Using the POWA Framework to Support Reflexive Supervision in Professional Doctoral Education
To examine how professional doctorate supervisors cultivate reflexive supervisory practice, addressing a gap in the doctoral studies literature regarding structured tools for developing person centered supervision.
This paper addresses this gap by examining how the POWA model (Perspective, Other-centeredness, Willingness to learn, and Accurate self-assessment) can scaffold reflexive practice and support the professional development of supervisors in how they align their practice with person-centered intentions.
Using a critical realist framework with an intensive research design, four supervisors on a Professional Doctorate in Sport and Exercise Science completed POWA-structured reflective journals and participated in video-stimulated recall interviews. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.
This paper contributes a transferable, intention-focused framework for developing reflexive, person centered doctoral supervision. It demonstrates how a virtue ethics-informed reflection tool can help supervisors make visible the generative mechanisms, particularly supervisory intentions, that shape relational practice. It extends understanding of how structured reflection supports supervisors in navigating the unique challenges of professional doctorate contexts, especially where practitioner identity and flatter power dynamics influence supervisory decisions.
Person-centered intentions fostered trust-building, structured autonomy support, and reciprocal care in supervisory relationships. Reflection mediated by the POWA model enhanced supervisors’ accurate self-assessment, enabling recognition and correction of misalignments between intentions and actions, and heightened awareness of context-specific influences on practice.
Doctoral supervisors are encouraged to adopt structured reflection frameworks such as the POWA model to support person centered practice. Institutions should provide mediated reflection opportunities (e.g., peer supervision, mentoring) to develop accurate self assessment and reflexive capability.
Researchers should explore the POWA model’s applicability across diverse doctoral contexts and disciplines. Longitudinal studies examining how sustained use of reflection frameworks impacts supervisory relationships and student outcomes would strengthen the evidence base. Investigation of how power dynamics and professional identity interact with person-centered intentions warrants further attention.
Strengthening supervisory capability in professional doctorates enhances the development of practice-based researchers who bridge academia and professional practice. This contributes to improved professional practice across sectors and supports the production of high-quality, practice-relevant research that addresses real-world problems.
Future work should include student perspectives, examine how phronesis develops through reflective tools like POWA, and investigate transferability across doctoral program types.
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