Postgraduate Research Supervision Research Articles

A Thin Line between Education and Certification: A Battle of PhD Supervision in South African Universities

This study sought to critically review and demystify the postgraduate research supervision in South African universities. There is unnecessary discrimination among scholars concerning the certification of lecturers in South African universities. Some lecturers are not recognized as academically fit to supervise doctoral students even when there is evidence that they have the capacity to supervise doctoral research. While there is a lack of recognition of some lecturers with regard to doctoral research supervision, others support this lack of recognition with the argument that it is not fair for doctoral research to be supervised by a lecturer who is still a doctoral candidate. However, this paper argued that it is irrational to think that all lecturers with no PhD completely lack knowledge about academic research. This becomes more irrational if the lecturer in question has some published research works and has shown the skill through conference presentations. Against this backdrop using analytic theory, this study sought to challenge the status quo of how doctoral research is perceived in universities. This study utilized a conceptual desktop form of qualitative research and all sources used are adequately acknowledged. At the core of this paper, the researcher sought to appeal for co-supervision as recognition of those lecturers who are still pursuing their PhDs but already show the capacity to contribute to doctoral research supervision. In its entirety, this desktop conceptual research study found that the lack of recognition in South African universities is a neglect of upcoming researchers and it is recommended that lecturers who are upcoming researchers be involved in postgraduate/ doctoral research supervision. This study’s contribution is to motivate collaboration in doctoral supervision and mentorship for lecturers who are upcoming scholars in South African universities. Keywords: Doctoral Research, Lack of Lecturer’s Recognition, Universities Irrationality, Academic Experience

Meta-Analysis of Appreciative Inquiry into Timely Completion of Research Work at PhD Level

Completing research work at the PhD level is a significant milestone in academic and professional growth, contributing to the advancement of knowledge and societal development. This Appreciative Inquiry systematically examined the factors that influenced delays in research work at the PhD level in higher education institutions. Ten research articles published between 2020 and 2023 were analyzed to synthesize the findings. The study identified key factors that contributed to delays, including inadequate research guidance experiences, challenges in postgraduate research supervision, and barriers at the institutional level. Additionally, the impact of research topic selection and distance learning on research progress was explored. The analysis highlighted the significance of effective research guidance, supportive supervision practices, and adequate resources in minimizing delays. Furthermore, implications for institutional policies and recommendations for fostering a conducive research environment were discussed. Overall, this Appreciative Inquiry offered valuable insights for policymakers, educational institutions, and researchers to address delays in research work at the PhD level. Our findings suggested the need to foster a conducive research environment, provide adequate resources, and promote effective communication between students and supervisors. By implementing evidence-based interventions, we could enhance the research experiences of doctoral candidates, promote timely completion of research work, and advance the quality of research in higher education.

Technology-enabled undergraduate and postgraduate research supervision

In this special issue of the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, we have focused on how technology is utilised in undergraduate and postgraduate supervision practices to enhance the learning of research students. The views of supervisors and research students are taken into account, especially in terms of the ways in which technological tools are used to engage supervisors and students to work with each other, often when they are located in different parts of the world. In this editorial, we consider various examples of technology in association with strategies and processes of supervision that are supervisor-driven or student-driven. Not only have the authors of the articles in this special issue considered in-house established technologies such as learning management systems and online thesis management systems, they have also explored artificial intelligence and tailor-made online professional development programmes to manage and facilitate research supervision.

Using leadership to leverage ChatGPT and artificial intelligence for undergraduate and postgraduate research supervision

ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) have hit higher education by storm. Much of the research focuses on how this – and similar – tools can be leveraged for effective education of undergraduate coursework students. In this study, we explore the emerging benefits and limitations of ChatGPT and LLMs in the context of undergraduate and postgraduate research supervision. What we found was that psychological need fulfilment, research student autonomy and relatedness were key outcomes that could be cultivated at the student level. At a unit or subject level, the opportunity for formative feedback was seen as a strength. We also discuss some key limitations to the tool, including how limited its ability to deconstruct social injustice and generate content appropriate to context. We used an example of leadership research to highlight that it may preference good outcomes and likewise present information related to current and normative practices rather than desired future practices. We conclude by considering the broad implications of this work on research supervision relationships. Implications for practice or policy: ChatGPT has the ability to enhance research higher degree research practices. AI and LLMs may support student psychological need fulfilment, autonomy, competence and relatedness. ChatGPT could provide preliminary formative feedback support for research and doctoral students prior to submitting drafts to supervisory teams. Policy safeguards are needed to ensure research responses to lack of context, data bias, equity concerns and lack of an ethical framework.

Exploring the prospects for professional development of postgraduate supervisors at the National University of Lesotho

The higher education developments are gradually enabling the re-conceptualisation of postgraduate research supervision as a teaching and learning practice. This re-conceptualisation has also led to the recognition that postgraduate research supervisors need to be appropriately capacitated so that they can master the supervisory craft. This study sought to explore the prospects for professional development of postgraduate supervisors at the National University of Lesotho, by examining supervisor’s experiences in their trajectories in learning how to become supervisors and to identify their further professional development. Fifteen supervisors took part in the study. Nine (three associate professors and six senior lecturers) were interviewed through semi-structured interviews while six junior lecturers were interviewed through a focus group interview. The findings revealed that while most supervisors relied mainly on the way they were supervised, they also value the experiential learning accrued in their trajectories as supervisors. Hence the study highlights issues for consideration in advancing professional development of postgraduate supervisors at the National University of Lesotho

On a pedagogy of authentic care in postgraduate research supervision

ABSTRACT This conceptual study examines the challenges involved in a new context of postgraduate education that emphasizes timely degree completion, skill development and employability, while still seeking to uphold a commitment to a genuine education (‘Bildung’). Findings from two recent empirical studies set the scene for this inquiry since they raise questions about the extent to which care underpins contemporary postgraduate research supervision practice, and thus render an exploration of the meaning and importance of care in the current context of postgraduate supervision especially timely. The author then reviews four models of understanding postgraduate research supervision for their compatibility and the extent to which they address ‘care’, before concentrating on five concepts highlighted in one of these models: Functional, Enculturation, Critical Thinking, Emancipation and Care. Drawing on insights from social philosophy, the philosophy of education and the literature on the professions, the author proceeds to theorize the relationships between these concepts, building an argument for prioritizing care as the core category, and demonstrating that in a context of postgraduate research supervision that emphasises the ‘functional’, to care authentically means to promote a genuine education through emancipation (‘Bildung’). Developing the notion of authentic caring further by drawing on the ancient idea that one’s own flourishing is a genuine ethical concern, it is also proposed that understanding and reconciling the tension between care for self and care for others is important to meaningful postgraduate research supervision. The study concludes with some practical and reflective questions for supervisors and those supporting their development.

Students’ Perceptions of Postgraduate Research Supervision at Botswana Open University

Research supervision in higher education is considered essential in promoting lifelong learning and the creation of knowledge. At Botswana Open University (BOU) research supervision is conducted at a distance. However, this mode of supervision is not without its challenges. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of students on research supervision in three master’s programmes namely: Master of Education (Educational Leadership), Commonwealth Executive Master of Business Administration and Commonwealth Executive Master in Public Administration. The problem was that despite graduate students being allocated supervisors there continued to be a significant number of students who fail to complete their research on time or even failed to complete their programme of study due to the incomplete dissertation. This study was situated within the theory of Transactional Distance by Moore (1991). The study adopted a qualitative approach to gather data and purposive sampling was preferred to gather data from students who were in their final year of the identified programmes. A thematic approach comprising students- supervisor relations, supervision models, and research support was adopted for analysing the data. Some of the key findings revealed that students encountered a series of challenges regarding supervision, indicating that their experiences were varied. There were variations in student supervisor relations and student research support for the different programmes. Education students had a positive supervision experience while Business students indicated having had challenges with their supervision. In conclusion, the study recommends possible strategies that could enhance graduate research supervision experience and student research completion.

‘A thousand tiny feminisms’: An interview about writing retreats for academic women and feminist praxis in academia

This is an interview with Dr. Barbara Grant, Associate Professor in the School of Critical Studies in Education at the University of Auckland. The idea behind this interview originates from my own research interest in the ways academic women live the existing norms of academia, how they submissively or unconsciously accept, or push, or even ‘transgress’ these norms by the daily possibilities of change. What does it mean to be a feminist academic and to practice feminism in universities today? Barbara Grant’s research field is higher education and she has researched and published in a wide range of higher education areas, including postgraduate research supervision, researcher identity, student subjectivity, and academic writing. She has been running residential writing retreats for women academics twice (and now thrice) a year since 1997. The retreats have attracted women from different countries, institutions, disciplines, and stages in their career paths. Writing for publication is crucial in the research productivity-rewarding milieu of higher education, and writing retreats are a form of academic development, as Barbara argues. Given Barbara’s experience of writing retreats, and her notion of ‘a thousand tiny universities’ (Grant, 2019), I interviewed Barbara on March 30, 2021, focusing on feminist praxis in higher education to explore further the possibilities of becoming a woman academic.

The Perceptions of the Masters’ Students About Postgraduate Research Supervision

Introduction: Postgraduate degrees cause stress and tension for master’s students. Many postgraduate masters’ students face anxiety and ambiguity when carrying out the research. If these anxieties and ambiguities are not managed well, it could adversely influence the process and the standard of research. Many postgraduate masters’ students discontinue their studies or do not finish their postgraduate degrees within the specified time. The type of supervision the student gets is the most significant aspect which determines the timely completion of postgraduate research. The study on the perception of postgraduate master’s students can help them to improve the research work in postgraduate studies. It will address many issues of the postgraduate master students.Objective: This study explores the perceptions of postgraduate masters’ students about research supervision.Method: This study was conducted using a qualitative approach. Eight postgraduate masters’ students were selected using homogenous purposive sampling. The data was gathered by open-ended questions. Thematic analysis was done by framework analysis. An inductive approach was used. The obtained codes were categorized following themes.Results: Findings from postgraduate masters’ students have merged into the following three themes: knowledge, support and guidance, and availability. The first theme is knowledge. According to students, the supervisor should be knowledgeable and interested in students’ projects. The second theme is support and guidance. Different approaches of supervision are required for different postgraduate students. Effective communication of the supervisor with students and timely and thorough feedback can provide students withintellectual and psychological assistance. The third theme is the availability of the supervisor which should be as per the requirement of the students.Conclusion: Supervisors can assist students in reducing their ambiguity and anxiety in the initial phases of the research journey by helping them in the selection of feasible research topics and by providing the required intellectual and psychological assistance. There is a need for regular communication between the student and supervisor. Feedback should be constructive, timely, and according to the requirements of the students.
 KEYWORDS: Postgraduate research supervision, master’s supervision, uncertainties, perceptions, effective supervision, timely completion

Invest in Research Supervision, Enhance Timely Completion of Postgraduate studies

Postgraduate research supervision and its impact on students’ completion of postgraduate studies continue to pose significant challenges to higher education managers, postgraduate students, university dons, funders of postgraduate education, and all stake holders. This literature review based article summaries the research findings across six dimensions of postgraduate research supervision: Student-supervisor relationship, Gender and research supervision, Allocating and matching students with supervisors, Pedagogy of research supervision, Roles and responsibilities of postgraduate students and supervisors and Effective supervision. Student- supervisor relationship is noted to have direct and indirect influence on all other dimensions of research supervision and consequently to timely students’ completion of postgraduate studies. It was found out that the reaction and impact of the other six dimensions would be driven by the student-supervisor relationship.  Students perceived that good working relationships with their research supervisors have an impact on their research progress. Studies concerning gender and research supervision are limited but the few available indicated that female candidates were largely affected in their progress due to gender-related challenges. It was revealed that effective supervision has a positive impact on timely students’ completion of postgraduate studies. Implications for postgraduate students and supervisors, schools, faculties, and departments of postgraduate education were identified.

POSTGRADUATE SUPERVISION PRACTICES IN EDUCATION RESEARCH AND THE CREATION OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR KNOWLEDGE SHARING

Supervisory practices are fundamental to the production of research in higher education, but these practices are undertheorized and poorly understood. Academia needs to understand and engage with supervisory pedagogies to reinforce their importance in knowledge production and the development of a knowledge society. Using content analysis of master’s and doctoral research outputs completed between 2010 and 2016, this case study investigated postgraduate supervision practices in education in South Africa, and their implication for knowledge sharing in context. The findings showed that supervision in education has remained rooted in the classic individualistic model, with team supervision not prevalent. The benefits of team supervision relative to the individualistic model are highlighted. Acknowledgement of the range of competencies of supervisors and the growth of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research signals the value of the team supervision model. In addition to improving research support, team supervision also creates communicative spaces and opportunities for knowledge sharing and the development of supervisors. Keywords: communicative spaces, higher degrees research, knowledge sharing, postgraduate education, postgraduate research supervision, research supervision styles, supervision models

Pedagogical-Publication Tensions in Undergraduate Engineering Thesis Supervision

In light of the assessment criteria for the doctor of philosophy and masters by research degrees, postgraduate thesis supervision can reasonably be categorised as predominantly research output focussed. This goal is naturally congruent with the publication agenda driving much academic staff activity in the modern ‘publish or perish’ university culture. In contrast, due to the lack of student research experience, the undergraduate thesis is necessarily focussed primarily on the development of research skills (i.e. it is process not output oriented). Undergraduate thesis supervision requires more than just research skills from supervising staff. The lessons learnt from postgraduate research supervision are therefore not always directly transferable to undergraduate thesis supervision. In contrast to the vast body of work in the field of doctoral research supervision, there exists a dearth of literature on undergraduate dissertation supervision. The present study examined the alignment of university, supervisor and student expectations regarding responsibilities in the undergraduate engineering thesis. University expectations, having undergone rigorous review, form the sound pedagogical practice baseline that should be applied to undergraduate supervision. Expectations of academic staff supervisors and thesis students were obtained through the use of survey tools. The surveys used in the present study were adapted from the Role Perceptions Rating Scale (RPRS). Alignment between student and university expectations regarding undergraduate thesis responsibilities in the present study was generally poor. The discrepancy between supervisor and university expectations was even greater, with academic staff generally alarmingly assuming the bulk of the responsibility for many core thesis tasks. The main driver identified for this behaviour (i.e. the supervisor expectations that undergraduate thesis research would contribute to publications) was investigated through post-survey discussions and interviews. Taking primary responsibility for core thesis tasks away from the student, although improving the likelihood of successful research output, diminishes the ability for an accurate assessment of adequate academic performance. The learning that is intended to result from the undergraduate thesis is devalued when research outcomes are prioritised over research process.

Containing and harnessing uncertainty during postgraduate research supervision

ABSTRACT Students may experience uncertainties when planning and conducting research. On the one hand, a measure of uncertainty is an inherent part of knowledge creation and represents the positive dimension of uncertainty in research. On the other hand, if uncertainties are not handled well, it could negatively affect the process and quality of research. Uncertainty has been studied within the business environment but not within higher education and specifically in the postgraduate supervision context. This article describes postgraduate students’ experienced uncertainty encountered during their research and identifies ways for supervisors to understand and support students. We report on a collaborative auto-ethnographic study using retrospective meta-level reflections from a postgraduate supervisors’ perspective. We describe the sources and signs of students’ uncertainty so that supervisors can recognize the experienced uncertainty of research students. We found that sources of students’ uncertainty were in the context of the unknown research process and within themselves (mainly self-doubt), resulting in a mostly uncomfortable state of experienced uncertainty. Their uncertainty fostered three different responses: not engaging with the research, adopting approaches to reduce their felt uncertainty, or using their uncertainty as a stimulus to engage with the research process. Students also experienced fluctuations in their uncertainty. We identified and present ways to contain the negative and harness the positive dimensions of uncertainty based on theoretical explanations. Supervisors can support students in normalizing uncertainty, facilitating learning processes and promoting empowerment for researcher identity awareness, development, and affirmation. We argue that the increased understanding of experienced uncertainty and the ways for postgraduate supervisors to support students through facilitating self-directed learning and researcher identity development could contribute to containing and harnessing uncertainty during the course of research.

Postgraduate Research Mentorship Program: An approach to improve the quality of postgraduate research supervision and mentorship in Iranian students.

BACKGROUND:One of the important challenges at the Universities of Medical Sciences is the mentorship of postgraduate students' academic theses. Since 2015, the Research Mentorship Program (RMP) has been implemented with the aim of improving research knowledge and skill, thesis quality, and quantity and quality of papers of emerging from postgraduate students' theses.METHODS:This was a prospective cohort study with census sampling method (nonprobability sampling), completed between 2015 and 2018. Twenty-eight postgraduate students participated in the program. Each trainee student is done during the research period through the supervisor and another student in a higher level of education as mentor. Questionnaire with open-ended questions and checklist was used for data gathering. For statistical analysis, Chi-square test was used.RESULTS:100% of the mentors and 93% of the mentee participated at the Research Mentorship Program were satisfied. In addition, the duration of the research course for the master's students participated in the RMP was reduced. Participants in this program had higher quantity and quality of papers resulting from postgraduate student's academic theses. RMP can enhance the postgraduate students' knowledge and skills in their research projects and research methods, develop personal and professional relationships, and promote interpersonal communication as a student or mentor.CONCLUSION:This program and its similar programs can improve the quality of postgraduate students' academic theses and reduce their research period.

Using Social Networking Technologies for Postgraduate Research Supervision at a South African Rural-Based Historically Disadvantaged Institution

The use of social networking technologies (SNTs) for academic purposes has created new pedagogy opportunities, especially for well-resourced teaching and learning institutions. This article reports on a study that analysed the use of SNTs for postgraduate research supervision at a South African university classified as previously disadvantaged during the apartheid era. The current democratic government is trying to ameliorate the consequences of the Bantu Education Act by paying greater attention to historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs). Although the study generated quantifiable data from a questionnaire, it largely employed the qualitative research approach and was underpinned by the connectivism theory of learning. A structured questionnaire and an interview schedule were used to collect quantifiable and qualitative data, respectively, from 32 postgraduate students who were enrolled for research by distance learning and eight lecturers who supervised postgraduate research. Quantifiable data from the structured questionnaire was analysed and plotted on graphs while qualitative data from the interviews was thematically analysed. The study findings revealed that the use of SNTs had positively impacted on postgraduate supervision and improved the success rate in students’ problem-solving skills and critical thinking at one rural-based HDI. From the study findings, it is recommended that more resources be channelled to the South African HDIs, to equip both their students and lecturers with the requisite knowledge and skills to effectively harness SNTs into research supervision, as well as teaching and learning, through deliberately designed online learning platforms, so that they can catch up with all-white historically advantaged institutions (HAIs) on research output.

Twelve tips for supervisors to move towards person-centered research supervision in health care sciences

The research supervisory role is becoming increasingly complex due to issues such as diversity of students; mismatched expectations between the student, supervisor and higher education institution and shorter and specific time-bound research outcomes. The current postgraduate research supervision culture and supervision practices should change. Moving towards person-centered research supervision practices may enhance the research environment, as healthful relationships between supervisors and postgraduate students may lead to increased postgraduate research outcomes. Using a World Café, we critically reflected on our existing research supervision practices. All healthcare educators involved in postgraduate research supervision were purposively selected to participate. During the café, we explored and shared ideas in a safe space. Twelve tips emerged, which can be implemented to move existing supervision practices towards person-centered research supervision practices. We present these twelve tips from the perspective of the four constructs of person-centeredness as outlined by McCormack and McCance - pre-requisites, environment, process, and outcomes. The use of these tips may enable both supervisors and students to flourish. Avoiding routine, ritual supervision practices and embracing person-centredness, will enable supervisors to form healthful relationships and put the postgraduate student at the heart of our supervision practices.

Students’ Perceptions of Supervisory Qualities: What do Students want? What do they believe they receive?

Aim/Purpose: This paper explores students’ perceptions of qualities they believe their ideal supervisor should possess as well as those they see as characterizing their current and past supervisors. Background: Over more than three decades, multiple cultural contexts and diverse methodologies, research studies have demonstrated that what person related human qualities in postgraduate research supervision have greater valence for students than does discipline/research expertise. This paper probes why this might be so. Methodology: Across 15 Australian universities and all disciplines 698 students participated in an opt-in online survey which invited students to provide descriptors of their supervisors’ qualities as well as those of their ideal supervisor. The survey was student centred in that it required them to nominate the qualities of their supervisor/s rather than asking them to respond to statements about supervisors/supervision on a Likert scale. Contribution: This research which was designed to allow students to characterise their actual supervisors and their ideal supervisor in an unconstrained and anonymous way demonstrated their dominant valuing of, firstly, human traits consistent with emotional intelligence and, secondly, the professional aspects of supervision especially in relation to research process. In providing a snapshot of the janus face of supervision, these uniquely student generated perspectives on supervisory qualities provide data not only supportive of previous studies with very different methodologies but also with implications for supervisor development programs and supervisor benchmarking within universities. Findings: The resultant student initiated perceptions of positive and negative qualities of supervisors support the findings of other studies which show that students value and seek cognitive and affective person related qualities in supervisors over discipline/research expertise qualities. For 25 percent of the sample there were no qualities in common between their principal supervisor and their ideal; this increased to 50 percent with one quality in common. Recommendations for Practitioners: In developing and honing individual philosophies of supervision, supervisors should reflect, for example, upon the ways in which they present to and interact with students as individuals, their availability to students, their interest in students' research and career development. Those delivering supervisor development programs should consider the balance in such programs between process- oriented material and human interaction strategies. Recommendation for Researchers: Research in the doctoral space has tended to be summative as in post completion evaluations of the experience or cross-sectional sampling of experience or what is valued as in the current study. Longitudinal research which samples perspectives both within and beyond candidature is needed. This should thus encompass the experiences of those who complete and those who do not over a period of perhaps six years. Impact on Society: Globally since the late 1990s, universities have initiated doctoral training programs and codes of conduct pertaining to the supervisory relationship yet evidence suggests that supervision issues remain vexatious. The sector thus needs to address the efficacy of such programs in ameliorating issues raised by students. The silent acknowledgement of late stage doctoral attrition – and the lack of follow up as to the complex interrelationship of factors prompting such a personally difficult and societally wasteful decision – remains a besetting problem for the sector. Future Research: Two critical issues would usefully guide future research in the doctoral education space. Firstly, the ultimate efficacy of supervisor development programs requires evaluation and follow up. Secondly, the perspectives of those who exit the PhD process virtually without trace need to be investigated and evaluated for policy implications. Further some respondents in this study had supervisory roles themselves and the qualities they attributed to self as supervisor were closer to the ideal than those of real supervisors. This suggests that a more extensive investigation of how supervisors see themselves in the supervisory role would be useful as such research would potentially impact on the nature of supervisor development programs in the future.

Editorial: Self-enquiry as an intrapersonal means to promoting scholarship of professional development: Our quest for new meaning making

Editorial Pieter H du Toit Guest Editor A special edition of SAJHE such as this with a dedicated Section B is not like liquorice allsorts. This section is an exemplar of the work of a scholarly community of practice enriching one another and showing interconnectedness. It has as focus action research/participatory action research, which includes reflexive practice, self-enquiry and auto-ethnography. Different fields of specialisation add to the claim I make that currently higher education practitioners are taking responsibility for monitoring their educational professional development in a scholarly fashion. And there is evidence of interdisciplinary research and interinstitutional collaboration across higher education institutions.  Using action research and related research designs and approaches to the research of practice over many years culminates in the evidence-based reporting in the respective articles. Of note is the fact that the practices reported on are innovative. Innovations are to be observed in terms of what higher education practitioners do in their respective practices regarding of instruction and learning. New ideas of how a student-centred approach can be promoted are evident in the article by Belinda Verster who reports on her experience of using the principles of notions revolving around the flipped classroom as a means to promoting quality learning. And innovations are evident in the way these practitioners promote the scholarship of action research, self-enquiry, etc. among their students – ensuring that students are empowered to become independent scholars of the future. The articles are not ordered in a specific way; this shows that all the research projects reported are the scholarly output of a collective. It is a socio-constructivist ethnographic picture. It is not meant to be ordered in a sequential format. It rather is a mix – in terms of institutional affiliation, subject specialisation foci and research designs employed. It is significant that the notion of looking into the self is evident country-wide. Participatory action research gets the attention it deserves in the article by Ansurie Pillay. An action research design informed her study. This design type, or action research per se , gave direction to other studies. Angeline van Wyngaarden and her co-workers found this approach apt for their study. The scholarship of other research approaches, such as auto-ethnography is evident in the work by Sumari O’Neil and Linda Van Laren. Sumari’s deconstructing auto-ethnography brings a new perspective on our view of meaning making. Using auto-ethnography in the context of postgraduate research supervision in itself is innovative. Reporting on supervision practice is neglected in South Africa. More studies of this nature should inform our meaning making in terms of this responsibility most academics have. Linda van Laren makes us aware of the role auto-ethnography can play in terms of a better understanding of HIV/AIDS contexts. In their article Karen Collett and her co-authors promote the expansion of auto-ethnography as a collaborative endeavour.  Some of the articles focus on teacher education with specific reference to teaching practice or school visits as a form of work-integrated learning. According to scholars such as Price (2001), Mertler (2008), Mitchener and Jackson (2012) not many studies of teacher education, specifically mentoring pre-service teachers, made use of action research, self-study, auto-ethnography, reflexive practice, etc. The articles with a focus on teacher education are exemplary of the shift that needs to be made – bringing the self (academics and students alike) – into the scholarly picture. This makes for new meaning making that is essential for broadening our current understanding of teacher education in general. New meaning making stems from the fact that constructivism is an epistemological stance that informs all the studies reported, although not spelled out as such in the different articles. Omar Essau’s contribution indicates how pre-service teacher education could contribute to improving schools. If teaching practice is considered a form of community engagement as is the case with some faculties of education in South Africa, the construct service learning comes to the fore. Teaching practice is not merely an opportunity for pre-service teachers in terms of self-development; it is an opportunity to learn from the school community. And it is an opportunity to give back to this community with a view to contributing to its development. Omar focuses specifically on contributing to making schools a safer and enriched environment.  The lens Wilfred Molotja and co-author use is specifically on teaching English as subject. The enactment of the importance of reflecting lies with the student teachers. This is an essential attribute of a teacher and is considered one of the attributes of the 21 st Century that is often taken in consideration in the literature on professionalism − n this case the teacher as professional.  I consider all the contributions as exemplary of the educational professional development of academic staff – the scholars involved in the studies being reported. Siza Makanya reports on this; so do Karen Collett and her co-workers. Again, not all articles refer to this phenomenon. However, inherently all the articles have educational professional development as focus. If we regard professional development as important we need to act as role-models to our students in this regard. Role-modelling is the focus of the article by Anita Hiralaal.  Education in Health Sciences in general and nurse education in particular is an important part of the higher education landscape. Two articles are devoted to specialisation in the field of health sciences: the article by Angeline van Wyngaarden and co-authors and the article by Gisela van Rensburg and co-authors. The latter is my deduction as the affiliation of the authors suggests this, although the study refers to students in general. Each article with its specific focus makes a good read. Collectively the articles span a number of aspects that constitute part of the South African higher education landscape as far as practice is concerned. The reader is invited to become part of the scholarly community of practice that contributed to making this Section B of the publication possible. By reading one becomes an important member of the scholarly community of practice; without a reader audience research is conducted in vain.

Bartlett, Alison, and Gina Mercer (2001). Postgraduate Research Supervision: Transforming (R)Elations. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing.

Bartlett, Alison, and Gina Mercer (2001). Postgraduate Research Supervision: Transforming (R)Elations. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing.

Individualised, Tailored and Personalised Approach to the Teacher-Learner Relationship in Postgraduate Staff Development Studies—A Case Study of Postgraduate Research Supervision Training

This paper discusses the impact and value of feedback that was personable and individually tailored in a postgraduate staff development program that taught supervision skills at an Australian university. The modelling of this feedback style resulted in high student satisfaction. The students were all academic staff who reported transferring that style of feedback into their own teaching practices. They also indicated a desire to bring that feedback style into their supervisory practices as a strategy to promote engagement, retention and more rewarding supervisor-student relationships. The feedback style was seen as precursor to a more effective and rewarding academic relationship that would have ongoing impact on future collegial research and teaching connections.