Strengthening postgraduate supervision
- Authors: McKenna, Sioux , Clarence-Fincham, Jenny , Boughey, Chrissie , Wels, Harry , Van den Heuvel, Henk
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66645 , vital:28975 , ISBN 9781928357322 , https://doi.10.18820/9781928357323
- Description: Preface: Since 1996 the number of students enrolled for Master’s study in South Africa has more than doubled, while doctoral enrolments have almost tripled (Cloete, Mouton and Sheppard 2015). Such enormous growth has had major implications for supervision, especially in a context where only 39% of academics have doctorates themselves. If South Africa is to come close to the National Development Plan target of 5 000 doctoral graduates per year by 2030, the pressure on supervisors is likely to continue apace. But supervision is of course not simply a matter of applying technical skills to churn out highly competent postgraduate scholars. It is a teaching craft coupled with research acumen and deep personal commitment. This book reflects on how a range of supervisors are making sense of this complex endeavour. The Strengthening Postgraduate Supervision book brings together 15 chapters written by 18 academics from 16 disciplines in 11 institutions. The authors work across all three institutional types found in higher education in South Africa: traditional universities, comprehensive universities and universities of technology. Through this rich array of contributions, supervision is presented never as a ‘best practice’ to be generically implemented but rather as a nuanced pedagogy to be nurtured through critical reflection. The chapters mix theoretical considerations of the postgraduate process and personal narratives of supervision practice. Most of the authors can be described as emerging supervisors, with a few contributions from more experienced supervisors, but all have in common a deep desire to forge inclusive environments that foster meaningful postgraduate research and nurture a new generation of scholars. It is through the sharing of these academics’ concerns and constraints, competencies and celebrations that this book adds to our understanding of postgraduate supervision in South Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The role of doctoral education in early career academic development
- Authors: Frick, Liezel , Albertyn, Ruth , Brodin, Eva , McKenna, Sioux , Claessson, Silwa
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66658 , vital:28978 , ISBN 9781928357216 , https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311427468/download
- Description: The social and economic significance of the doctorate is recognised across the world, as doctoral candidates are considered to be key contributors to the knowledge society by contributing to socio-economic development through innovation (Barnacle 2005; Taylor 2012). Doctoral students – regardless of their discipline – are expected to take part actively in the knowledge creation process at universities, and this is especially important for those who will remain in academia and continue to contribute in this way.1 But knowledge creation is a complex process. Knowledge creation at the doctoral level and beyond requires a comprehensive understanding of relevant knowledge, sound judgment, and the ability to advise with insight. Doctoral learning also includes aspects such as abstract reasoning, the ability to conceptualise, and problem solving. Thus, through the original contribution candidates are expected to create during the doctorate, they are supposed to become experts in their chosen field of study. This process has been described by Evans (2014) as disciplinary acculturation. Various authors (for example Danby & Lee 2012; Lin & Cranton 2005; Manathunga & Goozée 2007) point out that this process of becoming an expert is by no means easy or straightforward. Rather, developing as a scholar is a lifelong process in which moving from a novice to an expert is an essential rite of passage into academic practice (Dreyfus & Dreyfus 1986). Benmore (2014) states that for those pursuing academic careers, it involves coming to know, but also coming to be an academic. Such a process of becoming doctorate implies movement over time, progression, and transformation (Barnacle, 2005).
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- Date Issued: 2017