Supervision or intervision conversations transform work placement experiences into learning experiences in a process-oriented way. During such conversations, students become aware of their feelings, emotions, thoughts, attitudes, norms and values. This way, they gain a better understanding of their own actions, allowing for further self-development.  

 

The difference between supervision and intervision lies in the presence of supervisors:

• a supervision conversation is moderated by a supervisor (e.g., a lecturer, a teaching assistant or a work placement supervisor), who determines the rules: how it progresses, how long it takes, which topics to focused on; 
• an intervision conversation takes place among a group of equal interlocutors. Sometimes a supervisor may observe the intervision so as to give the students feedback afterwards. 

 

During an intervision or supervision, students acquire the following competencies: 

• reflecting: the students develop a skill set, which enables them to learn from their own (professional) experiences;
• concretising: students have to draw on a concrete experience to start the a conversation. It is something they learn gradually as they participate and practice in successive conversations; 
• problematising: following an analysis of their actions, students formulate objectives; 
• generalising: students verify whether their reactions were a one-time occurrence or more frequent occurrences. This, in turn, determines whether or not they should change their behaviour; 
• preparing learning questions: to boost the learning effect of a professional experience, students prepare learning questions. Increased knowledge can change their perspective and thus also their behaviour;
• evaluating: students learn how to evaluate their own abilities. 

For supervisions or intervisions to become a proper learning experience, they must meet a number of basic requirements:

• students must be willing to learn from their mistakes;
• different perspectives are allowed; 
• the conversation must not be considered as mere small talk; 
• all interlocutors engage with each other; 
• all interlocutors listen to each other; 
• there is a safe learning environment. 

What Happens during a Supervision? 

• a supervision conversation usually takes the form of a one-on-one session, or a session in a small group of no more than three participants. In an invervision, larger groups are possible, i.e. four up to at most eight participants; 
• a supervision conversation can be either a one-on-one session or a group supervision. During an initial, preparatory supervision, the work placement supervisor gets to know the student(s). The objectives and responsibilities of the work placement practice are discussed and a (provisional) work placement plan is drafted (cf. our tips on the introductory conversation). 
• during the actual supervision conversation, students reflect on specific experiences. The students’ attitude is gauged vis-à-vis to the expected professional attitude. Students add learning content and information from their own experiences. 

What Happens during an Intervision? 

• ideally, an intervision has four up to eight participants. During the initial, preparatory conversation, clear rules are set (what is an intervision, which objectives do to attain, the frequency of the gatherings, who will be moderating, …); 
• during the actual intervision, the students reflect on specific experiences. Follow-up questions are possible to get a clearer picture of the problem. All the students have prepared for the intervision. Once everyone has gained a sufficient understanding of the sticking points, learning contents and advice can be offered; rovided; 
• the moderator oversees the process. They monitor the pace and summarise everything. Each intervision can have another moderator. That way, everyone in the group can takes on this role;
• all the students have prepared for the intervision: what questions do they want to discuss with their peers? Students should always be completely honest and never withhold information. The other members ask questions to understand the problem better. Only when this phase has ended and all the participants have a sufficient understanding of the sticking points can they start giving advice; 
• during an intervision conversation, students appeal to their peers to discuss sticking points they have encountered during their work placements. Although supervisors are generally not present during these talks, they may observe the first sessions for feedback purposes afterwards; 
• Similar to a supervision, the students' experiences can serve as learning contents during an intervision.