Abstract
Through effective educational transmission cultural traditions are passed on to subsequent generations. The presence of alternative theoretical views of reality (paradigms) in various academic disciplines uprooted the positivistic conviction that genuine science ought to be ‘objective’ and ‘neutral’. The background of this view is found in Renaissance and post-Renaissance philosophy, with its initial points of culmination in the thought of the 18th century philosopher, Immanuel Kant. He safe-guarded autonomous human freedom by restricting scholarship to phenomena (subject to the universal law of causality). The dialectic between nature and freedom gave direction to modern philosophy. Non-reductionist orientations eventually emerged recognising what is irreducible. Although a sound academic culture,operative within supervision to doctoral students, must pay attention to argumentative skills and informal logic, it must at the same time acknowledge the limitations of logic. The principle of sufficient reason refers human thinking beyond logic itself. The supervisor therefore should generate, amongst students, an awareness of the difference between reductionist and non-reductionist ontologies. Doctoral students must also realise that persistent themes and scientific revolutions go hand-in-hand. Some examples of seeing the aspects of reality as modes of explanation are given, before the seven aims of scientific endeavors identified by Stafleu are stipulated. This constitutes another important guideline that ought to be taken into account in supervising post-graduate work. Argumentative skills, scientific communication and the status of facts are discussed before a concluding formulation is given in which the overall argument of the article is summarised.
Highlights
Supervision is the key element in transferring an academic culture of teaching, research and scholarly communication to subsequent generations – and in doing that both the university and the surrounding community benefit from this basic academic practice
In this article the primary focus will be on the academic discipline because it lies at the heart of an academic culture and because those involved in the process of doctoral studies, the supervisor and the student, are the custodians and stewards of such a discipline
The emphasis on the word seemingly is connected to the view that apparently the natural sciences are ‘much less controversial’ than they were and their ‘objectives are less often questioned’ than they had been, because ‘the scientific community indulges in a greater sense of consensus than is the case in the professional communities in other areas of academe’ (Elkana 2006)
Summary
Through effective educational transmission cultural traditions are passed on to subsequent generations. It should be kept in mind that the acquisition of postgraduate academic qualifications explores one important http://www.koersjournal.org.za detour towards the development from childhood to maturity It is normally accomplished by advancing the establishment and expansion of scholarly knowledge practically relevant for all walks of life, and it pre-supposes the remarkable correlation between two unique phases within the ontogenetic growth pattern of human beings – something, for the first time, investigated by the Swiss biologist, Adolf Portmann. Within the context of a differentiated human society this form of life embraces educational and learning institutions like schools and universities Within the latter supervising postgraduate work occupies a modest but indispensible role in the continuation of our shared cultural legacy. 2.A brief characterisation of the similarities and differences between a Master’s dissertation and a PhD thesis is found in Lategan et al (2005:74)
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