Spiraling reference: A case study of apprenticeship into an academic community of practice

Reconsidering postgraduate ‘supervision’ from a participatory action learning and action research approach

“…The goal of each participant was, of course, to attain a Ph.D. degree, and so, as Hugo (2009) stressed, building relationships was not sufficient to promote the degree of criticality needed at doctoral level. We aimed to create a climate conducive to learning, but also to push participants out of their comfort zones by requiring them to present their work both to the whole group and in smaller groups.…”

“…In this article we build on the existing literature that positions postgraduate study as a relational and empowering process (e.g. Bak 2011;Fataar 2005;Grant 2010;Hugo 2009;Waghid 2015) by presenting a case study that illustrates these principles in practice. Although we do not position our approach as the "best" method, we think it offers a good example of how to counter the danger of supervision becoming merely a means to an end (another output for the university); a once-off experience that is often found to be painful rather than pleasant, for both student and supervisor.…”

“…Petersen (2007) warns of the danger of the uncritical assessment of supervision as "effective" if the degree is awarded within the required time. The illustrative case offered in this article provides an alternative, participatory and democratic approach to postgraduate supervision practices that helps students develop the required epistemic imperative for postgraduate studies (Hugo 2009); the relational and dialogical skills (Fataar 2005;Waghid 2015) to respect the humanity of the other (Bak 2011); and encourages students to develop their own voices and autonomy (Fataar 2013;Grant 2010), learning not only from and with the allotted supervisor, but also from each other.…”

Student-Supervisor Relationships in a Complex Society: A Dual Narrative of Scholarly Becoming

“…The Socratic method -which Zondi refers to as probing (see Frick, Albertyn & Rutgers 2010) -helped me to get clarity on Zondi's ideas, so that I could guide him to own his intellectual project without me providing all the answers. I (Liezel) agree with Lin and Cranton (2005) that the transformative process that happens during a student's identity shift from being a scholarship student to becoming a responsible scholar is not easy or fast, and that it requires a gradual epistemic induction (Hugo 2009). In this case, it required a dual epistemic induction -Zondi needed to become eloquent in the dominant discourses on this chosen topic and research approach, whereas I needed to find ways to help him incorporate the co-present non-western knowledge systems that both Zondi and the nature of his study brought to our joint intellectual project.…”

Supervision experiences of postgraduate research students at one South African higher education institution

“…The literature on postgraduate supervision highlights that the debate on the definition of the relationship between the supervisor and the student is ongoing. For example, Bak (2011) critiques the definitions provided by Hugo (2009), Waghid (2006) and Fataar (2005) on the basis that each of their arguments had inherent risks. However, the literature on the supervision process has shown that good relationships are associated with good progress and student satisfaction (Mainhard et al 2009;Chireshe 2012).…”