Students' expressions of resistance in supervisory conversations

Abstract

The article is about social work students' expressions of resistance in supervisory conversations between social work students and social workers who had the role as field instructor and supervisor for the students. Data were obtained through partial participatory observation of fifteen supervisory conversations. Individual interviews with the students were conducted after the observations to ensure the quality of the researcher's impressions from the observations. The article contributes with new knowledge about how resistance is expressed from students during supervision. The findings from the qualitative content analysis show that resistance in supervisory conversations were rare. The examples of resistance that were identified were expressed openly, covertly and ignorantly by the students. In the article, we argue that students' expressions of resistance can have a connection with asymmetry and resonance in supervisory relationships, as well as the occurrence of agency among students. Recognizing and understanding resistance will be a prerequisite for achieving good supervision in field placements.