By Haley Fong, Tara Janda and Anita Soni
In this blog post we explore the concept of trans-cultural supervision and how we have used this in our practice. The context of the supervision is between Anita who is an academic and professional tutor and two of her Year 1 trainees: Haley and Tara. Here they share their use of experiences of trans-cultural supervision.
Background
Anita: Tara, Haley and I have been exploring trans-cultural supervision in our sessions through undertaking an activity together from Hawkins and Shohet (2012) to help us become more aware of our own and each other’s cultural perspectives and to work in a culturally sensitive way. Hawkins and Shohet remind us to bear in mind the following;
- It is important to become conscious of our own culture.
- All cultures are equally valid, but as we operate within different cultures we may hold different values and assumptions. Habitual ways of thinking can arise from cultural assumptions.
- It is good to be sensitive and open to the differences that may arise, by both taking an interest in other cultures and areas of difference, whilst never assuming we understand the cultural world of another person. This means we start with an interest in finding out from the others whilst accepting our own not knowing.
The Activity
In order to explore our cultures we used the following activity:
Person A explain to Person B What I would like you to know about my cultural background is… (where cultural background is interpreted in the widest sense and so can include many aspects of a person’s life that they think is relevant).
Person B listen carefully to Person A and recounts what they have heard.
Person A listens to Person B and clarifies, corrects any misunderstandings, adds further information
Person B then reflects how this may relate to the supervisory relationship.
The roles are then reversed and Person B then explains to Person A about their cultural background, and the following steps are repeated.
The discussion ends with considering what might be the same about each other, and where there are overlaps.
Haley, Tara and I tried this activity towards the end of their first term in university and have reflected on how it felt. Initially we all felt unsure and apprehensive but decided to give it a go.
Reflections
Haley:
Once I heard Anita share freely about various aspects of her life, it made me feel comfortable and confident that it was a safe space for me to do likewise. This sets the tone so that we know we can share our thoughts and background without being judged. I think being able to share aspects of what makes me ‘me’ is so important to enable understanding my values and thinking. Also, it made me consciously aware of what was important to me in terms of culture. It is important for me to be aware of my assumptions so that I can be accepting and sensitive to others too.
After hearing both Anita and Tara sharing their culture, I felt that I was able to begin to understand their background and what brought them to where they are today and gained insight into their cultures although far from knowing it all! Although it was really useful to explore which areas of our cultures were similar, it was even more interesting to explore what areas were different. This is because during future supervision, it can help to highlight why we may have different interpretations of the same concept or situation. In that sense, we can learn from other points of views and engage in thought-provoking discussions based on these. Therefore, it elevates supervision to another level as we can be reflective of our own thoughts and reasons as well another person’s thoughts and reasons.
Tara:
I valued listening about both Haley’s and Anita’s culture and the aspects they considered to be important to them. It gave me insight into their unique journeys to their current positions. Additionally, I gained understanding into aspects of their life they deemed significant and through the discussion was able to compare and contrast this with my own experiences. Listening to both Haley’s and Anita’s accounts made me aware of how much I could learn from them as their experiences differed from my own.
The experience was a structured and safe method in which I could share aspects of my life, such as my school experience, previous jobs, and my family’s religious background of my life, I wanted to be known. The discussion made me aware of how my experiences and culture impacted my views and beliefs, and how these have changed over time.
I enjoyed the experience very much though discussion with friends and colleagues has suggested that some people may find it difficult to reflect on their culture. This is something that resonated with me as everyone has a culture, it just may be that some cultures are embedded in the norms of society which some may see as harder to recognise. I believe that trans-cultural supervision would help colleagues to recognise their culture and how they may impact on professional and academic practice.
We all valued trying out the transcultural supervision activity, helping us reflect on how aspects of our lives have impacted on our views and values which in turn influences on each of our practices, both professionally and academically. We agreed it was an activity we would engage in again!
Tara and Haley are in the first year of the initial training course at the University of Birmingham. Anita is one of the course tutors.
Reference
Hawkins, P. and Shohet, R. (2012) ‘Supervision in the helping professions’ (3rd ed) Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill