Why Teachers Need What Therapists Have Always Had: The Case for Educational Supervision
A conversation between Dr Kate Renshaw and Jenny Bowers about the transformative power of playful supervision in education
Sometimes the most profound professional transformations begin with a simple encounter. For Jenny Bowers, founder of Purplemoon Supervision and Coaching Ltd, that transformation started in a Group Play Therapy room in South Yorkshire, working alongside play therapist Dr Kate Renshaw in what would become a career-defining collaboration.
The Yorkshire Connection
Jenny was serving as deputy head at a school in an area with "high factors of deprivation" when Kate arrived with an innovative proposition: filial play therapy groups (a hybrid model of Filial Therapy and Group Play Therapy) that would involve school staff being trained and supervised as therapeutic co-facilitators.
"I jumped all over it straight away and literally jumped all over," Jenny recalls with characteristic enthusiasm. "It meant that we could reach so many children."
Those Wednesday sessions became legendary for both women. Working with children who had significant needs but weren't at the highest intervention level, Jenny found herself in a completely new paradigm of understanding young people.
"It fundamentally changed the way I operated," she reflects. "I cannot express that enough – the gratitude I have to those Wednesdays."
The Hidden Supervision Within
What Jenny didn't initially realize was that she was experiencing supervision in its most organic form – not just after a group but throughout every interaction with Kate. Before each session, Kate would help her transition from the pressures of her deputy head role into a therapeutic space. They'd sit with Play-Doh, discussing challenges while Jenny unconsciously worked with the materials. They'd prepare the sand tray together, Jenny naturally gravitating toward the miniature figurines as she processed her experiences.
"You were doing supervision without me knowing you were doing supervision," Jenny laughs. This revelation would prove pivotal in her professional evolution.
The end-of-session debriefs were equally transformative – reflecting on what the children had shown them, planning next steps, and processing the emotional weight of the work. It was during these conversations that Kate introduced Jenny to the concept of formal supervision, sparking what Jenny describes as an "absolute moment" of recognition.
The Supervision Gap in Education
"How do we in an education sector, when we're working with these families, not have supervision?" Jenny wondered. This question would drive her future career trajectory.
The contrast with therapeutic professions was stark. While therapists are required to engage in supervision throughout their training and career to "do no harm," educators working with at times complex emotional and psychological challenges had no such support structure. Recent research comparing teacher wellbeing to that of ambulance workers and police found teachers scoring higher on burnout and compassion fatigue measures – a sobering statistic that underscores the urgent need for structured support.
The Evolution of a Career
After Kate's migration back to Australia in 2013, Jenny continued the collaborative work but recognized her limitations. "If you want to do play therapy, you need a well-trained, registered play therapist," she emphasizes, a principle she maintains steadfastly in her current work.
Jenny's journey took her through head teacher roles where she tried to implement similar supportive approaches, but faced the familiar constraints of budgets, space, and understanding. However, she carried forward the essential insight about play's power:
"When you are being playful, when you are playing, you are so present in that moment, and everything else can just disappear."
Drawing inspiration from Winnie the Pooh's Tigger, Jenny developed her philosophy of adult playfulness:
"Sometimes we just have to be more Tigger. We just have to bounce in the room and say, 'Tada, we're here. What are we up to today?'"
Purplemoon Supervision: Where Play Meets Professional Development
Today, Jenny delivers supervision across education and third sector organizations, working with what she beautifully terms "the helpers" – those supporting people through challenging times. Her approach integrates the playful, creative elements she discovered in that Yorkshire therapy room with rigorous professional supervision frameworks.
Training with the Centre for Supervision and Training Development in Bath under Dr Peter Hawkins (author of seminal texts on clinical supervision), Jenny specialized in supervision for educators – a field she found surprisingly neglected despite the obvious parallels with therapeutic work.
The Magic of Miniatures in Professional Practice
Jenny's supervision toolkit includes a carefully curated collection of objects – stones, miniatures, tangle toys, and yes, a gorilla named Kyle gifted by a student.
As Dr Kate describes, these aren't mere toys but powerful tools for accessing the "lost language of play and childhood that we once all spoke fluently."
In supervision sessions, Jenny might ask: "Which one of these represents you and where you are right now?" or "What's calling to you from this group when thinking about this challenge?"
The responses are revealing. Adults initially hesitate – "Is she really asking me to do this?" – but once engaged, they hold objects, stroke soft materials, notice temperature changes. A flat stone that appears smooth but feels rough becomes a metaphor for things not being what they seem, unlocking profound insights about a supervisee's current challenges.
"It can take the intensity and the pressure off," Jenny explains. "They're not just staring at me and talking to me – they have this object that somehow makes them feel safe."
The Science Behind the Play
What Jenny intuitively understood aligns with neuroscience research on play and healing. For both children and adults recovering from secondary traumatic stress or burnout, playful relationships that are safe and trusting prove remarkably therapeutic. The miniatures and creative materials bypass cognitive barriers, accessing emotional and symbolic understanding that traditional talking therapies might struggle to reach.
As Dr Renshaw notes, even for "fully developed adult brains," play remains essential: "One of the most healing things can be playful relationships that are safe and trusting."
Knowing Boundaries, Building Networks
Jenny's professional development exemplifies ethical practice in supervision. She maintains clear boundaries about her scope – education, not therapy – while building networks for referral and consultation. Her peer supervision group includes professionals from diverse backgrounds, creating capacity to "pass the parcel" of knowledge and expertise.
"We are really secure in knowing our limitations and our boundaries, so that we then know who to ask and how to ask," she explains. This collaborative approach ensures comprehensive support for those she supervises while maintaining professional integrity.
The Ripple Effect Continues
From those Wednesday afternoons in Yorkshire emerged not just two transformed professionals, but methodologies now spreading across continents. Kate's research led to the Teachers' Optimal Relationship Approach (TORA), bringing Play Therapy knowledge and skills into universal educational practice. Jenny's Purple Moon supervision brings creative, playful approaches to professional support across multiple sectors.
Both continue advocating for play's rightful place in human development and professional practice. As Jenny concludes:
"Play matters [full stop]."
The Universal Message
Their podcast discussion illuminates several crucial insights for educators, therapists, and anyone working with vulnerable populations:
1. Supervision is not luxury but necessity for those doing emotional labour with children and families. The education sector's neglect of this fundamental support structure contributes directly to teacher burnout and turnover.
2. Play transcends age boundaries. The same mechanisms that help children process adversity and develop resilience can support adults in professional contexts. Creative, symbolic approaches can access understanding that purely cognitive or talk-based methods cannot reach.
3. Innovation often looks deceptively simple. What seemed "so obvious" – having school staff co-facilitate therapeutic groups – wasn't being done anywhere else, demonstrating how conventional thinking can blind us to powerful possibilities.
4. Professional transformation is often relational. Both women credit their collaboration as pivotal in their career evolution, highlighting the importance of finding colleagues who share vision and values.
As Jenny and Kate's transcontinental friendship demonstrates, some professional connections transcend geography and time. Their work continues influencing practice across two continents, proving that innovative partnerships can create ripple effects far beyond their original context.
In a world where educators face unprecedented challenges, this message is both timely and timeless: sometimes the most sophisticated solutions lie in our most fundamental human capacities – to play, to connect, and to support one another with creativity and compassion.
#playtherapy #childmentalhealth #supervision #childrights #playmatters #education #teachers #helpingthehelpers
To learn more about Jenny Bowers' supervision work, visit purplemoon.uk or connect with her on LinkedIn. Dr Kate Renshaw's Teachers' Optimal Relationship Approach (TORA) and multi-tier play therapy work can be explored through her research and practice. Listen to the Dr Play podcast here.