The Writing in the Sand. Introducing Sandtray Work in Futures Research Supervision

Abstract

This paper presents an open inquiry that embraces curiosity and vulnerability in the anticipatory space of an art-led, Futures orientated PhD supervisory relationship. We use sandtray work to elicit an anticipatory aesthetic, recording emergent data and processes through the dialogical method of duoethnography, and the visual format of photography. We seek to generate an environment that rouses imagination, creativity and futures consciousness implicit in the Australian Research Council’s definition of research. We use a duoethnographic method to collaborate, reflect and provide dialogical ways to surface deep meanings. There is a shared equity of understanding of the research process as a vehicle for engaging with the unknown. Both supervisor and supervisee hold explicit and implicit referent knowledge in relation to person and process. Therefore, it is a collaborative, reciprocal and fluid environment, where 1 + 1 = ∞ possibilities. We use sandtray to provide the location of open inquiry, dialogical reciprocation, reflection, and improvisation. This gives voice to the meaning that is made in the meandering paths between the words and an opportunity to loosen the shackles of business as usual. The sandtray moves not-known material into conscious awareness via somatic/intuitive symbol selection, engagement with metaphor, and projection; each privileging the unconscious. Introducing sandtray process into the supervisory relationship provides an alternative and adjunct modality of non-verbal inquiry that can support the calling of an anticipatory aesthetic through the Futures Senses. While there is rich, though sparse, literature describing the facilitation of sandtray work within the context of clinical supervision of mental health professionals, the introduction of such an approach within research supervision appears rare, or unique in relation to published research.