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Making sense of the supervisory role in the context of establishing one’s career

Cheryl Amundsen, Simon Fraser UniversityLynn McAlpine, Oxford University

(As you get settled – Pages 1-2 in handout)In what ways do the excerpts on the handout match your experience? Please discuss your thoughts with one other person.

Sequence of the workshop

• How we conceptualize the work of supervision• The day-to-day experiences of supervision• Exchange ideas that work for you• Discuss concerns• Moving forward (personal and institutional)• Resources we can offer

Research Teaching

ServiceSupervision

Academic roles come together in the work of supervision

Student and Supervisor

Department

Institution

Field of Study/Discipline

The nested nature of supervision

Student and supervisor

McAlpine & Norton, 2006

Taking on the role of supervision

Roles provide contact between:-individual agency-social interactions-social structures

(Archer 2010; Walsh & Kahn,2010)

In the context of supervision:

-What kind of a supervisor/academicdo I want to be?-Interactions with colleagues (perhaps more powerful others)-Institutional norms and policies-Interests of wider scholarly community

Supervision – a vital role

• “Moving to the other side of the table”

• Lack of transparency and guidance

So I sort of started asking around like is there a handbook or are there guidelines? I mean I based it on my experience. Obviously that’s the only sample—one—that I know of. (Kate)

Minute paper… please turn to page 3 in the handout

We have conceptualized supervision as a vital role:

• that integrates aspects of teaching, research and service;• that is influenced by and impacts on several levels (personal, institutional, disciplinary);• for which there is very little, if any,preparation.

What are your impressions? Had you thought of supervision in thisway before? Make a few notes.

Day-to-day experiences of supervision

• Techne or craft knowledge(e.g.) steps in completing a dissertation

• Contextual expertise(e.g.) understanding the role of committee member

Halse and Malfroy (2010)

Techne or craft knowledge

Now with all of the students I am working with—right away I sit them down and say, “Okay, this is the big picture and what we are going to do is we are going to chunk it out so you are not overwhelmed and anxious about it so that it is manageable.” (Simone)

But the complexities soon became clear …

- Not all students are like oneself- One cannot easily generalize from one student to another - Not all students desire an academic career

- Negotiation of the relationship is necessary- Struck by and stuck by sometimes negative emotions

A less tangible purpose of supervision

Supporting students to become a member of andengage with the scholarly community.

• Longing for a sense of community• Personal validation

I had a mentor [not my supervisor] … He invested in me as a person—invested in me, nurtured me as a thoughtful person, and it made the whole difference. And in my experience I was one of a very few if not theonly one in my cohort who had that experience. … What he was trying to honour in me and in my work was not understood by my senior supervisor. So what I noticed was that if you don’t have a person who sees you, you cannot do the work. So I vowed to work to the ethic of my mentor. … So I keep going back to this experience and what was the value in it for myself and that experiencewas the only guideline I have in what I’m trying tounderstand and develop [with my students]. (Karen)

There are challenges in addressing this second purpose

• Part time studies/full time non-academic work• Varied career goals

• Supporting students to become scholars whiletrying to establish one’s own career

Establishing contextual expertise

“confusing”

“not black and white”

“fluid and flexible”

“It depends who you talk with …”

establishing contextual expertise

-administrative requirements

-role of committee member-role of comp exam reader

-expectations ofthesis quality

Range of contextual expertise

-expectations of reading courses

So why is this possibly problematic?

• Considerable energy and often angst for new faculty

• Situation often not understood by senior faculty

• New faculty may feel uncomfortable asking for clarity

Inherent pleasures of supervision

• Able to maintain an interest and passion in the work• Able to integrate supervision with scholarly and personal values• Able to celebrate successes with students

To see him through to completion as my first student and for it [the defense] to go as smoothly as it did --- and I don’t expect all of them to go nearly this smoothly – was a real sense of

fulfillment and completion. (Howard)

Take a minute …. with someone sitting beside you

What are some of the tensions and pleasures that you have experienced as a supervisor?

A bit of a break … until 2:30

As you come back, please read the case studiesthat are part of your handout (p. 4). These highlight some of the experiences that students face. Think about how you would respond and share your thoughts with others at your table. (15 mins)

Round table activity (about 20 mins.)

• Several cards on each table identifytopics involved with the work of supervision.

• Discuss the topics in any order you wish.

• Explain what has worked for you and discuss what concerns you have about each topic. Be sure to take notes.

• We will ask for your thoughts and addviews from the literature.

Clarifying expectations with students

-Create a handbook with expectations for students, your philosophy and values about grad education-Clarify expectations early and revise often-Establish short & long-term expectations/ schedules and review-See Oxford website – “Clarifying Expectations” example given in workshop-See Apprise website – “Becoming a PhD researcher – what to expect” -Provide a written document/contract between student and supervisor (examples given out in workshop)

Kind and frequency of feedback

-Have students summarize your meeting (including actionpoints) and send back to you-Have students summarize your feedback (on written work)and send to you – look for possible miscommunications-Meet weekly with small groups of students so they can providefdbk to each other-Rehearse the oral thesis defense-Oxford website – common defense questions – “Examination”-Oxford website – “Choosing an assessor”-Be clear early about where students are not measuring up-Keep records – of meetings and other support activities-Provide enough to support but not too much to stifle independence

Working with the thesis committee

-Choosing carefully to get a range of expertise-Junior faculty (as supervisor) should choose committeemember who can mentor them-Committee may change over time – except as more normal-Clarifying (upfront) roles and expectations of members-Cannot necessarily generalize how a committee will workbased on how another committee worked-Notice quality expectations of committeemembers and adjust accordingly-”Play nice” with other colleagues-Figure out unwritten norms about committee process

Questions/thoughts about committees:

-How to deal with the fact that more senior or morepowerful colleagues may voice opinions more strongly?-How to choose so that beliefs, philosophies are aligned?-There can be anxiety around asking the right/good questions of the student’s work.

Working with the thesis committee

Supporting students who don’t seem to be progressing

-Problems that students have may be an indication that the support they have been given is problematic – opportunityto review what has been done and learn from this-Try to understand the student’s problem – listen-Provide a model (e.g., section from your own thesis)-Provide/ suggest a peer mentor-Promote the idea of student organized writing groups-Get to know students better from the beginning-Find ways to be encouraging while not lowering standards.-Establish expectations early on with some standard to assess progress

Questions:-How to maintain academic integrity/standards if the student cannot progress?-Don’t want to always ‘hand-hold” student-Are standards realistic – perhaps review?

Supporting students who don’t seem to be progressing

Supporting students’ interpersonal networks (committee, other faculty and students, family)

-Try to focus/separate personal from work/professional-Direct students to counseling services – we are not trainedto be counselors -Help establish a departmental journal club-Help students connect with networks beyond the university – model this for them-Use lab meetings to also addresspossible problems-Connect students with those doing similar research-Arrange meetings across labs

Let’s brainstorm --- What would better support your workas a supervisor? (Department/Faculty/Institution)

A plan for moving forward …

• Given what you have learned, please develop at least 3 concrete goals for moving your personal practice of supervision forward. Please note these down.(page 5 of handout)

Resources

• Initiatives underway at McGill and SFU

• U of A FGSR report and recommendations-Example of student/supervisor agreement

• Page 5 of the handout

• Our Doc-Work research website

Useful slide for Friday?

When you lack expertise in the specific focus of astudent’s research interests

Negotiation of the student/supervisor relationship

Supporting students to engage with and become part of thescholarly community

Helping students situate their dissertation in a broader context