Culture and context in Chinese field supervision: a case study from Shanghai

Research on the relationship between supervisor and social work interns in China: A Shanghai case study

“…In addition, data were collected on the following activities: (1) group and individual supervisory meetings (15 meetings for a total of 20 hours), (2) audio-recordings of conversations among the interns (15 conversations for a total of 7.5 hours), (3) written records of the interns’ daily agency activities (a total of 80 pages), (4) written records of the seven interns in other agencies in 2013 (a total of 14 pages), and (5) written records of six interns in the same agency in 2016 (a total of eight pages). Data were also collected on university supervisors and interns, although the findings are discussed in another paper (An et al, 2017). The conversations recorded for this study explored the unequal relationships among the agency, university, and students regarding an institutional perspective.…”

Supervision of Chinese social work students during field practice: Harmonising a student-focused, egalitarian approach with traditional teaching and learning

“…Students thought that they had to 'obey' the orders and undertake the tasks assigned to them without question (An et al, 2017;Cai et al, 2018). In An et al's (2017) study, although students desired a collaborative and supportive relationship with their supervisors, supervisors appeared to be either unable or unwilling to adopt a collaborative approach. Students were reported as using various descriptors for their relationship with their supervisor: these included teacher, life coach, mentor, counsellor, supporter, mediator and friend (Mo, 2016;Mo and O'Donoghue, 2019).…”

“…In the majority of the materials, the supervisor in China was described as 'senior' (Tsui, 2008) and an authority figure resonating with traditional Chinese culture and values, which have emphasised the importance of authority (quan wei 權威) and face (mian zi 面子) (An et al, 2017). In Chinese societies, student-teacher relationships have been shaped by Confucianism.…”

“…There was support for the idea that supervisors should encourage students to write reflective diaries about their practice (Hung et al, 2010;Mo and O'Donoghue, 2019) to facilitate critical examination of personal beliefs, social work values and application of skills. Students appreciated more guidance from supervisors to help them develop critical reflective thinking for further professional development (An et al, 2017), which in turn facilitates defensible decision-making about the work they undertake with service users. An et al's (2017) study indicated that both students and supervisors perceived that the latter tended to focus too much on organisational policies and procedures, and on negotiating resources to support students' learning, a finding that echoes supervisor practice in many countries.…”

“…Students appreciated more guidance from supervisors to help them develop critical reflective thinking for further professional development (An et al, 2017), which in turn facilitates defensible decision-making about the work they undertake with service users. An et al's (2017) study indicated that both students and supervisors perceived that the latter tended to focus too much on organisational policies and procedures, and on negotiating resources to support students' learning, a finding that echoes supervisor practice in many countries. Such a focus may lead students to become demotivated about the value of direct practice, which may be perceived by students as less relevant to professional development due to an emphasis on administration (Wang et al, 2019).…”