Promoting Effective Doctoral Supervision through Relational Pedagogy: The Supervisor as Shepherd and Counsellor in Doctoral Education
Victor J.T.Zizer 
Issue: Vol.4 No.5 May 2023 Article 6 pp.560-567
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20234536 | Published online 12th May, 2023
© 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
This paper examines relational pedagogy as an effective approach to promoting success in doctoral supervision. The author reflects on his relationship with his thesis supervisor and advocates for teachers and supervisors to consider ways in which relational pedagogy may become a key element and approach in doctoral supervision and education. It reveals how his doctoral supervisor cultivated a trusted shepherd-counsellor relationship that led to the expected outcomes. The study proposes that promoting shepherding and counselling roles in doctoral supervision is a supportive way to foster such rapport for successful candidature. The paper positions dialogue as a vital element of relational pedagogy. It sees the need for supervisors and higher educational institutions to adopt shepherding-counselling roles to provide students with the right assistance to become successful in their doctoral journey.
Keywords: Doctoral Supervisor, Doctoral Education, Relational Pedagogy, Doctoral Candidate, Shepherding and Counselling
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Victor J.T. Zizer is at the School of Theology and Mission, Lecturer at the Pentecost University, Ghana. He holds a PhD from the Akrofi-Christaller Institute, Akropong, Ghana.
This paper borrows heavily from another article he published under the title: ‘Allison Howell and Relational Pedagogy: Meeting the Pastor-Counsellor in the theological educator’, as a chapter in a festschrift. See: Victor Zizer, ‘Allison Howell and Relational Pedagogy: Meeting the Pastor and Counsellor in the Theological Educator’. In Understanding THE GOSPEL Culture and Environment: Essays in Honour of Allison Mary Howell. Edited by Ini Dorcas Dah, Ebenezer Yaw Blasu and Kuku Rudolph Gaisie. University of Ghana Press, 2022. 133-144. It was revised and submitted as an assignment in ‘CREST online Course for Supervisors of Doctoral Candidates at African Universities’ in 2021.
Zizer, V.J.T. “Promoting Effective Doctoral Supervision through Relational Pedagogy: The Supervisor as Shepherd and Counsellor in Doctoral Education.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 4, no.5 (2023): 560-567. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2023456
© 2023 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
