The Socratic method: adult education theories

Postgraduate students need to explore their research question(s) from different angles, take ownership of the research process, and develop their own scholarly voice. Supervisors are often ill-equipped to guide students in a strategic and learner-centred manner. The Socratic method draws on strategies to elicit learning through uncertainty in the question-and-answer technique employed. Based on a qualitative study, various adult education theories are used to formulate a rationale for the application of the Socratic method as a tool to facilitate learning in the supervisor-student relationship. Theoretical perspectives which emerged as themes through this study include experiential learning, ontological coaching and empowerment. This article provides a conceptual framework for postgraduate supervisors which could act as a guide to enhance their supervisory practice and facilitate independent student learning. Die Sokratiese metode: volwasseneleerteorieë Nagraadse studente behoort hulle navorsingsvrae vanuit verskillende invalshoeke te ondersoek, eienaarskap van die navorsingsproses te neem en hulle eie akademiese stem te ontwikkel. Studieleiers is dikwels nie volkome toegerus om studente op 'n strategiese en leerdergesentreerde manier te lei nie. Die Sokratiese metode gebruik verskeie strategieë om 'n leerproses deur die onsekerheid van die vraag-enantwoordtegniek wat gebruik word uit te lok. Gebaseer op 'n kwalitatiewe studie, word verskeie volwasseneleerteorieë gebruik om 'n rasionaal vir die toepassing van die Sokratiese metode te formuleer. Laasgenoemde dien as 'n hulpmiddel om die leerproses binne die student-studieleierverhouding te fasiliteer. Teoretiese perspektiewe wat deur die loop van die studie as tema's geïdentifiseer is, sluit leer deur ondervinding, ontologiese opleiding en bemagtiging in. Die artikel verskaf 'n konseptuele raamwerk wat studieleiers van nagraadse studente kan lei om hul studieleiding kan bevorder en om onafhanklike studenteleer te fasiliteer.

Studies in Higher Education, 2002

Research education, or training, as it is often termed, is attracting greater scrutiny as research itself is seen of greater importance in the global knowledge economy. In turn, concerns to improve the effectiveness and ef ciency of research supervision are leading to the introduction and extension of programmes for supervisor development. This article presents a framework for an approach to supervisor development, based on the assumption that in order to discuss supervisor development it is important to understand what supervisors do and why. The article examines the nature of the educative process for research students in the current research environment. It articulates the generic processes supervisors need to engage in for effective supervision, if students are to develop in differing institutional, disciplinary and professional contexts the appropriate expertise and attributes for employment; and presents an outline of what might constitute a exible professional development programme for supervisors in this context.

US-China Education Review, 2009

This empirical study uses auto-ethnography to describe a higher education pedagogical process that facilitated largely doctoral students in preparing their candidacy proposals through the use of specific adult learning principles. Students' experiences and points of view of such a learning environment were explored, including: (1) how they contributed to their peers' learning;

Journal of Educational Sciences

Consent in the definition of adult education is only apparent and circumscribed. Substantial differences survive, fueled by various national ideologies, cultures and policies. The plurality of angles determines a multiplicity of research approaches. Transformative research is the typical model of adult education research and is analysed in its core components. Its peculiarity is the property of ensuring immediate production not only of knowledge, but of change processes. This property has favoured proliferation especially outside the academic community of education sciences. The process was guided by the users of the research, i.e. by those who have roles and resources that enable them to orientate the research in response to personal and organisational needs. This phenomenon necessarily produces a process of social construction of the meaning and the methodological content of the research. This expansion urges the development of a transformative research that also attributes to the education proletariat the role of inspiration and guidance in adult education. The object of research in adult education Research in adult education has its own specificity that varies according to research goals. We may have researches that primarily aim at exercising forms of control over ongoing educational processes, or interested in understanding and interpreting educational phenomena, or ultimately in modifying the educational conditions of the population. These three options involve not only a different conception of how to do research. They are also based on different definitions of the subject of study: adult education. Their identification can be made taking into account both the major traditions of second logic research and the representations of the object identifiable in the research. On this basis, we can distinguish between three different approaches: • the institutional and organisational definition, both public and private • the phenomenal definition, which is concerned with the study of educational behaviours in adulthood • the transformative definition, designed to highlight the meaning, the reason for being, the social function of adult education. The institutional definition orients the researcher's observation towards the historical forms in which the adult education system of a country or organisation

Consent in the definition of adult education is only apparent and circumscribed. Substantial differences survive, fueled by various national ideologies, cultures and policies. The plurality of angles determines a multiplicity of research approaches. Transformative research is the typical model of adult education research and is analysed in its core components. Its peculiarity is the property of ensuring immediate production not only of knowledge, but of change processes. This property has favoured proliferation especially outside the academic community of education sciences. The process was guided by the users of the research, i.e. by those who have roles and resources that enable them to orientate the research in response to personal and organisational needs. This phenomenon necessarily produces a process of social construction of the meaning and the methodological content of the research. This expansion urges the development of a transformative research that also attributes to the...

EDULEARN16 Proceedings, 2016

In Italy, the university training of education professionals currently consists of a three-year bachelor's degree program for educators and a five-year master's degree program for adult educators. Educational work does not simply consist of direct relationships with the people intended to benefit from it: the provision of educational services demands a significant level of coordination, planning, and organization. In Italy, these functions are performed by adult educators, that is to say, professionals with a Master's Degree who are specialists in educational processes. The specific role of these professionals is to design, manage and evaluate educational services: they may be employed as coordinators, directors, counsellors, or supervisors in the field of education. Italian adult educators must therefore receive training in a range of skills and competences, given that they may be required to fulfil a variety of different roles. This paper presents and analyses the practical training component in the university training of Italian adult educators, consisting of both e-learning and group sessions. The design of this component was underpinned by a number of generic assumptions, the most important of which is that educators must develop research skills if they are to fully attain the required professional competence. Specifically, undertaking and conducting research requires the ability to analyze contexts, identify relevant themes, construct and deconstruct issues, and deal with multiple dimensions of knowledge (both theoretical and practical). Designing and implementing a research project in an educational context can make a key contribution to mastering the main skills required by an educational counsellor, supervisor or coordinator. Asking students to carry out research implies viewing them as capable of identifying their own learning interests and developing a clear vision of their professional futures, in other words, as students with agency who are prepared to abandon a purely passive stance. After this model had been pilot tested for one year, we conducted an evaluation based on feedback received from the participants. The students reported experiencing an unanticipated level of disorientation, which had not been easy for them to cope with. More specifically, they mentioned difficulties in connecting the different perspectives encountered in the course of their studies, recognizing their own competences and negotiating their role with external institutions. Overall, they were disoriented in relation to their own learning interests and future professional identity. These dimensions could not be taken for granted and demanded a space in which to be discussed. The feedback from the evaluation thus led us to look more closely at how the university goes about organizing and managing professional training programs. The role of higher education is changing and the traditional distinctions between formal, non-formal and informal learning called into question. Personal knowledge and transversal skills, as well as the ability to manage a composite and changing professional identity, connect experience acquired across different contexts (formal and non-formal), and identify and construct competences are becoming increasingly relevant. This means that the notion of competence should not be viewed from a purely instrumental perspective but needs to be discussed at multiple levels. Fostering this kind of reflective process means caring for the "third mission" assigned to universities: that of developing and promoting lifelong and lifewide learning.

South African Journal of Higher Education

Postgraduate supervision is most often perceived as a one-to-one relationship between an expert and a novice researcher. Even when working in groups, an instructional approach tends to dominate, where the supervisor(s) prescribe(s) the content and process, with a narrow focus on the outcome of degree completion, rather than a more holistic approach to the development of postgraduate scholars. At a time when curriculum transformation is high on the agenda of Higher Education, we problematise this traditional conceptualisation of postgraduate supervision and argue for a more participatory action learning and action research (PALAR) approach to postgraduate learning and development. PALAR creates a relational and reflective space for dialogical conversations, equalizing traditional power relations and democratising knowledge creation. This opens up the possibility for postgraduate candidates to perceive themselves as self-directed lifelong learners and collaborative action leaders, rather than just "students". Using a case example of a postgraduate PALAR retreat, we thematically analyse the data generated from participant reflections, presented over three days in visual, oral and other creative forms. Findings reveal that this approach to postgraduate learning and development enhances critical thinking and promotes collaboration rather than competition. Participants are thus able to see themselves as developing scholars and action leaders within their specific fields of influence. Such outcomes are likely to provide a solid foundation for developing future academics or other professionals, able to model a holistic, participatory approach to knowledge creation in their own practice.

2020

This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice

This article outlines the design and development of a bespoke Research Training Support Framework, targeting the professional development needs of higher degree research (HDR) supervisors and their students, which was achieved by implementing Patton's (2011; 2012) utilisation-focused evaluation methodology (UFE). The primary research question was: What are the most suitable structures, components and content of an institutional framework to support Higher Degree Research (HDR) supervisors and their students at Avondale College of Higher Education? A mixed method design was used to gather data from students, academic staff and administrative staff using questionnaires, focus groups and interviews. Analyses of these data informed the Framework’s development along with previous research and advice from an advisory panel which comprised of national and international experts. Accordingly, the Framework was constructed around three core principles that served to guide the development ...

Proceedings of the 2020 InSITE Conference, 2020

Aim/Purpose: [This Proceedings paper was revised and published in the journal "Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology,"16, 21-40.] The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the learning that happens in assuming a supervisee’s role during the postgraduate study. Background: The facilitators and barriers students encountered while pursuing postgraduate studies, strategies to achieve success in postgraduate studies, and how to decrease attrition rates of students, have been sufficiently explored in literature. However, there is little written about the personal and professional impact on students when they are being supervised to complete their postgraduate studies. Methodology: Autoethnographic method of deep reflection was used to examine the learning that transpired from the supervisee’s perspective. Two lecturers (a Senior Lecturer in Nursing and an Aboriginal Tutor) focused on their postgraduate journeys as supervisees, respectively, with over 30 years o...