Constructing and scaffolding intuition for students entering the People Professions.

Abstract

Abstract: Intuition is a regarded as a below awareness method of reasoning information which, then brought to the consciousness, allows for rapid judgements (Cook, 2014; Fook, 2012) Intuitive reasoning is a profound aspect of decision making in the People Professions, professionals who are at the forefront of working with children, young people and families where there is often high stress, risk and profound vulnerabilities. More recently, the work of these professionals has attracted a significant amount of attention, emphasised by tragic high-profile cases. This research explores how academics construct and teach intuition to students entering the People Professions. This research presents an eclectic and generalised set of ideas of how academics construct intuition, what impacts this and some emerging approaches to teaching intuition (Sipman et al, 2019). 
 
 Methodology: This research focuses on a pilot study whereby data was collected through a focus group of academics (n=5) who all teach students entering the People Professions. The focus group has been transcribed and analysed by way of Critical Discourse Analysis.
 
 Conclusion: Initial suppositions suggest multiple inter-connected factors influencing the construction and teaching of intuition by academics, with bias and reflexivity being dominant themes. These are critically analysed in detail throughout this paper.