Supervisor Feedback to Students Engaged in Thesis Writing: A Critical Realist Approach

Supervisor feedback is a crucial aspect of thesis writing, as it guides students through this process. A systemic model of written communication is used in this account to explain the diversity of practice in this area by identifying the commonalities and variables in thesis composition. The model gives supervisors a theoretical framework which not only offers insight into the process but has eminently practical application in infinitely diversified ways. Feedback is a key issue in thesis writing because it not only shapes the emerging thesis but in a sense ‘co-creates’ it. The research informing this paper was conducted within a critical realist orientation, showing written composition as being carried out in, and governed by, its social context, and revealing that contextual factors impact on the composing process as well as on the written text. The paper offers guidance on transformative supervisor-student communication, as it shows written communication as being shaped by its social context. As the context changes, so should communication practices, offering the potential for transformation.