Models Of Critical Reflection And Effective Learning Assignment

Assignment Task

Critical reflection and experiential learning

Healy (2001), discusses the need for us to be critically reflective about practice so that we can build knowledge. In this unit, your final assessment is based on keeping a reflective journal about your learning as you progress through the unit. We will look at a number of models of critical reflection/ experiential learning now that you may wish to apply to your learning and journal writing as you move through this unit.

• According to Rogers et al (2017)
• The art of critical reflection is a core skill for community service practice
• There are several models of critical reflection
• Critical thinking enables a reflexive approach: it requires an open mind as you need to adopt new ideas and perspectives
• Reflexivity requires a high degree of awareness of self and others whilst being mindful of power relations and socio-cultural factors Boud et al. (1983, p. 43) describe the act of reflection as, ‘an important human activity in which people recapture their experience think about it, mull it over, and evaluate it.’ In ‘simple’ terms according to Rogers et al (2017), ‘reflective practice is the ability to step back and think about your practice and the actions of others after, or during, an activity or intervention.’ In this instance, we are asking you to reflect on your learning in this unit and how this relates to your previous learning in workplaces and other educational learning environments. Reflective practice asks you to link what you are learning with the practice of integrating theory to practice situations and classroom learning. In other words, how can you apply the knowledge (this includes the literature and weekly readings, and class content) from this unit to your own individual learning?
• The following section in these notes gives an overview of a number of reflective models that you can apply to your learning. You may consider using these models as a way of working on your weekly journal but these models can also be applied when you are on professional practice placements, to your learning with regards to skills in other units in this course, and also as a tool for lifelong learning in the field of community services. These models are also helpful as tools to use while you are learning theory and thinking about values.
  Models for reflection

Schon’s Model for Reflection

Schon (1983), links reflection to everyday knowledge that we bring to the processes of learning that we are engaged with on a daily basis. Schon (1983), identified distinct modes for reflection as a conscious activity, and you may wish to apply these reflective modes to your learning in this unit.

Reflection-in-action: the capability to reflect in the ‘here and now’ as something gives you a ‘jolt,’ or having a ‘feel’ for something and practising according to this feeling
Reflection-on-action: the process of looking back to reflect on your actions or an event.
Kolb’s (1984) model
Kolb has written extensively on the ways people learn. He has proposed a simple model for experiential learning. The trigger for this is when you are challenged by behaviour or something someone says. Kolb’s model outlines four stages of the learning process.

• He begins with the ‘doing’ of the task
• Then guides us to Reflect on what happened (who were the important players, what were the significant pieces of the experience, how did you feel, what you were thinking…)
• Taking the reflection from stage 2, we then conceptualize and try to understand the event. This includes reading, finding research about the area, thinking of the way theory would explain people’s responses and reactions, what empirical knowledge we have about the situation.
• Finally, there is the ‘integration’ stage; the processing of ‘if I was in this situation again, how would I be different’.

Activity

1. Think about something that you have learned recently – not necessarily something at college; it could be a new skill, or it could have been an experience where your reaction surprised you. (If you can’t think of anything, then use this example – a woman has come to see a counsellor, Jo, at the community health centre. She says that she is worried about her husband, and thinks he is having an affair. Jo realizes that s/he is feeling angry at the husband and wanting to tell the wife to leave because something similar has happened to Jo.)
Using Kolb’s model think through the experience.

Were you able to complete the cycle in Kolb’s reflective practice model? Where were the difficulties? (I assume it will be in the “conceptualisation” stage - application of theory and research). What difference do you think it might make when you can complete the reflection as described?

What might be the personal difficulties in using this model? (For instance, having to recognise and deal with past issues or values you have been unaware of…). What do you know about yourself as a learner that you can take to help you develop an ability to practice using this model?

2. Under the heading, Kolb’s model, write a brief reflection on Activity One – What was positive about it?; what did you learn?; if you get stuck with the model, you can write where and why.
As noted at the start of this section, being reflective in your practice and learning is important as a tool in developing your identity as a Community Worker and in continuing to develop your practice. Both tasks 1 & 2 have elements about the development of your professional identity. The critical part is the conceptualization stage, as this is where you consider how ethics & values will fit with your values and sense of self and what research and theory inform your knowledge of the area. Both of these elements drive your development of professional identity and understanding of the role.

Critical Incident Framework

Another framework for reflection is known as the ‘critical incident analysis,’ which is useful to do when thinking about a specific incident. A critical incident is where an individual undertakes an action that has important consequences for either themselves or others involved.
Beverley and Worsley (2007) offer the following steps to think about a critical incident

• Something that surprises, confuses or disturbs you
• Recall the facts, thoughts and feelings
• Why did you do what you did?
• What other ideas might help you to understand and deal better with such a situation in the future?

Getting started

Objectives

At the completion of this topic you should be able to:

• Explain how you will tackle this unit;
• Navigate your Moodle site;
• Explain the theoretical framework which underpins the unit; and

Contents

1. How should you tackle this unit

2. Getting started

3. Separating supervision and management

4. Theoretical framework

5. Adult learning perspective

1. Theoretical framework

Supervision and professional development are integrally linked concepts. The primary aim of supervision should always be to enhance the professional competencies of the staff supervised. This unit has been conceptually developed according to the supervision framework originally offered by Kadushin (1976), which is replicated and modified in the prescribed texts and many of the accompanying readings. This model conceptualises supervision as having three core functions being educative, administrative and supportive. As you work through the unit you will see these core functions explored in more detail.

A central notion underpinning the development of this Unit is that of the supervisor as a professional developer. This means that the focus is less on the challenges of meeting organisational goals and objectives and more on ensuring that the staff you supervise are assisted to develop their own professional skills and knowledge. This concept of developing supervisees extends beyond imparting the technical skills necessary to deliver a service, such as inserting a catheter, designing an exercise regime or filling out a risk assessment pro forma. Supervision is concerned with helping supervisees to develop a holistic approach to practice in which critical and reflective approaches are utilised and in which they develop their overall professional skills, knowledge and values. This entails you, as the supervisor, recognising that the development of practice is both an ongoing and never ending process. We never ‘know it all’ and need to remain open to new insights and knowledge to inform our growth as practitioners.

The other central notion underpinning this unit is that the ultimate aim of supervision is to achieve outcomes that have direct relevance for the enhancement of client outcomes. Supervision is not only about the development of professional skills and knowledge; rather these are directly linked to the quality of service that clients receive. Critical reflection, updating of knowledge and regular supervision all play an integral part in the way the client experiences the service and the quality of the service provided.

Much of the theoretical literature about supervision is based on frameworks about supervisor and supervisee roles, tasks and responsibilities. It does not, however, encourage reflection that enables the supervisor to think about the broader context in which supervision is offered, nor does it enable them to articulate their own experiences. As such, theoretical material tends to offer intellectual frameworks at the cost of exploring what it is that supervisors actually do and how they do it. It does not answer questions about ‘what works’, how supervisors experience supervision or how they learn to supervise. Nor does the theoretical material grapple with the tensions and dilemmas of supervision. Certainly the material makes suggestions as to the nature of particular difficulties, their origins and

possible solutions but does not suggest that these difficulties can be exhausting, time consuming and difficult to resolve.

Supervisors play a key role in maintaining and developing the workforce in human services. Increasingly the role of the supervisor is to enforce organisational standards arguably at the cost of enhancing the professional development of the staff that they supervise and the clients they serve (Dominelli & Hoogvelt 1996). In similar vein it has been contended that practitioners have been content to allow the economic rationalist paradigm to dominate (Crimeen & Wilson 1997). However, as practitioners, supervisors are responsible for ensuring that there is best practice delivered to clients. This involves much more than checking that processes have been adhered to. The need is to ensure that the workforce possesses the necessary critical and reflective practice skills to deliver best practice.

The intent of this unit is to focus on specific supervisory contexts and to invite you to explore the broader context of human service delivery both locally and globally. There remains limited literature about supervision as it exists in a range of contexts such as in the countries of the Asia Pacific region including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia to name only a few.

Activity 1.3: Linking theory to your workplace

We have now spent some time considering the theoretical framework for the unit. This then, is a useful time to pause and think about the relevance of this framework to your role in your workplace or future workplace.

Some questions to consider include:

• To what extent are supervision and management understood as separate functions in your workplace?
• To what extent, in your workplace, is the role of supervision understood to be concerned with the professional development of the staff you supervise?
• To what extent, in your workplace, is critical and reflective practice promoted?
• To what extent in your workplace, is supervision understood as being concerned with staff retention?

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