Academic Supervision and Student Independence

In this chapter we look at one of the most central concepts in higher education: independence. We begin by discussing and giving examples of how student independence is a concept that appears in the governing documents of higher education in many countries and at different levels, and how it becomes particularly relevant in the context of academic writing, and thus in the context of supervision and supervision practice. We go on to examine how academic supervisors may view the concept of student independence in relation to supervision practice. Based on focus group interviews with academic supervisors, we highlight seven main understandings of student independence that we were able to identify in our material and discuss the pedagogical implications of this in terms of where and how student independence might manifest and how it might be assessed. Finally, we present a model summarising the discussion, which could serve as a tool for reflecting on the various levels and aspects of student independence in the context of the degree project, both collegially and individually.