The cage: stuff, tunes and tales

Abstract

The following scenes reveal an emotional dialogue between a graduate supervisor and doctoral student. It reflects the importance of supervisors providing emotional support for graduate students during their academic studies. Although the doctoral student is reflecting upon whether to disclose her personal issues with him, he takes the time to talk and comfort her during a challenging time in her life. Overall, reflecting upon emotional support as part of the mentoring relationship becomes transformative as it deepens their personal and professional relationship.

Keywords:

• graduate supervision
• mentoring
• dialogue approach
• reflexive inquiry