1.0 Abstract Authors: Almvig, Inge & Rubow, Bente Title: An Action Science Project on supervision of Social and Healthcare Students. Aalborg University, Department of Learning and Philosophy. Master Thesis, December 2014. The starting point for this project is the practical education of social and health care students. Working with an earlier project we have experienced a possible incongruity in the learning social and health care students attain through practical training and the practical learning objectives intended in the education. Being responsible for the practical training of social and health care students in Aarhus Kommune (Municipality of Aarhus), we take an interest in how supervising practice can be developed in order for the student to attain intended competences in accordance with educational objectives. As we focus on development of practice we have carried out an action science project from the following statement: How can supervision of social and health care students in the practical training module be developed through an action science project aiming at the students’ achievement of the competences intended in the educational objectives? 7 social and health care supervisors participate in the action science project. The project period is 2½ months and focus group interviews are carried out at the beginning and end of this period. The project includes four workshops, one of which is a “future workshop” where supervisors formulate specific wishes for development – characterised ”Utopias” - which they will work to realise. In the workshops the main method is structured dialogue between the supervisors and us as researchers and, more importantly, among the supervisors themselves. Through the dialogue the supervisors are supported in realizing their Utopias. Our requirements in the dialogue are based on The Theory of Communative Action formulated by the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas. In the preliminary focus group interview as well as in the workshops we gain insight into the supervisors’ priorities in their education of the students. Our analysis of the supervising practice comprises theories from the work of educational scientist Donald Schön on how the practitioner thinks and acts. Schön’s theories are comprised as well in our analysis of the practice training objectives and in our discussions with the supervisors about the impact the educational objectives have on supervising practice. In the course of the project we realize that supervisors have conflicting experiences in their roles as supervisors on one hand and participating in common workplace duties on the other. This conflict influences their realization of Utopias. Learning scientist Etienne Wenger’s description of learning in communities of practice is applied as a starting point for analysing and understanding the supervisor’s special position in the work community. The project research shows is that action science is a suitable method for the development of practice. The 7 supervisors are in different processes of realizing their Utopias. Furthermore, as researchers we have gained insight in the complexity of the practical training objectives and how difficult and complex it can be to supervise in relation to the competences intended by the objectives. The concrete development initiatives are relevant in order to develop a supervising practice aiming at the students’ attainment of intended competences. We see the development where it is now as small first steps in the right direction.