Exploration of supervisees’ experiences of a transcultural supervision activity

Aims: Regulatory competences for educational psychologists (EPs) state specifications of understanding and acknowledging diversity and transcultural working within practice. This article explores the experiences of four trainee educational psychologists (TEPs) after participating in a Transcultural Supervision activity with their placement supervisors, which aims to promote culturally responsive working.Method: Supervisees’ views were gained through an online questionnaire and analysed using Thematic Analysis. The article explores the supervisee’s experience of the transcultural supervision activity and the impact of it on their cultural awareness and power dynamics within a supervisory relationship.Findings: Four superordinate themes were interpreted in the study, including: engagement, thoughts and feelings, developing cultural awareness and reducing power differential. The paper explores these themes in further detail alongside the subordinate themes constructed, before highlighting implications for educational psychology and supervisory practice.Limitations: Limitations of the research discussed including the sampling method, method of data collection used and the assumption made by the researcher that each participant has a similar understanding of the definitions of culture and power dynamics, limiting exploration of potentially contrasting discourses in practice. Conclusions: Overall, the transcultural supervision activity was reported to be beneficial in improving cultural awareness by supervisees and was also perceived as being influential in supporting power dynamics within new supervisory relationships. This complements previous research exploring the views of supervisors and their experience of the transcultural activity and has potential for further use in EP professional training and practice.<br/

Exploring contracts and contracting within supervisor training

This article explores how to foster contracting as a process in supervision. It evaluates the teaching of contracting within a four-day supervision course at the University of Birmingham delivered over the last six years to 63 qualified Educational Psychologists. Two methods were used: a survey generating 20 responses and a focus group comprised of five participants, who elaborated on the results of the survey. The survey indicated a growth in confidence and knowledge about contracting. Helpful activities highlighted included modelling the use of a contract within the training, sharing examples of contracts and transcultural supervision activities. However, there was hesitation about the use of formal contracts to support the working relationship between supervisor and supervisee, indicating a need to support understanding of contracting as a process which enables and supports the supervisory alliance. As a result, the discussion introduces a model bringing three elements of contracting together, namely the formal contract, transcultural supervision activities and mini-contracting within sessions, as a process, with the outcome of promoting a strong supervisory alliance. The limitations to the research include the course being evaluated by those facilitating it and the limited number of respondents. The conclusions highlight the importance of being clearer about the elements of the contracting process and the need for an explicit link from the process of contracting to the quality of the supervisory relationship