The paradox and fog of supervision. Site for the encounters and growth of praxis, persons and voices
| Published date | 27 January 2012 |
| Pages | 6-19 |
| Date | 27 January 2012 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684881211198202 |
| Author | Nita Cherry |
| Subject Matter | Education |
The paradox and fog of
supervision
Site for the encounters and growth of praxis,
persons and voices
Nita Cherry
Faculty of Business and Enterprise, Swinburne University of Technology,
Hawthorn, Australia
Abstract
Purpose – Several paradoxes have been presented in the literature as inherent in supervision of
doctoral students. The purpose of this paper is to explore these paradoxes and offer the concept of
praxis as a way of effectively engaging with complex and paradoxical dimensions of supervision,
rather than denying or avoiding them.
Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on sometimes provocative offerings of others, and the
seminal work of Grant, views are presented that problematise supervision, challenging its representation
as somethingto be transparentlyunderstood,planned and managed.Sophisticated theoriesof supervision
have beenoffered in literatureto hold its inherentparadoxes whileopening up its practicefor inquiry.It is
suggested that supervision isusefully understood as the development of praxis: challenging supervisor
and studentto understand theirpractice journeyas one of interwoven,often tacit, dimensions of knowing,
doing, being and becoming (that are personally and therefore distinctively resolved.
Findings – Generative metaphors drawn from other complex domains of human experience suggest
useful ways of engaging with the intensity, individuality and murkiness of supervision. Such
metaphors draw attention to the identities and authorities that are in play and offer markers that can
be identified even through the fog.
Originality/value – Voice work is explored as a metaphor for supervision, suggesting reflective
practices that ask supervisor and candidate to pay deep attention to the sounds of their voices as well
as to the nuances of the dialogue they create together.
Keywords Doctorates, Students, Supervision,Paradox, Praxis, Identity, Voice, Metaphors
Paper type Conceptual paper
Educating for the unknown: paradoxes of post-graduate supervision
Donald Schon (1987)posed a stimulating conundrum over 20 years ago:in the context of
professional practice, how does a person learn something that cannot be fully explained
even by other skilled practitioners? How does that person engage with the unfamiliar
and the complex?This is the essence of why the term profession is used at all: the shrewd
application of general principles to novel situations through the exercise of informed
judgment. In doctoral study and thesis construction, the task is even harder: how do I
learn to create something that does not yet exist? How does a skilled person help me do
that without doing the work for me? Schon’s question – an interesting one in the late
1980s – is a vital one now. Life and work in this century offer challenges and
opportunities that are exciting and disturbing. New streams of knowledge are being
created at speeds unknown before, diverging and converging, challenging the territories
of established academic disciplines. Information super-highways rapidly transform
every aspect of our understanding of who we are, what we are and how we live.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0968-4883.htm
QAE
20,1
6
Quality Assurance in Education
Vol. 20 No. 1, 2012
pp. 6-19
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0968-4883
DOI 10.1108/09684881211198202
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