Year

2021

Credit points

10

Campus offering

No unit offerings are currently available for this unit

Prerequisites

THSP512 Ministry Supervision - Individual

Teaching organisation

This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, which reflects the standard volume of learning for a unit in a University qualification of this Australian Qualifications Framework type.

Unit rationale, description and aim

Graduates of programs in Ignatian Spirituality should develop knowledge and skills in this discipline and demonstrate a capacity to critically analyse, synthesise and evaluate the various ways in which their personal development impacts upon and contributes to their professional roles. This unit introduces students to the principles and practice of peer and group supervision which complement individual ministry supervision. Students will learn how peer and group supervision can: (i) optimise learning processes during initial formation; (ii) provide supervisors with opportunities for ongoing professional development in their professional ministry practice; and (iii) enhance the appreciation of the value and importance of a peer support network. The aim of this unit is to assist students to develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary to facilitate peer and group supervision within contemporary professional contexts. 

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Analyse current and divergent theories and models of individual, peer and group supervision within various professional and ministerial contexts (GA5; GA8); 

LO2 - Demonstrate an understanding of the contemplative stance to supervision and its relationship to Ignatian Spirituality (GA2; GA5); 

LO3 - Demonstrate self-reflection in relation to supervision experiences, group and leadership dynamics, and practical and ethical issues (GA3); 

LO4 - Develop a personal approach to peer and group supervision supported by current literature and research (GA3; GA5); 

LO5 - Evaluate their strengths and areas for growth in the provision of peer and group supervision in the light of feedback from lecturers and fellow students (GA3; GA5; GA8). 

Graduate attributes

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

Content

Topics include: 

  • Peer and group supervision: principles and practice; 
  • Models of Peer and Group Supervision; 
  • Ignatian Spirituality and supervision; 
  • Professional, practical and ethical issues in peer & group supervision particularly as those relate to Safeguarding requirements as set out by the Royal Commission; 
  • Self-care; 
  • Managing pitfalls in peer & group supervision. 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

THSP614 will be delivered in multi-mode, that is, in various combinations of face to face and mediated learning environments, utilising strategies which may include: 

  1. Self-directed activities (such as completing scaffolded reading tasks or web-based exercises) which enable each student to build a detailed understanding of a topic; 
  2. Small-group tasks and activities (such as contributing to discussion forums or undertaking peer review and experience of group supervision) which enable students to test, critique, expand and evaluate their understandings; 
  3. Plenary seminars and webinars which enable students to link their understandings with larger frameworks of knowledge and alternative interpretations of ideas; 
  4. Practical or fieldwork activities which enable students to rehearse skills necessary to the discipline and to be mentored in that practice; 
  5. Critically reflective activities (which assist students to learn reflexively, that is, to identify their affective responses to the learning and to integrate their learning with action). 

The unit is delivered with the expectation that participants are adult learners, intrinsically motivated and prepared to reflect critically on issues and contribute to discussions drawn from their own learning and perspectives. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to pass this unit, students are required to complete all assessment tasks and achieve an overall minimum grade of pass. All assessment tasks are designed for students to show their achievement of each learning outcome and graduate attribute. They require students to demonstrate the nexus between their learning, dispositions, and ministry practice, and the evidence on which this demonstration is based. 

Overview of assessments

Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment TasksWeightingLearning OutcomesGraduate Attributes

1. Review of Literature (1000 words). This task is designed to ground students’ understanding of Peer and Group Supervision in current ‘best practice’ literature. 

20% 

LO1

GA5, GA8 

2. Reflective piece (2000 words). This task is designed to provide students with the opportunity to undertake a critical reflection on leading a group supervision session using feedback from the group. 

30% 

LO1, LO2, LO3, LO6

GA2, GA5, GA8 

3. Essay on a chosen topic (3000 words). This task is designed to enable students to critically appropriate the aims and content of the unit. 

50% 

LO3, LO4, LO5

GA2, GA3, GA5, GA8

Representative texts and references

Beddoe, Liz. “Surveillance or Reflection: Professional Supervision in the ‘Risk’ Society.” The British Journal of Social Work 40, Vol.4 (2010):1279-96. 

Clutterbuck, David, Carol Whittaker, and Michelle Lucal. Coaching Supervision. London: Routledge, 2016. 

Copeland, Phillipe, Ruth Dean and Stephanie Wladkowski. “The Power Dynamics of Supervision: Ethical Dilemmas.” Smith College Studies in Social Work 81:1 (2011): 26-40 

Hawkins, Peter, and Robin Shoet. Supervision in the Helping Professions. London: Open University Press, 2012. 

Kolvenbach, Peter-Hans. “Cura Personalis.” Review of Ignatian Spirituality 114 (2007): 9-17. 

Newman, Daniel, Allison Nebbergall and Diane Salmon. “Structured Peer Group Supervision for Novice Consultants: Procedures, Pitfalls, and Potential.” Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation 23:3 (2013): 200-216. 

O’Keefe, Mick. “Facilitated Group Supervision: Harnessing the Power of Peers,” Journal of Paediatrics & Child Health 50 (2014): 944-48. 

Patterson, Michael. “Bringing the Work alive: a generic model for pastoral supervision.? Enriching Ministry: Pastoral Supervision in Practice. ProQuest EBook Central. 2014. 

Turner, Tammy, and Michelle Lucas. Peer Supervision in Coaching & Mentoring. New York: Routledge, 2018. 

Viney, Linda and Deborah Truneckova. “Personal Construct Models of Group Supervision: Peer and Led,” Personal Construct Theory & Practice 5 (2005):131-138. 

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