Dancing the Tango within a Triangle: Framing Agendas in Postgraduate Pedagogies

Abstract

Due to the personal attachment candidates have to their work, PhD supervision in the Creative Writing discipline is one of the most complex of Postgraduate pedagogies. The personal relationship with his work often affects the candidate's personal relationships with his supervisors. This paper discusses ways of approaching postgraduate pedagogy in Creative Writing based on individual and collective reflective accounts following a successful submission. Through analysing two distinct relationships; one being the candidate's attachment to his work and the other being the candidate-supervisor relationship, we draw on a model of supervision inspired by a psychoanalytical interpretation of discourse and use our first-hand experience to introduce a new, experiential methodology of supervision that takes into account the shifting positions of candidate and supervisors throughout the journey to submission. We also challenge this model and suggest ways of enriching this model to make the postgraduate experience more enjoyable and productive for both PhD student and supervisor.

Keywords:

• Pedagogy
• self-expression
• writing
• feedback
• ethics
• communication skills