Weaving Relational HDR Supervision Practices
Providing knowledge and skills to create safe, supportive supervisory relationships for First Nations HDR Supervision.
The Weaving Relational HDR Supervision Practices workshops were developed by Shifting Ground to support supervisors and HDR scholars to build culturally safe, reflexive relationships and foster communication grounded in empathy for the HDR journey of First Nations peoples.
By coming together in deep reflection and exploration, participants strengthen their support networks to keep learning and reflecting long after the workshops end.
Why HDR Supervision Workshops are Needed
First Nation’s HDR scholars bring amazing strengths, knowledge and skills which are not always understood or recognised.
HDR scholars experience a range of unique challenges and barriers within the academy, frequently related to colonial load and systemic racism yet they often don’t get the time and space to reflect on how this is impacting their journey.
While the number of HDR scholars is increasing across Australia, PhD completion rates remain unchanged.
The working relationship between HDR scholars and their supervisors has an important impact on the process and success of a HDR scholar's journey. Improving relational skills and deepening understanding of culturally safe practices will further meet the needs of scholars.
The workshops aim to support supervisors and HDR scholars to build a culturally safe, reflexive relationship and improve communication built on understanding and empathy of the HDR journey as experienced by First Nations peoples.
The Workshops
Offering 1
Understanding the weave:
Building foundational knowledge to support First Nations HDRs (2 hours)
An introductory workshop for future and current supervisors of First Nations HDR scholars. This workshop builds supervisors' understandings of the unique experiences of First Nations HDR scholars, provides space for foundational reflexive practice, and explores practical tips to establish solid ways of working.
Offering 2
Weaving my own net:
Defining my own HDR journey (3 hours)
This workshop will provide a safe, facilitated and culturally held environment for scholars to reflect on their HDR journey so far with the aim of identifying their individual and unique needs for success, build student capacity to make healthy and constructive requests to their supervision team, and challenge deficit narratives about the HDR experience.
Offering 3
Weaving culturally safe HDR supervision practice.
(8 hours total delivered in 2x4 hours workshops)
A comprehensive workshop series for supervisors currently supporting First Nations HDR Scholars and/or First Nations HDR Scholars who have started their journey (ideally past confirmation).
The workshop series covers the following sessions:
Unsettling the weave: exploring colonisation and decolonisation in the context of the HDR experience
Strangers don’t weave strong nets: developing relational practice
Weaving wellbeing: Making space for safety, story and self
Gathering Threads: Co-Weaving a Culturally Safe Future
who
This program is offered for
HDR students
Supervisors currently supporting First Nations HDR Scholars and/or keen to develop capability in the area and HDR student
Interested?
For more details about these offerings, get in touch with Shifting Ground.
“Shifting Ground is a unique organisation that combines deep cultural knowledge with superior academic insights. Their relational approach takes collaborators on a mutually beneficial journey of learning and growth. Working with them on a complex online education module for senior public sector leaders, I was extremely impressed by the team’s work ethic, the rigorous academic basis of their thinking, and the way they championed their values, especially their cultural obligations and accountabilities to community. My organisation and I gained deep knowledge from Shifting Ground’s expertise and way of working, and they built us an exceptional learning module!”
— Dr David Coombs
Senior Advisor, Academic Quality and Strategy | Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)