Supervising supervisors: developing social work supervision practice

Supervision for social workers is considered a professional imperative and there is extensive literature about supervising others. The prompt for this study was that, regardless of that available knowledge, many social workers say that their supervisee experiences are not what they need or want. Supervision sessions are often overwhelmed by managerial and organisational performance at the demise of reflection and support, which is commonly explained by neoliberalist agendas in human services. However, it may also relate to supervisors’ knowledge and skills in preserving professional commitments in complex environments and individualising supervision. A premise for this study was that supervision is a form of social work practice. Coupled with the professional significance of supervision, it led to considering how individual professional supervision is used to develop supervisors and their supervision practice. This qualitative case study explored what happens in social work supervisors’ own supervision sessions. Data was collected from a total of 18 participants. Four supervision pairs – in which the supervisee was also a supervisor – were observed across (n=12) supervision sessions. They participated in one individual interview after observations and could complete optional diary entries. Two focus groups were conducted with (n=10) supervisors who did not participate in observations. They considered a case study scenario of a new supervisor who was also a manager and ideas for supervision conversations. A researcher’s journal was used for reflective notes. Data were analysed using a combination of qualitative content, comparative, and cross-case analysis. This study showed parallels between supervisee expectations whether they are supervisors or work directly with people accessing services and programs. One major finding was the limited discussion in supervisors’ own supervision sessions about the sessions and conversations that they facilitated with supervisees. One prominent explanation in the findings was the multiple roles occupied by supervisors. Other influences on how supervisors made use of their own supervision for development included supervision understandings, organisational contexts, power, and relationships. The findings informed a Multidimensional Supervisor Development Framework as a starting point for developing supervisors and their supervision practice. This study went beyond self-report methods and looked at supervision-in-action and addressed the paucity of supervisor-specific research. It prompts an important new research agenda for supervisors-as-supervisees and supervisors-of-supervisors.