Critical Inquiry of Supervisor-Student Academic Relationship in the Course of Dissertation Writing: From the Perspective of Students of Philosophy of Education

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Abstract

The aim of this qualitative study was the inquiry of the most common issues in the academic relationship between university professors and their students in the course of writing dissertations. The data was collected from a sample including fourteen graduate students of philosophy of education. Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were conducted. Critical hermeneutics was applied to interpret the data due to its ability to deconstruct hierarchical relations existing between students and their supervisors. Students, supervisors, and their mode of interaction were three main elements of this study. The analysis of the data revealed that most of interviewees were dissatisfied with their relationships. We suggest that the students’ research skills should be improved before they take on writing their dissertations. We also came to this conclusion that further clarifications in terms of duties vis-à-vis responsibilities of both parties are necessary and that these clarifications can prevent future confusions and misunderstandings to occur; also, clear contracts can provide a legal ground for any formal complaints.

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The Journal of New Thoughts on Education
Volume 11, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
September 2015
Pages 125-148

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