Think About It: Philosophy and Dialogic Advising

Abstract

Effective advising requires practitioners to engage in analysis of theory and practice. Philosophical underpinnings regarding notions of self can shape the advising encounter and determine the level of receptiveness of advisors toward the whole student. A brief review of Western philosophies of the self provides context for Martin Buber's radical dialogic philosophy of the self. Buber offered a foundation for an overarching theory of advising and addressed the selection and timing of particular advising methods in response to students. His idea of the dialogic self, I-You, consists of powerful, relational encounters with the other. Advisors bring an openness to students' contextual reality so an advisor is immersed in a student's world for that moment by applying dialogic advising.