Challenging the dual assumption of the ‘always/already’ autonomous student and effective supervisor

Postgraduate supervision, until recently, was regarded as an extension of research rather than as a form of teaching. Research students were assumed to be ‘always/already’ autonomous scholars at the beginning of their candidature. So too, postgraduate supervisors were assumed to be ‘always/already’ effective at supervising once they had endured the process themselves. Currently, postgraduate supervision is regarded as a form of mentoring, where students gradually master appropriate disciplinary research knowledge. Yet, supervisors also wrestle with the contradictory role of disciplinary gatekeeper. As a result, the ‘always/already’ autonomous student and effective supervisor pair remains a strong underlying assumption in supervision pedagogy. This article explores how Justine, a new supervisor in the Health Sciences, and Catherine, an academic developer and supervisor in the Humanities/Higher Education, hope to contribute to this debate by developing a collaborative approach to enhancing research students’ critical analysis and independent learning abilities.