How to create thinking environments in doctoral and research supervision

Higher education environments are often celebrated as contexts that generate high quality thinking. In this paper, we raise questions about this assumption with a specific focus on doctoral supervision. Most of the approaches or models available for doctoral supervision tend to focus on the nature of the relationships between supervisor(s) and supervisee, on issues of hierarchy, on the nature and quality of the relationship, or on concerns about pastoral support. While important, these approaches say relatively little about the ways in which doctoral students might be empowered and enabled to do their best thinking, for themselves. In this paper, we critically reflect on our employment of the Thinking Environment approach in doctoral supervision. Inspired by Nancy Kline’s focus on creating ‘time to think’ in leadership and coaching contexts, we critically reflect on our use of this approach in doctoral supervision and the multiple benefits of this approach. As an interdisciplinary group of arts, humanities, and social science academics and doctoral researchers, we advocate for the increasing use of this model in doctoral and research supervision. We contend this approach – which centres mutual appreciation and witnessing – can generate significant benefits for doctoral students to enhance their independent thinking and improve their confidence in owning their own ideas thereby contributing to critical and creative approaches to doctoral education. Moreover, this model has the potential to transform the supervision experience for supervisors themselves, to enhance their practice and enjoyment of it.