How can the Supervisory Relationship Facilitate Perceptions of effective Supervision for Trainee Educational Psychologists

The supervisory relationship is reported to be fundamental in determining whether the goals of supervision are met. Its role is said to surpass any methods or approaches used (Kilminster and Jolly, 2000). In educational psychology the supervisory relationship with trainees has not been explored in any depth. This study aims to explore how both trainees and supervisors experience the relationship. An onus is placed on exploring the effective features of the relationship, with a view to enhance practice. In phase 1, interpretative methodology was applied to identify newly qualified educational psychologists’ experiences of their practicum based supervision when they were in year three of their training. Main themes described are participants needing to feel accepted by their supervisor, the supervisor acting from within professional, personal and nurturing based roles, feeling connected with the supervisor, being open and disclosing with the supervisor and how service culture impacts supervision. The power dynamic between trainee and supervisor appeared to significantly impact on key features of the relationship The themes from phase 1 were presented to supervisor participants in phase 2. Interpretative methodology was used to explore supervisors’ perceptions of these themes. Overall, supervisors appeared to like relationships which were mutual and reciprocal. Implications for practice are explored e.g. the need to facilitate authenticity and open dialogue in the relationship. Limitations of the study include 1) piloting the interview process with a non-educational psychology professional who does not have experience of the context of trainee educational psychology supervision 2) possible disadvantages of knowing some of my participants 3) accessing supervisory experiences related to just year 3 of training and 4) inconsistency in criteria for participation, i.e. not all participants had been working with the same supervisor or trainee for year both years 2 and 3 of the training programme