The Perceived Effectiveness of a Reflective Learning Model of Supervision for Maori and Pasifika Supervisees

Abstract

This research tested the Reflective Learning Model of Supervision (Davys, 2001; Davys & Beddoe, 2010) to find out whether it was perceived to be an effective and appropriate model for Māori and Pasifika supervisees working in the helping professions such as social work, counselling, and nursing. The literature identified culturally appropriate supervision as being key to retaining Māori and Pasifika practitioners in the helping professions, and to those practitioners being able to practice in culturally appropriate ways; benefiting both themselves and a large portion of the client base that they work with. The research was of mixed method design, and was carried out in two phases; with the first phase being an online questionnaire, which canvased the supervision experiences of the Māori and Pasifika participants, and sought their opinion on what makes supervision effective and culturally appropriate for them. The second phase consisted of the provision of a supervision session utilizing the Reflective Learning Model of Supervision (Davys, 2001; Davys & Beddoe, 2010), after which participants completed a written questionnaire recording their experience of the model and their levels of satisfaction. This written questionnaire was returned anonymously through a third party. The questionnaires in both phases contained rating scales to gather quantitative data and open ended questions to gather qualitative data. The quantitative date related to which qualities, in the view of the participants, were desirable in supervision. The qualitative data identified themes relating to what made supervision effective and culturally appropriate for participants, (phase 1,) and to what extent these things were present in the model tested, (phase 2). The findings were overwhelmingly positive, with participants expressing that the Reflective Model of Supervision met their needs in these respects. The findings from both phases strongly suggested that participants preferred co-constructed models of supervision such as this one, and that supervisors possessing the core conditions for successful interpersonal therapeutic relationships proposed by Rogers (1959), such as warmth, genuiness, being non-judgemental and having good communication skills, are an important adjunct to any model of supervision.