“I am what I am not”-reflections of the re-construction of my identity as a novice postgraduate supervisor at a university of technology in South Africa

Abstract

The overall aim of this paper is to explore my experiences as a novice postgraduate supervisor through the process of reflection. This study adopts a qualitative approach and uses self-reflection as a method of enquiry by reflecting and documenting personal experiences and practices of postgraduate supervision. The findings are analysed so as to give meaning and to make sense of the supervision process. The results reflect that the journey of postgraduate supervision, in part, has not only resulted in the development of the student, but has also resulted in the academic journey of development of myself. This process has entailed the re-establishment of my academic identity of working within a redefined context of a University of Technology (UoT). Whereas, in the past my key role at a Technikon was undergraduate study only, I have had to reconstruct and re-negotiate my identity to integrate the scholarship of research, which has to an extent, contributed positively to my professional development. Based on these findings I suggest that, to add credence to the supervisory process and to the novice supervisors experiences, a postgraduate supervision module is introduced as a core study module for all first-time supervisors before they embark on their journey of supervision. This process could possibly assist the novice researcher to renegotiate an identity for possible inclusion into the broader academic community and to build supervision capacity at the newly established UoT’s in South Africa.