Laser Lessons - Lesson

Understanding professional supervision practice

Case Study

You are a newly promoted member of staff who now has responsibility for supervising a number of your colleagues. You have heard rumours that some of the staff do not agree with the decision to promote you.

What challenges will you face in carrying out the supervision part of your new role?
How will you deal with staff are unhappy at now having to accept supervision from you?
What support might you need from your own line manager?

It is rare that there is just one way to respond to a scenario or situation, so do not consider that the response you have chosen to this scenario will be judged as right or wrong. Share your scenario with a work colleague and ask them to tell you if they think you have responded appropriately. Ask them to challenge your response if necessary. You do not need to submit this task for assessment unless asked to do so by your assessor.

Table of Contents

Tutorial Video
Reading Materials

‘Best practice in professional supervision: A guide for the helping professions’ by Allyson Davys and Liz Beddoe, published by Jessica Kingsley
Click on the icon to the left to now read ‘Inspiring Practice: a guide to developing an integrated approach to supervision in Children’s Trusts’ published by the CWDC in 2010. Although written for Children’s Trusts, this guide contains much that can inform supervision in all areas of working with children and young people. You may find it useful to refer back to this publication during your further study of this unit.
‘The function of supervision’ produced by Infed.org
Laser Learning reading text: The importance of supervision
Laser Learning reading text: Communication during supervision
Laser Learning reading text: Communication during supervision
‘Q&A: Staff supervision meetings’ by Fiona Bland, published by Teach Early Years
‘Why are peer observations important?’ by Laura Robshaw, published by Teach Early Years
‘Good to know: Helping you manage the performance of your team’ by the Institute of Leadership & Management
‘Monitoring the team’s performance’ by the Institute of Leadership and Management
‘Managing performance’ by Sue Shaw and Carol Atkinson, provided by the Chartered Institute of Professional Development
‘Managing performance’ by Sue Shaw and Carol Atkinson, provided by the Chartered Institute of Professional Development
‘Performance measurement’ by the Department of Trade and Industry
‘Staff supervision in early years and childcare’ by Learn Together Cambridgeshire

Presentation
Good Practice Example
Interactive Quiz
Evidence Opportunities
Extended Learning

Click on the link to the left to read the CIPD report, ‘Coaching Supervision: maximising the potential of coaching’
Click on the link to the left to access the CIPD guide, ‘Managing Conflict at Work: a guide for line managers’
Find and read ‘The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization’ by Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith, published by Harper Business. Pay particular attention to chapter 4 ‘High-performance teams: Very useful models’. N.B. You should be able to find a copy at your local library service.
Click to read the document ‘Does worker wellbeing affect workplace performance?’ by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
'How to manage performance' by Acas. Click on the icon to read this useful guide to performance management written for managers and team leaders.
Who are you? One of the requirements on Supervision within the EYFS states ‘Supervision should foster a culture of mutual support, team work….’ With this in mind, it is helpful to not make assumptions and pre-judge others. Lead the following activity within a staff meeting. Ask each member of staff to fold a piece of paper into four and then write four things about themselves onto each ‘square’ – three true and one not true – e.g: I like tomato sauce, I hate One Direction, etc. Ask staff to stand up and in a large space, walk round and show each other their papers, asking each other which statement is ‘untrue’. Staff to write their names on the untrue statement. Finish when time up/all staff have carried out activity. Unpick the learning with group: How do we know things about people – do we make assumptions – how do we arrive at these judgments? What influences our thoughts? What does this mean for practice?

Think And Challenge