3.2 Confessions of a doctoral supervisor: valuing interdependence  (Page 3/12)

Journaling as Research Method

The mentoring creed I next outline and the real-life dilemmas I describe of supervisory relationships followed by synergistic breakthroughs are both products of personal journaling and empirical analysis. Since 2000 I have been reflectively documenting the behavior and progress of the WIT cohort. Here I attempt to briefly“story”two types of dynamics—one, involving interdependence in mentoring as illustrated through problematic and unresolved interactions in my role as major professor, and two, regarding constructive learning and growth at the level of the group. For this dual purpose I have used current entries in my mentoring journal and reports of the WIT cohort (i.e., Mullen, 2005; Mullen, in press) as data sources.

My Mentoring Creed

Based on the insights I have been afforded over time as an active doctoral supervisor, I have established ground rules that present the WIT group with structure and transparent expectations. The use of rules with adult learners, especially in a non-coursework context, does not sit easily with me. People should be sufficiently self-directed and astute enough to pick up on what keeps a community growing without recourse to what seems like child-like systems; moreover, rules seem to contradict the freedom and autonomy that should be the bedrock of doctoral education. However, rules have proven necessary for groups like the WIT cohort to survive and grow as a disciplined, scholarly unit, and they help satisfy a basic component of cooperative groups:“individual and group accountability”(Johnson&Johnson, 1998, p. 20; also Mullen, 2005). Rules ensure common understandings that help individuals function and interact, which in turn facilitates clear expectations, a safe and open environment, healthy relationships, and achievable learning outcomes.

My mentoring creed is a belief statement that was inspired by Dewey’s“My Pedagogic Creed”in which he states,“I believe that all education proceeds by the participation of the individual in the social consciousness of the race”(as cited in Flinders&Thornton, 1929/2004, p. 17). Through my creed, the doctoral students who commit to working with me come to intimately know what I believe helps organize our learning in a particular direction. I developed the creed and its embedded belief systems and rules as lessons learned became apparent—as conversations occurred and situations arose within the WIT cohort, identification of expected human conduct and performance were made possible. I formulated tentative understandings and, in an early phase of the cohort’s development, collective input and agreements followed. The expectations centered on what I personally stand for and what the group itself stands for, as well as those academic socialization processes that are critical to any doctoral student’s induction. Adjustments based on my own reflections and feedback of the members has occurred periodically and will continue to.

My Mentoring Creed and Rules

I believe that there are certain steps that facilitate the professional and academic development of those who become my doctoral students.