As a general rule, it is good for you as the supervisor to receive them prior to the scheduled supervisory conversation so that you can have a bit of lead time to read and reflect on them.

In your reading of the student’s work: First, simply take note of what the student is seeing.  What do they notice in their setting and community?  What are they noticing in themselves?  What are they noticing in the ministerial action?  Second, note the nature of their theological connections?  In all of these instances, are the student’s insights on the surface, or do they begin to probe more deeply?  

In your conversation with the student: It is important to validate the student where they are at relative to their insights and their ministry.  However, you want to help them dig more deeply as well.  You might do this by noticing and pointing to themes that you see.  Or by asking them clarifying questions.  This is particularly valuable when you find something surprising, or out of step with your own thinking.  It is not that you are simply trying to get students to agree with your perspective.  Rather, give the student the benefit of the doubt and invite them to further explain what they intend by what is written.  In this way you invite the student to probe more deeply, potentially resulting in greater insights for yourself and for the student.

Thinking with, not for: Remember that a key aspect of supervision is to help the student do their own thinking, rather than provide their answers for them.  Once you have a better sense of their meaning, then you may better offer an alternative insight or a critical reading of their idea.  This offers the student another perspective and a chance to hear how their ideas might be heard and interpreted by others.  If the student seems to be working with an important theme, it is appropriate to ask for “drafts” of a theological reflection, so that they go back to the same reflection with greater depth the next time around.  Otherwise, students are encouraged to move on to another topic in subsequent papers.

The supervisor will help the student to think through his/her Learning Agreement, and to ensure that the student’s overall learning process moves clearly and smoothly toward the successful completion of his/her goal and objectives.

To get conversation on papers started, we recommend questions like this:  How did this paper develop?, which calls the student to offer some of the thinking around the paper.  Another is: What did you leave out and why?, which offers the student a chance to bring up conscious and unconscious omissions.  This might bring the conversation to address things about which the student is less confident to bring to the page, but may be ready to bring to conversation.

As a means of simply growing the practice of theological reflection in the student it might be good to regularly ask towards the end of a day on site: Did you see God’s grace today?  Such a question simply prompts the student to begin looking to their settings, their interactions, and their ministry with a theological lens. 

Sometimes it can be hard for students to tap into the theological elements of a ministerial situation. Alternatively, it may be that a student’s articulation of the theological does not fit well with how they are reading the situation otherwise. Perhaps the best way to see the theological, or align it better with the pastoral and spiritual, is by helping the students name their pastoral  or spiritual goals or hopes. The following framework suggests how the three can be connected.

Theological: Our theological vision is what we believe is the right relationship between God and God’s creation. We can probably best recognize that right relationship when we identify what we believe God desires in a situation. Put another way, our understanding of what God desires for humanity, or the whole created order, is our theological vision. In graduate study, our theological vision is informed by many things, such as the teachings of the Church, reading of scripture, other experiences in ministry and what we have learned in theological coursework. All of these sources can be used in reflecting on the question: What do I believe God desires in this situation, and why? 

Spiritual: If theology is what we believe about the relationship between God and humanity, spirituality is what we, as individuals and communities do to sustain, build and deepen that relationship. That would include any of the ways the divine-human relationship is enacted, celebrated, and communicated. Our spiritual perspective may be made obvious through styles of spirituality and/or religious practices we find meaningful. It may be reflected in what we believe are opportunities for transformation and growth. By investigating that spirituality (e.g., Why do you approach God in that way?), we can discern a theological vision.

Pastoral: Again, if theology is what we believe about the relationship between God and humanity, our pastoral response is what we do, as ministers and educators, with and for others to build, sustain and deepen humanity’s relationship with God and the world. For many ministers, their pastoral response follows where their heart is drawn and guides them to identify the needs of people. By investigating that pastoral response (e.g., Why do you think the people need this?), we can discern a theological vision.

Connecting back to the theological: If we have trouble identifying our theological vision, we can start by interrogating our pastoral or spiritual hopes. By naming what we believe will build and sustain the human relationship with God, we can then uncover the theological vision - what we believe God desires.

Through observation: The student usually spends their first month or so observing/shadowing you and other ministers/educators in the setting.  By this they learn from the site how its ministry is accomplished and how different ministers do the work.  Invite them to identify and reflect on what they are seeing in the setting, especially if it is different from their prior experience or expectations.  This will enhance their observation skills, especially if directed to pay attention to certain things.  You may prompt them to collect data through observation or through outside research, and then bring those into conversation for questioning and critical reflection.  Keep in mind you are trying to develop the thinking of the minister in this setting and ministry.

Through relationships: The supervisor should create opportunities for the student to make connections with other people in the setting, whether they be colleagues or those served. Introduce the student using titles that are appropriate to the setting (e.g., chaplain intern, co-teacher, ministry intern).

By trying on your role: Invite the student to experience as much of your role as seems possible and appropriate.  This may include attending department meetings or professional development.  Keep in mind that the student is learning to be someone in your role, not an assistant to your role.  So keep in mind what they need to learn so as to become confident and conversant with the expectations of the role.

Through opportunities for their own ministry: As the weeks and months progress, let them take on more, nudging as needed.  Create or allow opportunities for the student to initiate or lead something that will be of service to the setting as well as their own learning.  While all students come with gifts and abilities and usually a strong desire to be of service, it is important that the experience not simply have them repeat what they already know and are good at.  While that may be of value to the site, it may not be productive for the student.  Keep in mind how you might push the student to grow beyond their present skills and abilities to develop beyond them.

Central to the work of supervision is assisting the student in the development of self-awareness, which is the recognition of their personality, characteristics, and mutual impact within settings and relationships. Self-awareness, starts with self-consciousness comes from paying attention to themselves (preferences, emotions, and reactions). Knowing who they are and what they bring into the ministry setting helps them develop their sense of ministerial identity and their responsibility for who they are in their ministerial role. For the greater their self-awareness, the more responsive, rather than reactive they can be in ministry.

Since off-site supervisors are not at the location where the student is serving, it is important that the supervisor find ways of discovering how things are going on at the site.  The first course of action would be to ask lots of questions:  about the site; about expectations of the student in their role; about coworkers and colleagues, especially as their roles intersect with the students; and about the community served.  If possible, it would be valuable to visit the site and meet those who are there.  This will not only give you a sense of the place, but also a sense of how the student interacts with others and how others react to the student.  If a visit is not possible, then ask the student to create a brief video.  With the proliferation of smartphones, such videos are easy to create and share.

Keep in mind the student’s learning goal in some ways transcends the site and is more about themselves, their ministerial skills and identity.  So while the conversation is around the ministry on site, it is also about the student’s ability to see themselves as the person doing that ministry, their gifts, growing edges, challenges, and opportunities.  In the conversation be on the lookout for growth in recognition of self and others, growth in a sense of responsibility, and growth in theological depth.  All this may be seen as progress.

Periodically though, if the student is not reporting on how they are doing on their stated objectives for the year, periodically inquire. Ask for some kind of report.  Each student has named something new they hope to develop in their ministry, but the demands already in place can draw their time and attention.  If necessary, help them remember their original hopes by calling attention to them.
 

One benefit of an off-site supervisor is that the student can speak freely about what is going on in the setting, including interactions with coworkers and employers, without the conversation having direct impact on that employment. That supervisory conversation allows them the free and safe space to critically assess the setting and these relationships. So you may hear some things that give you pause, either on behalf of the student or of the setting. Be careful and slow to judge.

On the one hand, you want to affirm the student’s interpretation of the experience. But you do not attribute dysfunction or sin too quickly to the setting or actors. Encourage the student to imagine the point of view of other actors in the situation and why they would behave as they do. Such perspective-taking is essential for the student to further develop both empathy and self-awareness, especially if it is the student who seems more out of line. On the other hand, sometimes students are prone to identify themselves as responsible for all problems and limitations. They are reluctant to name systemic problems. Investigate the systems, not the people, to discover how the systems in place might be creating problems. This may help the student see how altering the system might. In those situations it can be helpful for you as a supervisor to acknowledge the presence of sin and dysfunction in the church, and potentially in that site in particular.

This is a fair and important question, even if it is one that makes us feel uncomfortable. It is normal to expect that the students who come to ministry bring with all the right intentions and hopes to serve others well. And by and large, that is the case. However, every once in a while we have an experience with a student that does not feel quite right. And part of our challenge is that it can be difficult to identify exactly what it is that is not quite right; it’s just a gut feeling on our part.

In this instance it is very important to not push aside or overlook that gut feeling. For if a student is having an issue—particularly those issues that arise out of their interactions with others—it is frequently the ministry setting where it will become more obvious. And so the supervisor, who observes the student in the setting, may be the first to get a glimpse into the issues. In fact, the student may do quite well in other coursework. Yet it can be the interaction with others in a ministry setting may make less obvious characteristics more obvious, and sometimes troubling.

Even if the supervisor is unsure, the right next step is to check in with the faculty director of the supervised ministry program. At that moment the intent is not to accuse or simply raise suspicions. Rather, the very first thing is to confer and determine whether what you are seeing is something that others are also identifying. It is important to not presume that others already know and are doing something about it or that what you are sensing is unimportant. Check in and we can move from there together. As a supervisor you are not in this work alone, but are an important part of a team of people responsible for student formation. By proceeding together we can identify issues or concerns that arise in the ministry setting and devise a plan for improved student learning or for removing the student from the placement altogether.