Supervision is an important aspect of practice and learning, and this book is relevant to social work students, field educators, and practicing social workers who are regularly engaged in supervision. What makes this book different is that it incorporates knowledge and perspectives from critical theory to approaches and methods of supervision. While the authors acknowledge that many social workers are introduced to critical theories in their foundational social work education, they raise questions about how effectively these ideas can be carried forward into practice, particularly in a context of neoliberalism and managerialism. They argue that critical theory and critical pedagogy can provide a resource for supervision, which will help social workers keep their practice engaged with the “social”, working to address disadvantage, poverty, oppression, and stigma, and to bring about social change.
The book begins by defining what supervision means, and explains its purposes, forms, and functions. The authors make clear that supervision is part of social work practice, and emphasises professional learning, accountability, reflection, and support. Chapter 2 provides a global context to human services, particularly emphasising the influence of neoliberal reforms, the privatisation of services, and the new entrepreneurialism where services are individualised and customer-focused. This is important reading for students of human service organisations and the contexts of contemporary social welfare, and makes valuable reading in field education curricula. The global neoliberal context is also discussed in relation to different kinds of organisational cultures, and how to use a critical approach to promote a learning culture and leadership. This is relevant for readers to understand the organisational context of practice, with reference to multidisciplinary teams, and the use of values, knowledge, and evidence in practice.
The core concepts of a critical perspective are explained as critical reflection, critical thinking, critical analysis, critical theory, and critical perspectives; the latter is elaborated to include poststructuralism, feminism, social constructionism, constructivism, postmodernism, postcolonialism, and critical multiculturalism. These are weighty ideas, and although covering familiar conceptual ground, they are only briefly discussed. However, they set the theoretical background for later chapters.
Chapter 6 marks the movement from critical theory to critical pedagogy—a key element in the learning and transformative empowerment approach to supervision that is built throughout the remainder of the book. The concepts discussed, and key thinkers referred to (e.g., Paulo Freire, Henry Giroux, Jack Mezirow, Stephen Brookfield), would already be familiar territory for those in critical education circles, and would be of interest to anyone seeking an introduction to critical pedagogy, including adult learning and experiential learning.
The latter part of the book explores the practice of critical supervision in tangible ways, introducing readers to worked examples, case descriptions, tables, and questions for critical supervision. Other practical examples include the use of narrative, film, journaling, and visual art as means to support critical reflection, insight, and learning. As someone who regularly does supervision, I found this material really helpful with concrete illustrations of the sorts of ways that supervision conversations and discussions might unfold. It did raise the issue of problematic assumptions about who is the holder and who is the receiver of the critical perspective in supervision, questions which need interrogation. To assume that critical supervision is a transfer of critical insights from supervisor to supervisee would be to fly against the critical pedagogy outlined earlier, with its objection to “banking education” (p. 127) that treats learners as passive recipients of knowledge. Instead, critical pedagogy emphasises dialogue, shared learning, and the development of critical and independent thinking.
The final chapters suggest different contexts and methods where critical supervision may be applied. Included is a helpful and simplified step-by-step process for critical supervision, including key focal points that each step should cover, and the sorts of questions that may be facilitated in supervision. I agree with the authors' assertion that this should not be seen as a lock-step linear model, but rather, used as a resource to assist supervision to reflexively enter into different phases, exploring different aspects of the critical perspective and how it might apply to practice.
The book is easy to read with numerous tables and diagrams to help simplify the key ideas in the text. There are worked examples and questions for the reader to relate to their supervision experiences. There is also a glossary of key terms. The main contribution this book makes is the application of critical theory and critical pedagogy to supervision in social work. Readers with an interest in critical approaches will find this a valuable resource that contextualises human service organisations generally, but also provides a clear translation of critical perspectives into the forms and functions of supervision.