European Journal of Policing Studies

Article

Learning to be a Police Supervisor

The Swedish Case

Keywords Police training, Supervision, Constructing Knowledge, Reflexivity, Professional Development
Authors Bengt Bergman
DOI
Author's information

Bengt Bergman
Bengt Bergman has been educating police officers since 2000, the past seven years in academic writing and exam papers. He finished a compilation thesis in October 2016 at the Department of Education, Umeå University. The thesis concerns how an educator task in Swedish police education context can be understood as individual and collective meaning making and professional development. (Corresp: bengt.bergman1@polisen.se)
  • Abstract

      This paper discusses the findings of a case study concerning a rarely investigated learning process in a police supervisor course (PSC) in Sweden. The paper argues that the educational design of reflective activities stimulates the course participants’ self-awareness and professional development in their new tasks as supervisors. By using written course evaluations and longitudinal focus group interviews, the study facilitates the identification and articulation of the supervisors’ learning processes during the PSC course. Results of the study emphasise the importance of well-educated supervisors to empowering the learning process of the police probationers creating sustainable professionals in a complex environment. The findings are thematised in three sections: Elucidating the Context, Changing Perspectives and Considering Consciously, which can be viewed as a general model for explaining similar learning processes in other occupations.

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