The Introduction To The Reflective Practice Education Essay

The Introduction To The Reflective Practice Education Essay Introduction Johns and Freshwaters (1998) define reflection as accessing and looking back into previous experiences helping to develop tacit and intuitive knowledge. Reflection as having to develop tacit and intuitive knowledge as defined by Johns and Freshwaters (1998) means having a common understanding about something with being sensitive to links with previous knowledge and experiences. Ghaye and Lillyman (2000) also defined reflection as a transformative process that changes or alters individuals and their motives. Reflection is also a way to reach awareness of how and why things have happened as stated by Johns (2002). Bout et al (1985) however gave a more in depth definition of what reflection is, they suggested that reflection in the context of learning is a generic term for those intellectual activities in which individual engage in on a daily basis to explore their experiences that will lead them to newer understandings and appreciations of what they have done. Moon (1999) concluded tha t reflection appears to be the engine that shifts learning into deep learning and that reflection transforms knowing in action into knowledge in action as stated by Moon (1999) and Schon (1983). Baird and Henderson (2001) then argued that this occurs because reflection allows an individual to gain the proper perspective on the field of action and to attain the understanding of the change in practice required. Reflection is also the process of reviewing an experience in order to describe, analyse, evaluate and so inform learning about practice as defined by Reid (1993). Reflection in the context of learning helps us to learn and grow and develop within ourselves. He also believes that reflection is an active process that requires self-control and self-discipline for it to be focused on one direction that could lead to personal development in practice. Learning can be defined as multi-dimensional in terms of where and how it takes place and yet, learning is also a very individual process and what is carried forward by an individual is what can only be truly be gauged by the learner. West et al. (2007) defines lifewide learning as a form of learning that is not only limited to the classroom, but also extends into many other areas of life. This means that we dont just learn in classrooms but we also learn by the experiences we go through in our lives. This is where reflection comes into relation as a way of learning as Moon (1999) concluded that reflection appears to be the engine that shifts learning into deep learning. Lifelong learning also refers to a process of learning that continues across our lives (Jarvis, 2004). This means that, we never stop learning as we grow older and that we learn different things as each day comes. In relation to nursing, lifelong learning is a professional reality for nurses and other health care pro fessionals because the healthcare and the technologies that support it are constantly evolving. Because of this, learning in the healthcare industry often takes place in the form of practice development and professional development (Mason and Whitehead-Mason, 2008). Many models have been introduced to aid people to reflect effectively with positive results. Taylor (2000) suggested that reflection requires effort that utilises the qualities of determination, courage, and a sense of humour in order to be able to deal with what an individual might find out. This means that an individual reflecting into something must possess these qualities in order to establish an effective outcome. For that, there have been many reflective models that have been introduced to suit the reflector. Using a model helps an individual to identify key stages of his or her reflective learning and the structure can help the individual to keep going when he or she is dealing with complex situations. It is then important to choose what model suits the individuals needs and that he or she might find it easy to use. Reflective cycles offer the possibility to connect what has been learned from one experience with another. One of the most widely used reflective cycles is Gibbs (1998) reflective cycle. The cycle outlines specific steps to guide the learning individual through different processes. The first step of the cycle is to ask the learner to describe an event that has happened which then leads on the second stage where the individual thinks about how he or she felt during the event relating to what has been described in the first stage, by acknowledging the emotions involved during the event, the learner will be able to consider processes such as how to deal and cope with emotions in difficult situations that may be aroused by caring work and learning. Thirdly, the learner then evaluates the event or activity whether it was good or bad and what steps needs to be considered following the event. Evaluation also allows the learner to begin thinking about what are the main issues that needs to b e resolved. This stage can then lead the learner to analyse in greater detail by considering what knowledge is available or might need to be developed, and what other choices might have been available in the given event or situation and the possible consequences if one of those choices had been chosen instead. The analysis of the event will help the learner to critically think about what has really happened and what steps should be made in order for him or her to solve the given situation and to reflect upon on. Given the analysis of the situation or event, this stage will help the learner to make sense of what has happened which will lead to the stage of coming up with a conclusion from what they have thought about during the whole process. The conclusion will ask the learner what other steps could have been done to improve the given event or situation which will then lead to an action plan. Another model that can be used in reflection is Driscolls (2007, p44.) reflective cycle. Driscoll developed Bortons (1970) 3 stem questions; what?, so what?, and what now?. He matched the three questions to the stages of an experimental learning cycle and this cycle views reflection as a process of interrogating. These three questions encompass the need to be clear in the interpretation, interrogation and presentation of learning through reflection. By using this model of reflection, the learner will then ask him or herself three simple questions. The first question or the what stage will always refer to being able to describe the given situation in words. Some trigger questions maybe what happened? or what was my reaction to the event or situation?. The next stage is the so what stage where the learner begins to analyse the important aspects of the given situation and experience from which new findings can be made. And the final question is the what now? stage where the individual p roposes new actions based on the findings that was found in the second stage which may be reworked in multiple different situations. This model of reflection is simple but effective because it is easy to remember three simple questions and can easily be asked as a part of most conversation between individuals within practice (Jasper 2003). Johns (2004) developed a model for structured reflection. This identifies how an individual might want to examine his or her experience more extensively and in greater depth in order to really learn from it. The models starting point is the creation of a space for reflection which means stilling the mind so it can focus. The model then encompasses a number of reflective cues or questions in which the practitioner or individual is asked to think about in the course of reflecting on a given situation. The cues are: aesthetics, personal, ethical, empirical and reflexive aspects. Aesthetics relates to how the individual feels about, responds to and perceives the situation and those involved. Personal aspects explore what from the person was influencing them. Ethics refers how actions are related to ethical guidelines and beliefs. Empirics are concerned with what knowledge is used and lastly, reflexivity relates to how experiences are connected and the possibility of given alternatives to doing things differently. Reflective Practice Schon (1991) identified reflective practice as an important aspect of the learning life of professionals. Rolfe (1998) also defined reflective practice as a process that develops understandings of what it means to be a practitioner and makes the link between theory and practice through the practitioner consciously thinking through the individuals experience as stated by Jasper (2003). This concept is particularly important for practitioners to aid the development of a clearer understanding of their position and support the learning and developing of new skills, with this context, reflection occurs within the experience or by looking further back at the previous experience. This is where the idea of reflective practice comes in hand. Schon (1991) identified these concepts and ideas as reflection in action and reflection on action. Reflection in action is defined as knowing what to do and making a difference within a given situation whereas reflection on action is referred to as examin ing some of those in moment decisions for the possibility of differing choices. Reflective practice requires careful consideration of knowledge and ideas and also, reflective practice considers practice as a holistic entity that cannot be always be rationalised as holism means looking at the wider picture and going in greater detail with it. This therefore concludes that reflective practice is based on an individuals own experiences and intuitive learning. Knowledge derived from practice does not always add up to professional knowledge unless it has been reflected on for its significance (Eraut, 1994).

The Meaning of Life Essay example -- essays research papers

The Meaning of Life The most difficult thing in life is finding something worth living for. The second most difficult thing is knowing when you've found it...... by Jamie Andreas Okay, let's be light hearted for once. Let's not talk about some heavy subject. Let's pick something more down to earth and fun. How about the meaning of life? Yes, the meaning of life, and the purpose of our lives. Teen-agers (that group of people who are most likely to begin to play the guitar) love to think about this. Since they are about to embark on that part of life called "being an adult", they like to question whether there is anything about it that makes it worth the bother. A 17 year old student once put it to me very poignantly. He said, â€Å"When I look at the world, and I see what most of the adults I know are doing with their lives, and how they feel about their jobs, it is not very inspiring. I listen to people tell me I should play the game, and work hard to get good grades, so I can get a good job and all that. It all seems to have about as much meaning as going in to the library and memorizing the entire card catalog! What for? What's the point?" And I said to him â€Å"You are exactly right. There is no point. There is no meaning to life." And I firmly believe that. I am going to make two points now. One, there is no meaning to life; you must create the meaning of life, and most especially, your life. And two, there most definitely is a purpose to life, and especially to your life, but you must discover it. These two ideas work together. Once you find your purpose, you will be able to see the "meaning" of your life. What does the word "meaning" mean? People are always asking what is the meaning of life, what is the meaning of death, what is the meaning of me losing my job, losing my hair, etc, etc. Well, you see the point is, there is no answer to the question because it is the wrong question. Only a person who doesn't know what the word meaning means will ask that question. Meaning means "to recognize a significance beyond the thing itself, or in other words, "to point to something beyond itself" And the recognition of that significance, seeing how anything you look at points to something beyond itself, is a creative act on the part of every individual, and it is also the responsibility of every individual. When ... ...ur purpose. Move toward what feels good. B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, all have used nothing but the five notes of a minor pentatonic scale their whole lives! It is all they need for what they want to say. Maybe you need to learn to read music, maybe you don't. Maybe you need to know many chord inversions and scales, maybe you don't. It depends on what you want to say with your music. And what you want to say depends on how you feel. How do you feel? Maybe you are frustrated and confused when you think about this. That is good. Frustration is a push on the back, to get you moving, so you will look around and make discoveries. Make sure you use it that way. Don't stay in one place, or the push on the back will knock you over! The rule for the artist, for the musician, must be "if it feels good, do it". Following your feeling is how that feeling becomes "solidified" into a piece of music, so that it can be communicated and felt by someone else. Bad music is made by people who don't actually feel their feelings. They may not know it, but their music has no meaning, and no purpose. Have you found something worth living for? Is it waiting to be recognized?

Stanley Milgram

Megan Randolph RC 250 Marcia Clay 11/3/09 A Summary of Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Study Stanley Milgram, a professor of social psychology, conducted a research study beginning in July of 1961. This research measured the willingness of participants to either obey or disobey an authority figuring giving them on a conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience. Milgram set up this experiment at Yale University to test how much pain an ordinary citizen would inflict on another person just because an experimental scientist ordered him to.Virtually one thousand adults were observed in this experiment, and several different conditions were launched to find a limit to which the candidate would continue the order from the experimenter or refuse the order and end the experiment. This experiment consisted of a triangle, beginning with the experimenter, which was the authority, the executant, which was the participant, and the victim, which was the learner. Both learner and teacher were given a sample 45-volt electric shock from an apparatus attached to a chair into which the â€Å"actor-learner† was to be strapped.The fictitious story given to the â€Å"teachers† was that the experiment was intended to explore the effects of punishment for incorrect responses on learning behavior. The participants were first paid to participate in the experiment making it feel more real. A progression of unrevealed subjects in their roles as teacher were given simple memory tasks in the form of reading lists of two word pairs. The teacher then asked the â€Å"learner† to read them back and was instructed to administer a shock by pressing a button each time the learner made a mistake.It was understood that the electric shocks were to be of increased by 15 volts in intensity for each mistake the â€Å"learner† made during the experiment, while the actor/learner screamed and yelled louder every time. The participant believed that for every wrong answer, the learner was receiving actual shocks. In Fact, there was a pre-determined script that the teacher had no idea about. The idea that the subject thought these shocks were actually taking place, and they continued to follow the orders, is where the experiment became disturbing.This experiment, testing the willingness of normal people to carry out unethical acts, was life changing in how Milgram viewed the larger culture, for the worse. Milgram stated after completing the experiment, â€Å"†¦ the most fundamental lesson of our study: ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. † â€Å"This is scary, this is the definition of our greater public, and it’s all shown through this Behavioral Study of Obedience,† states Milgram.Sixty five percent of participants made it to the final 450-volt shock in Mailgrams first study. Milgram tested the experi ment in four different ways of the immediacy of the victim. Beginning with the first condition, the victim was placed in another room and could not be seen or heard by the participant, only pounding on the wall when volts reached over 300. This condition was titled remote feedback, and was revealed to be easier for the participant to continue the experiment without remorse.The second condition is where the voice protests were commenced and the teacher could hear the victim’s complaints titled voice feedback. Although they could hear the learner, the victims were still easily put out of mind because they could not be seen. The third experimental condition, Milgram placed the victim in the same room as the participant, being both visible and audible, the proximity. When the victim was close it was more difficult to exclude him, making it more difficult for the participants to obey the experimenter.Lastly, the fourth condition was the touch proximity, where the victim received a shock only when his hand rested on the shock plate. When the victim would refused to place his hand on the plate, the experimenter would order the participant to come in physical contact with the victim and force his hand onto the plate. â€Å" The Mechanism of denial can no longer be brought into play† in the proximity conditions. It’s not as easy to harm a person when you can visually see the pain one is inflicting. Forty adult subjects were studies in each condition.The data revealed â€Å"that obedience was significantly reduced as the victim was rendered more immediate to the subject†. According to Stanley Milgram’s report Some Conditions of Obedience and Disobedience to Authority, there are many different factors they may affect the end result of a subjects obedience to a dominating figure. These factors include, the immediacy of the victim, closeness of authority, tensions, and background authority. The locality of each situation showed difference s in the responses of the participant and their willingness to obey or disobey the experimenter.

International Adoption essays

International Adoption essays There are many reasons as to why people choose to adopt a child. Sometimes it has to do with infertility and couples decide to adopt children because, I could not have biological children and I do not believe in some methods of fertility treatments (Carney), but there are other reasons too. According to Christine Adamec, some people think that it is better to adopt than to bring another child into the world. Others do not want to pass a certain genetic problem onto other generations, and some have medical problems that would make the pregnancy more difficult than usual, or even harmful to the mothers health. These types of adoptive parents are called preferential adopters (Adamec, 18-19). Most adoption agencies in the United States turn down couples who are fertile. A statement from their physician describing their infertility is required. Since fertile couples are turned down, they generally adopt a child from another country (Adamec, 18-19). The web page adopt.org/ states that since birth control and abortions are accessible to most United States citizens, fewer unplanned babies are born and a good number of unmarried mothers are choosing to keep their babies. There are relatively few healthy, United States born babies compared to the number of people looking to adopt. The number of foreign-born orphans adopted by United States citizens has risen from 9,356 in 1988 to 15,774 in 1998. This large number of foreign-born orphans adopted by United States citizens is this way because interracial adoption is no longer an issue because in October of 1995 the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act was passed. This act bars any agency involved in adoption that receives federal funding from discriminating because of race when considering adoption opportunities for children (adopt.org/). Even thought this act is geared more towards domestic adoption than international adoption, it has occurred in inter...

Juveniles And The Death Penalty Essays - Law, Misconduct

Juveniles And The Death Penalty Essays - Law, Misconduct Juveniles And The Death Penalty Juveniles and the Death Penalty Why its not a Deterrent, and How it can Become One Today, minors are using their age as a shield against capital punishment. I feel the death penalty is appropriate for juveniles in certain circumstances, such as murder and brutal crimes that are considered capital offenses. The rate at which the death penalty is carried out, as well as inconstancies in sentencing doesnt make it a deterrent. There should not be an age limit in all capital offenses for those who could face the death penalty and knew what he or she was doing was wrong, and a crime. Age limits do not predict when one is able to handle responsibilities. What they do is assume one should be able to take on new responsibilities, laws, and issues. One is not suddenly capable of driving at sixteen, and not immediately given the knowledge of the voting system at eighteen. How does a specific age predict when a person knows right from wrong? By not having a minimum age for juvenile offenders in capital offenses, juveniles special rights and immunities would be taken away. Thes e rights for juveniles exist so justice courts can provide measures of guidance and rehabilitation for the youth by using mentors in society. There have been several laws made for juveniles regarding the age they could be tried as adults in capital cases. Although, the age limit varies from state to state, and even then that age isnt always followed due to different situations in cases. This is what I mean by inconsistencies among court cases. These laws were made because some youth who was not yet considered an adult committed a horrific crime and knew what he or she was doing when the crime took place. These juveniles perform the same malicious acts as adult capital offenders. They need to be punished for their actions just as the adults are so they know they cant get away with crime just because their age says theyre not an adult yet. Thirty-eight states and the federal government created statutes authorizing the death penalty for certain forms of murder and other capital offenses. Presently, fifteen states have chosen the minimum age of eighteen for a youth to be considered for the death penalty, four have chosen the age of seventeen, and twenty states have chosen sixteen as a minimum age. There was one agreement among justices regarding the Constitution which doesnt say juveniles cant receive the death penalty. The Constitution, which has its roots in English Common law, is not in violation of the cases of juvenile death penalties. Before having a minimum age limit in effect, English Common law had a direct influence on the Constitution. This common law, carried over to American statutes, established the assumption that no one under the age of seven had the mental capability to commit crimes. Therefore they had no concept of mens rea, which is a Latin word meaning intent. In English common law intent had to be p roven in cases concerning offenders of ages seven to fourteen, which carried over to be an American standard. Only in cases of youth over the age of fourteen was it possible to acknowledge they had the mental capacity to perform a crime with intent. Because these juveniles crimes were so harsh, the youths case would be transferred to criminal courts and, in turn, makes it possible to sentence violent, juvenile offenders with the death penalty. The idea of whether or not the death penalty should be applied to juveniles is only possible through the transfer of juveniles out of the juvenile courts and into an adult criminal court. Only then can a guilty, violent youth be punished to the full extent for the capital crimes they have committed. Due to inconsistencies in the laws, the death penalty is not a deterrent from keeping youth from committing crimes or fearing any serious punishments. The goal of having stricter penalties will hopefully also decrease the numbers of future generations who commit crimes. I feel that age is not a determining factor in deciding whether or not a youth should be punished for their actions. It should be based on

Free Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Free Writing - Essay Example Hence, prompting the photographer end up interested in taking the image, which is also the case it has remained to date in libraries to show utter human desperation. I think the 32 year old mother in this case is pondering the next move in her quest to find how she will feed her family of 7 children, which was not an easy given the then deplorable conditions she was then. The most interesting thing in this image is how the joyful dancers seem to try the then style while singing along the song. Style in this case refers to both dressing and dancing, which stand out in this image as evident event in the background men’s pants being of the same fashion. The image gives a bit of realities of the American African juke point where people used to enjoy themselves and forget the then period’s bigotry. Therefore, I think the image though taken many years ago to date acts as a reminder of how the then people’s social life used to be. This is despite in the current political arena many terming the period being characterized by

Health Promotion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Health Promotion - Essay Example al., 2009). The primary aim of this part of the essay is to explore the influence of the key socioeconomic factors on health with a critical assessment of relevance government sources in reporting on inequalities in health. Moreover, the essay also includes a critical understanding about major barriers in terms of accessing healthcare services by the people in a particular community or state. According to the unconventional global environment, socioeconomic factors have major impact on health. The major socioeconomic factors that have significant impact on health include income and social status; physical environment; health services; education and social support networks (World Health Organisation, 2014). The influence of each socioeconomic factor has been described in the following sections. Income as well as social status of individuals can be duly accepted as one of the major set of socioeconomic factors that have a major influence on the health condition of the individuals. According to the observation of various studies, it has been perceived that the higher income level and social status of the individuals are significantly linked with a better health and wellness. Significant indifferences between the richest and poorest reflect a dissimilar health condition of the individuals (World Health Organisation, 2014). Physical environment around the communities also has a major impact on the health of individuals. In this regard, adequate cleanliness and safety in the communities, workplaces or households significantly determine better health condition. Clean air, safe water and hygienic environment often help community members to reduce possible health issues and promote wellness of each individual (World Health Organisation, 2014) Adequate accessibility and effective use of health services that help to prevent diseases is also a major determinant of a health community.