BIBLIOGRAFÍA Básica:

this with the supervisor

Table 14: Supervisees' actions to maximise learning in coaching supervision

To summarise, learning can be perceived as an underlying mechanism for the supervisee enablers. It is one of the most basic human behaviours and occurs instinctively. Learning is the key benefit of supervision and it drives supervisees to want to get the most out of their supervision and to overcome their inhibitors.

7.5 Bringing it all together – a framework for supervisee-led supervision

I consider that three factors affecting human nature - fear, power relations and our natural desire for learning - might be underlying supervisees’ lived-in experiences. All three mechanisms appear to be fundamental in driving supervisee behaviour. The study revealed

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how the majority of supervisees learnt to enhance their coaching supervision over time, by developing ways of countering the underlying mechanisms of fear and power relations, and were motivated to do so by their natural tendency to learn. I advocate that supervisees could gain more learning from their supervision earlier on in their supervision journey if they were more aware of the underlying mechanisms - the impact of fear and power relations and the innate drive for learning and how they can inhibit and enhance their supervision in respect of these factors.

I consider that there is currently a gap in supervisee knowledge, particularly amongst novice supervisees, about how to work through their fear and how to achieve a balanced, equal relationship in order to maximise learning from the supervisory process. Supervisees can be supported to be courageous and step into their authority earlier in their developmental journey. They can become active participants rather than passive recipients through increased awareness of what can hinder them during supervision and what thoughts, behaviours and actions they can adopt to enhance their supervision. I suggest that there may be a gap in supervisors’ knowledge about how to facilitate this. It is important for the coaching and supervision communities to provide guidelines, training and literature, based on empirical research, to support coaches to gain awareness on how to be effective supervisees (Hodge et al., 2014, Clutterbuck, Whitaker and Lucas, 2016). More detailed recommendations related to this are provided in Chapter 8 in the section on contribution to coaching supervision practice.

This idea of giving supervisees more authority has support in the wider supervision community. Carroll encourages supervisees to move towards the power within where they become “authors of their own lives” (2014, p. 52). He (2014, p. 3) describes how he has changed his stance about supervision and learning and he now believes that supervision should be more ‘supervisee-led’ rather than

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‘supervisor-led’. “I am convinced that until supervisees become the directors of their own supervision it will remain a teaching modality rather than a learning one”. He believes that it is up to supervisees to “direct the supervisory orchestra” and the supervisor’s role is to become facilitators of reflective practice. On the basis of this study’s findings, the data supports the idea of supervisee-led supervision and suggests that, once supervisees have awareness of the underlying natural forces that they have to contend with and understand how they can inhibit and enable their supervision, many can choose to empower themselves to “drive the bus of their supervision”. The following framework for supervisee-led supervision has been developed with this purpose in mind and reflects the findings of this study (figure 14).

Figure 14: Framework for supervisee-led supervision

The framework is specifically designed for supervisees with an intention to increase their awareness of how to become active

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participants in their supervision. Thus “supervisee-led supervision” is at the heart of the inner circle. The outer circle of the framework depicts the possible underlying mechanisms that affect coaching supervision – fear, power relations and our natural desire for learning. Inside the circle lie the benefits of coaching supervision, namely learning and how supervisees value the process, what supervisees can do to enable their supervision and what supervisees can do that inhibits it. The small arrows between the boxes illustrate the relationships between the categories. The benefits of supervision accelerate supervisees’ desire to enable their supervision and reduce their tendency to get in their own way and inhibit their supervision. The larger arrow at the bottom of the inner circle represents supervisee development and maturity over time. This does not mean that the pace of supervisee development should be forced. It is important to maximise the level of learning at each stage of supervisee maturation. I would like to share this framework with supervisees and supervisors to increase their awareness of the supervisee perspective in coaching supervision and how supervisees can make the most of their supervision.

I think that the enhanced role of the supervisee in coaching supervision needs to be reflected in how we define a coaching supervisee going forward. The few definitions of supervisees that I came across during my literature search appear to support ‘supervisor-led’ rather than ‘supervisee-led’ supervision. For example, “a supervisee is one who brings his/her work to another (individual or group) in order to learn how to do that work better” (Carroll and Gilbert, 2011, p. 17) and “the supervisee will be a practising coach. As a coach, they may work on individual, team or group basis with clients” (Clutterbuck, Whitaker and Lucas, 2016, p. 1). I do not feel that such definitions reflect the responsibility that supervisees want and can have in the supervisory process. On the basis of this study I have developed a new definition which

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incorporates the supervisees’ proactive and equal role in the process.

A coaching supervisee is a coach who actively co-creates an equal, collaborative partnership with another professional coach or therapist (supervisor) in order to share and reflect upon his/her work, gain perspective, learn, develop and resource themselves and ensure that their practice is ethical and effective for clients.

In this study, although I have focused on the role of the coaching supervisee in coaching supervision, I consider that coaching supervisors have a vital role to play in supporting and facilitating supervisees in their reflective practice and learning. With this in mind, I have developed some specific guidelines for both supervisees and supervisors that are based on my findings. These are provided in appendix 10-17.

In this chapter, I have discussed an overarching theme that has emerged from the research, supervisee development and maturity over time. I have explored three underlying mechanisms that affect human nature and might explain supervisees’ experiences – fear, power relations and the drive for learning. I then brought it altogether by presenting my framework for supervisee-led supervision, describing how supervisees, through increased awareness, can step into their authority and become the drivers of their own supervision earlier in their developmental journey. The implications of this analysis will be discussed in the next chapter.

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8 Conclusions and recommendations

In this study, I set out to answer the question – how can coaching supervisees help and hinder their supervision? In this chapter, I will summarise the contribution this study makes to theoretical knowledge and to supervision practice. I will discuss the study’s limitations and potential areas for future research and conclude with some personal reflections on my learning from the research process.