The benefits of using small supervisor-initiated groups to supervise master's research

Abstract

This article is based on an autoethnographic study I carried out between 2004 and 2015 to explore the benefits of group supervision. I obtained my data from self-observations and self-reflections, documents and artefacts of my supervision practice, observations, and field notes on both the context and the students. I also collected external data from my (mostly master’s) students through interactive interviews, informal conversations, e-mail exchanges and recordings of group supervision sessions. Most group supervision practices rely on highly structured faculty-wide implementation systems. My finding was that both student and supervisor benefitted significantly from group supervision even though the implementation was on a supervisor level. The benefits observed were enhanced when the group consisted of a small number of diverse students.