Volume 2 : Issue 2 (2015)

ENHANCEMENT OF POSTGRADUATE SUPERVISION: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SKILLS PROGRAMME FOR POSTGRADUATE SUPERVISORS

Postgraduate supervision is vital to the successful completion of the research of the postgraduate student. Globally there is more emphasis on the role and the competence of the postgraduate supervisor in higher education institutions and universities need to improve, maintain andfurther develop competencies regarding skills, knowledge and altitude of postgraduate supervisors in order to meet the changing requirements of postgraduate supen'ision in the Higher Education environment in South Africa. The study was a qualitative study whereby theoretical perspectives and previous findings related to postgraduate supervision was critically reviewed, assembled and interpreted. Through the literature review, the researcher could identify specific core issues on postgraduate supervision thai needed further elaboration and substantiation for Ihis study. It was apparent from the literature that higher education institutions should have a skills development programme in place in order to be effective and efficient in contribuling to the successful completion of postgraduate studies. To achieve the aim of the study, a skills development programme for postgraduate supervisors was developed to ensure the achievement of Higher Education's responsibility towards students in a planned and coordinated manner.

postgraduate student; postgraduate supervision: postgraduate supervisor; skills development programme

Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)- (2010). The PhD study: An evidence-based study on how to meet the demands for higher- level skills in an emerging economy. ASSAf, Pretoria. Austin, A.E. & McDaniels, M. (2006). Using Doctoral Education to Prepare Faculty to Work Within Boyer's Four Domains of Scholarship. New Directions for Institutional Research, 129,51-65. Austin, A.E. (2002). Preparing the next generation of Faculty: Graduate School as Socializing to the Academic Career. Journal of Higher Education, 73(1), 94-122. Babbie, E. (2007). The Practice of Social Research. Wadsworth, Belmont. Babbie, E. & Mouton, J. (2006). The Practice of Social Research. Oxford University Press, Cape Town. Bak, N. (2011). Professionalising the supervision relationship: A reply to Waghid, Fataar and Hugo. South African Journal of Higher Education, 25(6), 1047-1061. Boyer, E.L. (1997). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Backhouse, J.P. (2009). Doctoral Education in South Africa: Models, Pedagogies and Student Experiences. Unpublished Thesis. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Backhouse, J. (2010). Patterns of practice in South African doctoral education: an empirical study. Acta Academica Supplementum, 1, 1-22. Bitzer, K M. (2007). Supervising higher degrees as a scholarly practice. South African Journal of Higher Education, 21(8), 1010-1019. Bitzer, E.M. (2011). Knowledge with wisdom in postgraduate studies and supervision: Epistemological and institutional concerns and challenges. South African Journalfor Higher Education, 25(5), 855-874. Coetzee, J.K., Elliker, F. & Rau, A. (2013). Training for Advanced Research in the Narrative Study of Lives within the Context of Political and Educational Transformation: A Case Study in South Africa. Qualitative Social Research, 14(2), 27-35. Council for I Iigher Education. (2010). Universities of Technology: Deepening the debate. Council on Higher Education, Pretoria. Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). (2013). White Paper for Post- School Education and Training. Building an Expanded, Effective and Integrated Post School System. Department of Higher Education and Training, Pretoria. Dietz, A.J., Jansen, J.D. & Wadee, A.A. (2006). Effective PhD supervision and mentorship. A workbook based on experiences from South Africa and the Netherlands. Rozenberg Publishers, Pretoria. Du Pr6, R. (2006). The Philosophy of a University of Technology in South Africa: An Introduction. Council on Higher Education, Pretoria. Du Pre, R. (2010). Universities of technology in the context of the South African Higher Education landscape. Council on Higher Education, Pretoria.