Learning through reflection: Supervising DRC master’s degree students within the open distance and learning context

Abstract

The internationalisation of higher education is a global imperative that impacts on students and supervision practices in various ways. Culture and language diversity, as well as the characteristics of the students themselves in Open and Distance Learning, have been given little attention and the impact is not always taken into account. When implementing a scholarship development programme across language borders, factors such as culture and socio-economic background need to be taken into account because both can have an effect on the supervisory practices and success of such a programme. Supervision in a language not understood by the supervisor and the master’s degree students in the DRC challenged traditional western methodologies and paradigms. A qualitative narrative reflection was therefore undertaken to both critically reflect on the challenges encountered and initiate innovative ideas. Indeed, I can say that, in my supervisory practice, the western body of knowledge was challenged. As a result, new research methodology initiatives to improve distance education research supervision had to be initiated and implemented.