Modelling Best Practice in Supervision of Research Higher Degrees in Writing

Those who teach in the discipline of creative and professional writing in Australia will be sensitive to the current emphasis on higher degree by research (HDR) enrolments and on timely completions, and to ongoing debates around the quality and impact of creative work in the national research environment. Against this background, competent supervision of research higher degree students, informed by knowledge of disciplinary best practice, becomes increasingly important. Recent research for the Australian Postgraduate Writers' Network has revealed a body of literature on effective postgraduate supervision across many disciplines, including some that are cognate with writing. This literature ranges from practical 'how-to' guides to more theoretically informed explorations of supervisory techniques and practices. A small number of publications address supervision in non-traditional fields. Very few, however, relate directly to supervision in writing in an Australian context. This paper, therefore, works toward modelling ways forward towards achieving best practice in the supervision of research higher degrees in creative and professional writing in Australia. It draws on existing scholarship to identify aspects of best practice shared by writing and other disciplines, and it adapts and extends these to suit the discipline, taking into particular account supervision of the creative work and exegesis. In so doing, the paper represents a first step in formally developing a theoretical and methodological framework that will inform, support and enrich supervisory practice in the discipline.