Becoming a capable graduate student supervisor

Ian Munabi, Makerere University and Kenan Dikilitas, Universitet i Bergen

One practical way of developing future PhD supervisors is through  shadowing. In shadowing, academics who are preparing to become doctoral supervisors could be invited to join an existing supervision team—not initially as supervisors, but as observers and learners. Over a defined period of time, they could attend supervision meetings, observe how supervisors and doctoral candidates interact, and pay attention to how different issues are negotiated in practice. It is important that shadowing should not mean simply sitting in and watching. The candidate supervisor could keep a reflective supervision journal, documenting what they notice and what they are learning.

For example, after each supervision meeting, they might reflect on:

• How did the supervisor establish or maintain the relationship with the doctoral candidate?
• How was feedback given and received?
• How were disagreements handled?
• Who made decisions, and how were those decisions negotiated?
• How was the student’s independence supported?
• How did the supervisor respond when the student was uncertain or struggling?
• How were issues of authorship, contribution and academic responsibility discussed?
• What forms of power and authority were visible in the interaction?
• What would I have done differently?
• What kind of supervisor do I want to become?

This reflective component is crucial. The purpose of shadowing is not to reproduce an existing supervisory style but to make supervisory practice an object of learning and critical reflection. The candidate supervisor might, for instance, observe an experienced supervisor giving very directive feedback. Rather than simply concluding, “This is how supervision is done,” they could ask: What effect might this have on the student’s agency? When might directive feedback be appropriate, and when might a dialogic approach be more productive?

In this way, shadowing becomes a bridge between experience, observation and professional learning.

From shadowing to co-supervision

Shadowing could form the first stage of a developmental pathway:

Shadow → Reflect → Discuss → Co-supervise → Reflect again → Lead with mentoring → Become a main supervisor

After observing an experienced supervision team, the candidate supervisor could gradually participate as a co-supervisor. Their reflective journal could then become a basis for conversations with a more experienced supervisor or mentor. This creates a potentially powerful feedback loop for supervisors themselves: they observe supervision, reflect on what they see, discuss their interpretations, try out practices as co-supervisors, receive feedback, and reflect again. Such an approach would also fit particularly well within the Ugandan context, where opportunities to learn supervision through formal preparation may need to be complemented by opportunities to see supervision happening in real academic relationships setting. Ultimately, we should not only ask future supervisors to learn about PhD supervision. We should give them opportunities to observe it, participate in it, reflect on it, gradually take responsibility for it and later publish as part of an international community of practice about it. And perhaps the most important reflective question throughout this journey remains:

“Having experienced and observed different forms of supervision, what kind of supervisor do I want to become—and what kind of academic do I want my students to become?”