Faculty of Education

Conference "Professional Supervision: Common threads, different patterns" 2010

Background to the Aotearoa Professional Supervision Conference

This conference has been offered since 2000 and organized by a dedicated and forward-thinking group passionate about supervision. The committee has been successful in attracting a large number to these conferences with very positive feedback. The first conference attracted 175 people and was entitled: ‘Supervision: from rhetoric to reality'. This conference highlighted differing cultural perspectives, multi-disciplinary approaches, accountability and professional development, the growth of alternative approaches for example peer, mentoring, life coaching and important debates about functions, roles and issues of power in supervision practice. Keynote speakers included Michael Carroll, Angie Barretta- Herman and Lesley Cooper.

The conferences have evolved over time to meet the changing contexts of the health and social service workplace and the local and international literature. The last conference in 2004 was entitled: ‘Weaving together the strands of supervision’ and featured papers and workshops on: Professional diversity; practice innovations; indigenous perspectives and critical approaches. Keynote speakers included Kathie Crocket, Allyson Davys and Ming-sum Tsui. Approximately approximately 280 people, who came from a variety of health and social service workplaces, attended it. The submitted articles were published subsequent to the peer review process and have been a very popular resource.

The next conference in 2010 explores the similarities and differences in supervision practice in different contexts, cultures and professions. It asks the question, what are the common threads and what are the differences? How is supervision best adapted to meet particular cultures, organisations, and professions? What are some core principles and frameworks that can guide us? It will feature workshops and papers on the themes of: Supervision in context; research, education and training; cultural models and social justice; and innovations in practice and theory. This year we hope to attract many more professions who may not have previously been involved in the field of supervision but for whom this interest is growing. We therefore encourage attendance by those from fields such as management, education, physical health, counselling, coaching and mentoring, and those from both Government funded and NGO’s. The conference aims to present both practical workshop-style interactive presentations as well as research papers. Presenters are encouraged from student researchers to experienced practitioners in keeping with the ethos of a conference that is both academic and practical. There will be excellent cross-disciplinary networking opportunities and a social programme to entertain delegates. This conference is about much more than supervision, it will provide opportunity to reflect on the ‘big picture’ and work practice alike.

If you would like further information please contact the conference organiser Barbara Burt on barbara.a.burt@gmail.com

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