Week 002-Module-Doing Philosophy 02 PDF

Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person 1 Doing Philosophy (Part 2) Module 002 – Doing Philosophy (Part 2) This module will cont...

Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person 1 Doing Philosophy (Part 2) Module 002 – Doing Philosophy (Part 2) This module will contain the following topics: 1. Reflective practice 2. Models of reflective practice Reflective Practice Reflective activity is simply defined as “the ability to think about or reflect on what you do.” Its aim is to engage in a process of continuous learning. Gillie said that it involves “paying critical attention to the practical values and theories which inform everyday actions, by examining practice reflectively and reflexively. This leads to developmental insight.” Mere experience is not enough to lead to learning. It still requires the presence of deliberate reflection on these experiences, as well. Someone who reflects does not simply look back on the past actions and events in his or her life. It is through conscious looking at emotional experiences, actions, and responses and using this information to add to his or her existing knowledge could make a person reach a higher level of understanding. In the 20th century, John Dewey wrote about reflective practice, exploring experience, interaction and reflection. After that, Kurt Lewin and Jean Piaget developed theories relevant to human learning and development. Later on, Donald Schön’s book, The Reflective Practitioner, published in 1983 introduced the concepts of reflection-on-action and reflection-in-action. David Boud, an adult education professor explained that reflection is an essential human activity in which people recapture their experience, explore it and evaluate it. It is said that when a person is experiencing something, he or she may be implicitly learning. However, it can be difficult to put emotions, events and thoughts into a coherent sequence. Models of reflective practice Borton (1970) Terry Borton's 1970 book Reach, Touch, and Teach popularized a simple learning cycle inspired by Gestalt therapy composed of three questions which ask the practitioner: What, So what, and Now what? Through this analysis, a description of a situation is given which then leads into the scrutiny of the situation and the construction of knowledge that has been learnt through the experience. Subsequently, practitioners reflect on ways in which they can personally improve and the consequences of their response to the experience. Borton's model was later adapted by practitioners outside the field of education, such as the field of nursing and the helping professions. (Borton, 1970; Rolfe, et.al., 2001) Course Module Kolb and Fry (1975) Learning theorist David A. Kolb was highly influenced by the earlier research conducted by John Dewey and Jean Piaget. Kolb's reflective model highlights the concept of experiential learning and is centered on the transformation of information into knowledge. This takes place after a situation has occurred, and entails a practitioner reflecting on the experience, gaining a general understanding of the concepts encountered during the experience, and then testing these general understandings in a new situation. In this way, the knowledge that is formed from a situation is continuously applied and reapplied, building on a practitioner's prior experiences and knowledge. (Kolb and Fry, 1975) Argyris and Schön 1978 Management researchers Chris Argyris and Donald Schön pioneered the idea of single-loop learning and double-loop learning in 1978. Their theory was built around the recognition and correction of a perceived fault or error. Single-loop learning is when a practitioner or organization, even after an error has occurred and a correction is made, continues to rely on current strategies, techniques or policies when a situation again comes to light. Double-loop learning involves the modification of objectives, strategies or policies so that when a similar situation arises a new framing system is employed. (Smith, 2013; Argyris, et.al., 2001) Schön claimed to derive the notions of "reflection-on-action, reflection-in-action, responding to problematic situations, problem framing, problem solving, and the priority of practical knowledge over abstract theory" from the writings of John Dewey, although education professor Harvey Shapiro has argued that Dewey's writings offer "more expansive, more integrated notions of professional growth" than do Schön's. (Shapiro, 2010) Schon advocated 2 types of reflective practice. Firstly, reflection-on-action, which involves reflecting on an experience that you have already had, or an action that you have already taken, and considering what could have been done differently, as well as looking at the positives from that interaction. The other type of reflection Schon notes is reflection-in-action, or reflecting on your actions as you are doing them, and considering issues like best practice throughout the process. For Schön, professional growth really begins when a person starts to view things with a critical lens, by doubting his or her actions. Doubt brings about a way of thinking that questions and frames situations as "problems". Through careful planning and systematic elimination of other possible problems, doubt is settled, and people are able to affirm their knowledge of the situation. Then people are able to think about possible situations and their outcomes, and deliberate about whether they carried out the right actions. Gibbs 1988 Learning researcher Graham Gibbs discussed the use of structured debriefing to facilitate the reflection involved in Kolb's experiential learning cycle. Gibbs presents the stages of a full structured debriefing as follows (1988):  (Initial experience)  Description "What happened? Don't make judgments yet or try to draw conclusions; simply describe."  Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person 3 Doing Philosophy (Part 2)  Feelings "What were your reactions and feelings? Again don't move on to analyzing these yet."  Evaluation "What was good or bad about the experience? Make value judgments."  Analysis "What sense can you make of the situation? Bring in ideas from outside the experience to help you." "What was really going on?" "Were different people's experiences similar or different in important ways?"  Conclusions (general) "What can be concluded, in a general sense, from these experiences and the analyses you have undertaken?"  Conclusions (specific) "What can be concluded about your own specific, unique, personal situation or way of working?"  Personal action plans "What are you going to do differently in this type of situation next time?" "What steps are you going to take on the basis of what you have learnt?" Gibbs' suggestions are often cited as "Gibbs' reflective cycle" or "Gibbs' model of reflection", and simplified into the following six distinct stages to assist in structuring reflection on learning experiences (Finlay, 2008):  Description  Feelings  Evaluation  Analysis  Conclusions  Action plan Johns 1995 Professor of nursing Christopher Johns designed a structured mode of reflection that provides a practitioner with a guide to gain greater understanding of his or her practice. (Johns, 2013) It is designed to be carried out through the act of sharing with a colleague or mentor, which enables the experience to become learnt knowledge at a faster rate than reflection alone. (Johns, 2010) Johns highlights the importance of experienced knowledge and the ability of a practitioner to access, understand and put into practice information that has been Course Module  acquired through empirical means. Reflection occurs though "looking in" on one's thoughts and emotions and "looking out" at the situation experienced. Johns draws on the work of Barbara Carper to expand on the notion of "looking out" at a situation. (Carper, 1978) Five patterns of knowing are incorporated into the guided reflection: the aesthetic, personal, ethical, empirical and reflexive aspects of the situation. Johns' model is comprehensive and allows for reflection that touches on many important elements. (Johns, 1995) Brookfield 1998 Adult education scholar Stephen Brookfield proposed that critically reflective practitioners constantly research their assumptions by seeing practice through four complementary lenses: the lens of their autobiography as learners of reflective practice, the lens of other learners' eyes, the lens of colleagues' experiences, and the lens of theoretical, philosophical and research literature. Reviewing practice through these lenses makes us more aware of the power dynamics that infuse all practice settings. It also helps us detect hegemonic assumptions—assumptions that we think are in our own best interests, but actually work against us in the long run. Brookfield argued that these four lenses will reflect back to us starkly different pictures of who we are and what we do. (Brookfield, 1998)  Lens 1: Our autobiography as a learner. Our autobiography is an important source of insight into practice. As we talk to each other about critical events in our practice, we start to realize that individual crises are usually collectively experienced dilemmas. Analysing our autobiographies allows us to draw insight and meanings for practice on a deep visceral emotional level.  Lens 2: Our learners' eyes. Seeing ourselves through learners' eyes, we may discover that learners are interpreting our actions in the way that we mean them. But often we are surprised by the diversity of meanings people read into our words and actions. A cardinal principle of seeing ourselves through learners' eyes is that of ensuring the anonymity of their critical opinions. We have to make learners feel safe. Seeing our practice through learners' eyes helps us teach more responsively.  Lens 3: Our colleagues' experiences. Our colleagues serve as critical mirrors reflecting back to us images of our actions. Talking to colleagues about problems and gaining their perspective increases our chance of finding some information that can help our situation.  Lens 4: Theoretical literature. Theory can help us "name" our practice by illuminating the general elements of what we think are idiosyncratic experiences. References and Supplementary Materials Online Supplementary Reading Materials 1. Reflective Practice; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflective_practice#cite_note-2; June 1, 2017 2. Reflective Practice; https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/reflective-practice.html; June 1, 2017