Session 3: Effective supervisory conversations
At the heart of good supervision is strong communication. In this session, participants will examine how active listening and effective questioning can help doctoral candidates think more clearly, articulate concerns, and take greater ownership of their next steps. The session also introduces the Supervisor Dialogue Wheel as a practical framework for structuring supervisory discussions in both one-to-one and group contexts.
Learning objectives
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
use active listening techniques to support clearer supervisory conversations
distinguish between more directive and more exploratory supervisory responses
formulate effective questions using the Supervisor Dialogue Wheel
select questioning approaches that support candidate thinking, ownership, and next steps.
Pre-session work
Before the session, please watch this short 3-minute video by Jennifer Garvey Berger, ‘Listening to Learn.’ It introduces a useful distinction among listening to win, listening to fix, and listening to learn, and will help set the stage for our discussion of active listening in supervision. Watch the video here.
Please take a few minutes to look over the Supervisor Dialogue Wheel, as we will be using it during the session to practise different kinds of questions and to think about how these can support more effective supervisory conversations.
Think about the question: Is supervision a two-way conversation? Post your reflections on the session 3 Padlet (see below).
Key documents
Supervisory Dialogue Wheel (PDF)
Use this during the session and in your supervision meetings.