Postgraduate Supervision Conference
Background
In 2007 the Centre for Higher and Adult Education (CHAE) at Stellenbosch University held its first international conference in Africa on the topic: ‘Postgraduate supervision – the state of the art and the artists’. It attracted 160 participants from nine countries. The agreed success of this event was due to the quality of the papers that were presented, the value of the internationalist perspectives that were exchanged and the applicability of the research that was contained in the papers.
The next conference took place from 27 – 30 April 2009 at the Spier wine estate outside of Stellenbosch. This four-day postgraduate supervision conference addressed the topic of ‘Research and Practice in Postgraduate Supervision’, attracting 198 participants from 11 countries.
Given the international and multidisciplinary composition of the second conference, the issues addressed also represented constant talking-points outside the formal settings of keynote or paper presentations. It was apparent that the majority of papers were based on research that was institutionally-located, practice-based and rigorous.
The international arena is where the academy exchanges scholarly ideas and practices that transfer easily between higher education institutions. That was the experience of many participants at the 2009 event.
The third conference: April 2011
The CHAE’s next international conference on research into postgraduate supervision will once again take place at Spier Estate in Stellenbosch from 18 – 21 April 2011. The conference will once again be organised by ConsultUS (Pty) Ltd, so those who were present in 2009 will know that they can look forward to excellent and friendly service.
Important dates
- First call for abstracts: 15 May 2010
- Abstracts to be submitted: 31 August 2010
- Feedback to proposers of abstracts of papers: 31 October 2010
- Final submission for full articles (for those who wish to contribute papers to a speacial issue of he South African Journal of Higher Education on "The SCholorship of Postgraduate Supervision"): 1 February 2011
Final submission for full articles (for those who wish to contribute papers to a special issue of the South African Journal of Higher Education on ‘The Scholarship of Postgraduate Supervision’): 1 February 2011
Conference topic
The conference topic that was chosen from eleven entries by a panel in 2009 is: ‘Promoting a culture of postgraduate scholarship’.
As regards supervisory practice, there seems to be ample evidence to suggest that supervisors frequently base their approach on their own, often unexamined, experiences as research students. What is important, however, is not simply reflecting on past practice, but reflecting critically in the light of research evidence and theoretical frameworks derived from knowledge of the literature on supervision. The importance of supervisors developing a repertoire of knowledge and understanding about different aspects of supervisory practice cannot be too strongly emphasised. If supervisors are to be effective, it is necessary for them to be capable of carrying on a critical conversation about supervision itself with colleagues and with students. This conversation will also need to encompass a critical appraisal of supervisors’ interpersonal and communication skills. It requires from supervisors to be open to gaining critical feedback on their practices and their performance as coaches and mentors.
Much of the literature recognises postgraduate supervision as a practice involving complex academic and interpersonal skills. These skills include guiding postgraduate students towards sound proposal preparation, methodological choices, documenting and publishing their research, maintaining both supportive and professional relationships, as well as reflecting on the research process. Considering supervision, thoughtfully using reflection strategies such as challenging dominant ideas or redefining a problem, requires higher order-thinking and deep approaches to learning. These requirements pose challenges to both students and supervisors, also asking questions of whether supervision implies that research training should be the sole focus of postgraduate supervision.
Obviously, this topic lends itself to an array of possibilities and the programme team has decided on the following five themes related to the topic for proposed contributions:
A Enhancing the scholarship of postgraduate supervision – the lense on
supervisors
B Enhancing the scholarship of postgraduate supervision – the graduate
experience
C The scholarship of assessing and evaluating postgraduate theses and
dissertations
D Diverse postgraduate candidates – a challenge to the scholarship of
postgraduate supervision
E Support roles – promoting the scholarship of postgraduate supervision
Papers on completed research or research in progress within any of these broad themes are most welcome. Please consult the brief outline on each theme in the programme section of this webpage.
We trust that academically sound, interesting and innovative work will emerge from these themes and the conference team is looking forward to receive your proposals.
The conference in 2011 will be held at the Spier Estate outside of Stellenbosch in a magnificent rural setting. We invite you to make use of our typical warm winelands hospitality and trust that you will find this conference just as enjoyable and academically rewarding as the participants of the 2009 one did. We are looking forward to welcoming you all to Stellenbosch in April 2011.
Eli Bitzer
Conference Chair
