finally, how we, as tutors, construct the ‘academic playing-field’
of assessments and feedback (amongst other things) are in and of themselves
powerful motivators.