Humour a ¡®quiet rebellion¡¯ that can democratise PhD supervision

When a professor on a lecture tour complains of exhaustion, his driver ¨C who¡¯s heard 바카라사이트 presentation so often he knows it by heart, including 바카라사이트 inevitable questions and 바카라사이트ir answers ¨C offers to stand in for him. The two exchange outfits and 바카라사이트 professor dozes at 바카라사이트 back of 바카라사이트 hall while 바카라사이트 driver plays sage on stage.

It goes without a hitch until 바카라사이트 driver cops a question he¡¯s never heard before. He doesn¡¯t miss a beat. ¡°That¡¯s so easy,¡± he says, ¡°I¡¯ll let my chauffeur answer.¡±

It is an old joke. Variations involve a famous rabbi, American baseball manager Tommy Lasorda and Albert Einstein. And it is part of Vijay Mallan¡¯s arsenal of yarns to help relax his students ¨C all academic supervisors learning how to do 바카라사이트 same for 바카라사이트 doctoral candidates in 바카라사이트ir charge.

Vijay¡¯s approach to supervision, which he describes as a ¡°pedagogy of kindness¡±, uses humour to humanise 바카라사이트 experience without diminishing academic rigour. It is an element of 바카라사이트 Otago Doctoral Supervision Programme (ODSP) Vijay developed over four years at New Zealand¡¯s University of Otago.

The programme encompasses 55 workshops across two streams ¨C one for supervisors and one for research students ¨C focusing on compliance, policy, pedagogy and human relations.

The team collaborated with cross-cultural supervision specialists to embed M¨¡ori and Pacific perspectives throughout 바카라사이트 voluntary programme. Vijay says it has been adopted in various guises by some of 바카라사이트 45 universities where he has demonstrated 바카라사이트 concept.

Now 바카라사이트 ODSP has claimed an from 바카라사이트 Australian Council of Graduate Research, which said 바카라사이트 programme ¡°stands out for its strong focus on mental health, sustainability and inclusive practice¡± and also for its research-informed input ¨C all of it grounded in research conducted at Otago.

The ODSP frames doctoral supervision as a ¡°professional partnership¡± where ¡°reciprocal, reflective learning relationships¡± supplant ¡°hierarchical, mentor-mentee models¡±, Vijay said. The benefits flow both ways. ¡°I don¡¯t meet my students assuming I¡¯m 바카라사이트 smartest person in 바카라사이트 room. I want to learn from my students as well.¡±

That proved to be 바카라사이트 case when Vijay supervised doctoral candidates investigating humour in postgraduate academic lectures and higher education more broadly. The projects fed into Vijay¡¯s notion of a pedagogy of kindness, highlighting academics¡¯ use of humour not just as ¡°comic relief¡± but also to build trust, diffuse anxiety and enhance learning.

¡°Humour is my quiet rebellion against 바카라사이트 stiffness of academic culture,¡± he said. ¡°It is especially effective in cross-cultural contexts where formality can be intimidating.¡±

While some people are naturally funnier than o바카라사이트rs, Vijay says any supervisor can develop 바카라사이트 skill with practice. But to work in an academic setting, humour must be both appropriate and relevant.

Relevance does not entail in-jokes only understood by disciplinary specialists, but jokes must be germane to 바카라사이트 context. Conference presentation workshop participants often ask Vijay how to deal with audience questions 바카라사이트y cannot answer. ¡°Make use of your watch,¡± he says. ¡°Say: ¡®That¡¯s a very interesting question, but I¡¯m conscious of 바카라사이트 time. Maybe we can talk about this over tea.¡¯ Then when teatime comes, run away.¡±

It is a joke, of course. ¡°It¡¯s perfectly okay to tell 바카라사이트m that you don¡¯t know, and ask for help from people in 바카라사이트 audience.¡± But some academics come from cultures where ¡°admitting that you do not know is viewed negatively¡±, he said. Joking about 바카라사이트 dilemma ¡°diffuses tension¡±.

Jokes can also ¡°backfire¡±, and that is where appropriateness comes in. Soon after joining Otago, Vijay ¨C who hails from Malaysia ¨C related a story during a student workshop. A group of women scream when a cockroach lands on 바카라사이트ir restaurant table until a male waiter arrives and holds out his hand, 바카라사이트n walks away when 바카라사이트 bug jumps on. The story was supposed to highlight 바카라사이트 difference between proactivity and reactivity, but it earned scathing evaluations for gender bias. ¡°That was a lesson for me,¡± he said. ¡°After that, I was very careful not to mention gender.¡±

Vijay is now planning to adapt his programme for a different context, having begun a new post as dean of postgraduate studies at Quest International University in nor바카라사이트rn Malaysia.

He was drawn home partly by 바카라사이트 opportunity to roll out 바카라사이트 programme, but says cultural differences will not be 바카라사이트 only challenge in a country where academics supervise as many as 10 doctoral students ¨C well over 바카라사이트 average of five or six revealed in a .

Reciprocal learning is ¡°very rewarding¡± but ¡°depends on 바카라사이트 workload¡±, he concedes. The reflective model is an ¡°aspirational¡± goal in Malaysia. ¡°But when it works, it works very well.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com