A new guest post by Dr Ashley Dodsworth at the University of Bristol.
As much of this summer has been a washout in the UK, I want to suggest that university staff and students make the most of whatever sunshine we can get. And one way of doing this is to turn student supervision into a shared walk.
Walking meetings are becoming increasingly common, as seen in that badge of honour, a TED talk, on their advantages (Merchant, 2013). There is also an increasing interest in outdoor education (Priest, 1986: 13-15), perhaps informed by the experiences of teaching during the pandemic. Walking supervision sits at the intersection of these two approaches, and could be a useful part of the supervision toolkit. Here I outline the benefits and challenges of this approach, so that you can see if it might work for you.
Benefits:
1) It can provide a literal breath of fresh air! This can be particularly useful for doctoral supervisions as the PhD takes several years and so a way of keeping the meetings fresh can be a particularly useful tool
2) Walking supervisions can help to build the student-supervisor relationship by creating a shared task that they can both equally contribute to, and complete together. Furthermore they can provide an opportunity for students to take a leading role, even at an early stage e.g. by planning the route or being responsible for directions, which can help build their confidence, and practice taking ownership of their work
3) Taking a walk can allow a move away from hierarchically-coded spaces. By taking a walk instead of the student coming to the supervisor’s office or lab, both parties can meet on more equal ground. Or if the campus as a whole feels exclusionary (consider how accessible it is, who the buildings are named after, or the extent of the space given to graduate students) then talking a walk away from campus can provide a release
4) If students are stuck in a tricky part of their research, or feeling blocked while writing then physically moving while talking it through might prompt a breakthrough. After all, a study by Oppezzo and Schwartz found that ‘walking boost creative ideation in real time and shortly after’ and that ‘walking outside produced the most novel and highest quality analogies’ (2014: 1142)
5) Walking supervision can provide benefits for both physical and mental health for both participants. Being outdoors has significant mental health benefits, with just twenty minutes spent outside proven to lower stress levels (Hunter et al., 2019) and bring about cognitive improvements (Weir, 2020). Furthermore, Lee and Kim’s analysis of the sedentary habits of university students found that ‘as sitting hours increase, university students’ stress, anxiety, and depression significantly increased despite controlling for sex, economic level, body mass index, underlying disease, and health self-management’ (2019: 164). Given the increasing pressures that staff and students in UK higher education are facing, any opportunity to try something that might help alleviate stress is surely welcome.
The advantages to walking supervision, and the benefits it can being for both students and supervisions, are clear. But there are limitations to this approach that need to be considered before suggesting a walk.
Challenges and Mitigations:
1) A walking supervision might not be physically or mentally possible for many people, either due to immediate capacity or the knock-on effects of expanding energy on such a task. Having the capacity to take a walk may not be obvious and may also change over time. Alternatively, a walking supervision may undercut needed accommodations e.g. it may be more difficult to record a discussion while walking. A walking supervision should therefore be an option, rather than requirement. Perhaps consider whether an adapted practice could bring about some of the benefits e.g. sitting outside in a neutral space could bring many of the same benefits
2) Intersectional concerns may mean that not all staff and students feel comfortable, especially if the walk takes participants away from familiar safe spaces. The Glover report for example highlights that the countryside is seen ‘as very much a ‘white’ environment’ (2019: 70), and consideration of the route to be taken (and how to get to and from the start and end points) will also be needed. Trying to avoid routes that need specialised walking equipment or further transport will also ensure accessibility.
3) Some staff and students may feel that the breakdown of hierarchy that walking supervision offers is a disadvantage, rather than a benefit. Setting boundaries is identified within the literature as a key task for any supervisor (e.g. Eley and Murray, 2009: 57) and Parker-Jenkins argues that ‘it is critical to maintain this divide’ for the sake of both parties (2018: 57). A more formal relationship within clearly coded spaces may be more comfortable for some.
Walking supervision is therefore not appropriate for every student or supervisor, or for every supervision meeting. But thinking through whether this would be a good fit for your supervision meetings can be a prompt to examine what you need from supervision meetings, and to explore if there are any adaptions or changes that can better support everyone and bring some fresh air and sunshine (however metaphorical) into your workday.
Bibliography
Eley, A., and Murray, R. (2009) How to be an Effective Supervisor, Maidenhead: Oxford University Press.
Glover, J., Dixon, J., Mukherjee, S., Reynolds, F., and Fiennes, J. (2019) Glover Report Landscapes review: National Parks and AONBs, London: HM Government.
Hunter, MC, R., Gillespie, B.W., and Yu-Pu Chen, S. (2010) ‘Urban-Nature Experiences Reduces Stress in the Context of Daily life Based on Salivary Biomarkers’, Frontiers in Psychology, 10(722), pp. 1-16.
Lee, E., and Kim, Y. (2019) ‘Effect of University Student’s Sedentary Behaviour on Stress, Anxiety and Depression’, Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 55(2), pp. 164-169.
Merchant, N. (2013), TED2013: Got a Meeting? Take a Walk, https://www.ted.com/talks/nilofer_merchant_got_a_meeting_take_a_walk?language=en, (Accessed 26th May 2022).
Oppezzo M., and Schwartz, D.L. (2014) ‘Give your ideas some legs: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking’ Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40(4), pp. 1142–1152.
Parker-Jenkins, M. (2018), ‘Mind the gap: developing the roles, expectations and boundaries in the doctoral supervisor–supervisee relationship’, Studies in Higher Education, 43(1), pp 57-71.
Priest, S. (1986). ‘Redefining Outdoor Education: A Matter of Many Relationships’, The Journal of Environmental Education, 17(3), pp. 13-15.
Weir, K. (2020) ‘Nurtured by Nature’, Monitor on Psychology, 51(3), pp. 50.
Wollston, C. (2021) ‘Depression and Anxiety ‘The Norm’ for UK PhD Students’, Nature, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03761-3, (Accessed 26th May 2022).