An Integral Theory Approach to the Feedback System in Supervising Doctoral Students in the Nordic Higher Education Context

Abstract

Feedback giving makes an important part in the context of higher education thesis writing, in particular, doctoral thesis writing supervision. In the past decade, European level standardization higher education policies have encouraged a pedagogy paradigm shift towards a more student-centered learning approach. Within the Nordic context of higher education, feedback giving from supervisor to student has often been studied from the perspective of the supervisor, as a small part of the overall doctoral degree program. This study uses findings from foundational pedagogy literature in the field of Nordic pedagogy studies in combination with empirical data findings from interviews, and maps elements of the doctoral thesis writing feedback system from an integral pluralism approach. The integral model of a feedback system to a doctoral thesis supervision is novel for the Nordic pedagogy literature and it is meant as complement to the current canon of literature on Nordic pedagogy.