Tutorial Action in Higher Music Education in Catalonia: Analysis of Barriers and Improvement Proposals

Mentoring is becoming increasingly necessary in the educational process of students at all stages, including higher education. Mentoring is an inherent element of teaching, and the most recent regulatory framework advocates for the development of a tutorial approach from a global perspective, which requires a specific institutional organization and systematization for this purpose. This research seeks to understand the development of mentoring in the four higher education music centers in Catalonia in order to identify potential conceptual and organizational barriers and propose further improvements. To this end, a multi-case, sequential exploratory study was conducted, comprising documentary analysis, 68 interviews (34 with faculty-tutors and 34 with first- and fourth-year students), the design, validation, and administration of a questionnaire on the impact of the barriers detected (266 participants), and finally, focus group discussions (19 participants) to address potential causes and proposals for improvement. The results point to five key areas: a) the existence of a structural tension manifested in the contrast between legislative and theoretical progress and the fragmentation and practical limitations in its application in the four centers analyzed; b) the ambiguity and conceptual variability existing between the agents involved and institutions and specialized epistemology; c) the specific training profile in tutoring and tutorial action of higher education music teachers, with its still prevailing voluntary nature in the application of tutorial action, highlights the lack of resources and absence of a structured and formalized planning for it; d) the demand from students regarding the importance of tutoring as a comprehensive support, sensitive to diversity and capable of integrating academic, emotional and professional aspects with continuity for building bonds of trust for transformative support; and e) the verification of important gaps in institutional culture and student participation in tutoring. The conclusion is that improving the development of mentoring in higher music studies requires promoting an institutional pedagogy of mentoring based on clear, shared, and contextualized conceptualizations; fostering specific teacher training and acknowledging the inherent role of mentoring in the professional identity of higher music education teachers; developing Tutorial Action Plans with specific mechanisms for development, evaluation, and continuous improvement; providing specific resources for the development of mentoring in institutions; and definitively incorporating a preventive and personalized approach that overcomes fragmented and reactive visions.