Effective postgraduate supervision relies on high-quality feedback that guides research development and fosters student confidence. This reflective paper explores an evolving journey as a postgraduate supervisor, examining key challenges in providing constructive feedback while maintaining healthy boundaries, balancing tone, and encouraging student autonomy.

Drawing on Critical Action Learning (CAL) theory, I reflect on the transformative role of critical feedback in developing research competence. The experiences that I share highlight the need for dialogue-driven supervision, where feedback serves not only as academic guidance but also as a tool for nurturing student identity and scholarly independence. The paper underscores how structured feedback strategies—such as using mind maps, metaphors, and guided discussions—can enhance student engagement and critical thinking.

Using a practitioner self-study methodology, I critically reflect on my supervisory journey, drawing on personal experiences, feedback records, and thematic analysis to identify key challenges. I examine three central issues: setting healthy boundaries, balancing the tone of feedback to be constructive yet professional, and fostering student autonomy to avoid supervisor-dominance. The paper highlights innovative feedback strategies, such as mind mapping, metaphor-based discussions, and collaborative analysis, to enhance student engagement and critical thinking. Ethical considerations included ensuring confidentiality in reflective accounts, anonymising student interactions, and using critical self-reflection to mitigate bias in reporting.

A central theme in my reflection is the need for supervisors to manage the fine line between support and over-involvement. I discuss the importance of setting boundaries to promote student agency, the role of feedback in fostering intellectual resilience, and the significance of maintaining an educative yet professional tone in feedback interactions. I further emphasise the ethical dimensions of research supervision and the value of creating a research-rich culture through mentorship and reflective engagement.

This paper advocates for a more dynamic, empathetic, and student-centred approach to postgraduate supervision, where feedback is not merely evaluative but integral to academic growth. By embracing feedback as a collaborative learning process, supervisors can better empower students to navigate the complexities of postgraduate research with confidence and autonomy.

Keywords: Ethical postgraduate supervision, Dialogic feedback, Feedback for learning, Research identity development, Student autonomy.