Reflective Narratives Research Articles

Narrative reflections from a night on trauma call: an innovative way to identify with student experiences

Narrative reflections from a night on trauma call: an innovative way to identify with student experiences

Reflections on Our Journeys to Foregrounding Students’ Experiences Through Literature in a Pre-Service Teacher Education Programme

ABSTRACT In this essay, four teacher educators explore their journeys towards foregrounding students’ lived experiences when teaching literature. Data about our teaching of literature in different contexts were generated through our personal reflective narratives and ensuing dialogic critical friend conversations. Inductive thematic analysis of the narratives revealed that in spite of our diverse initial teaching contexts and trajectories, we initially all taught in much the same teacher-centred way. We also came to the realisation, however, that over the years our informal conversations had played a role in our teaching, allowing us to move beyond our educations. Collaborative teaching relationships developed out of incidental corridor conversations and these have been instrumental in reshaping our teaching of literature, enabling us to make literary texts relevant to societal issues and the lived experiences of our students.

La función social de los museos como campo de acción para el diseño. Una revisión de literatura de enfoques participativos para el acercamiento a comunidades

This article presents a systematic literature review to identify trends towards opening up the social function of museums to participatory processes, as a framework of opportunity for design. We structure the literature review in three stages: identifying and analysing the most relevant literature, establishing the main approaches of participation mediated by design in museography processes from a social perspective, and present trends for future research. As a result, we present a characterization of the relationship between design and museum in social processes and an approach to the concepts of community and participation. Likewise, we analyse the trends that visibilise the potential of design to promote collaboration and dialogue processes between institutional and community voices due to identity processes. Finally, we identify the contribution that design has made through reflection, representation and construction of new narratives that link cultural heritage with the lived reality of the communities from processes based on plurality, collective construction, and power relations.

A Foucauldian Autoethnographic Account of a Male Former Soccer Player’s Move to Coaching Female Players: A Call to Problematize the Importation of Gendered Assumptions During a Common Coaching Transition

It has frequently been observed that the disproportionate number of male coaches within women’s soccer is problematic, not least, because it limits the opportunities for the progression of female coaches. Despite this, the transition from “male former player to male coach of female players” is one that remains common, is likely to continue, yet is not widely discussed in the sport/coach transition literature. This is an oversight given the numerous problematic outcomes that are routinely connected to the presence of male coaches in women’s sport. In this confessional, analytical autoethnography, we build upon our existing work regarding coaching women’s soccer that has been informed by Michel Foucault’s conceptual framework. Precisely, we use a collection of creative narrative reflections to discuss the first author’s transition from that of a British semiprofessional soccer player context, to an Assistant Coach of a female soccer team in a North American varsity program. In so doing, we trace and map some of the (problematic) learned gendered assumptions which initially shaped and guided the first author’s coaching assumptions, relationships, approaches, and practices within this context, before unpacking some of the challenges he navigated along the way (with varying degrees of success). We end by summarizing our paper and a call to male coaches working with female athletes to reflect on how “thinking with Foucault” might help them to coach in more ethical and gender-responsive ways by both problematizing imported gendered assumptions and developing active allyship practices.

The Natural Environment in Social Work Curriculum: A Narrative Reflection of Teaching-Learning through a Sustainability Course Design and Delivery

The Natural Environment in Social Work Curriculum: A Narrative Reflection of Teaching-Learning through a Sustainability Course Design and Delivery

Exploration of the advanced preparation nurse-mother role in care of children with chronic disease: A narrative inquiry.

To explore the lived experience of advanced preparation nurses (APNs) who are mothers (APN-mothers) as they seek care in the Emergency Department for a child with a chronic disease. Qualitative, Narrative Inquiry. Narrative Inquiry was used to examine critical self-reflections of four (n = 4) APN-mothers. Directed by a question guide, participants engaged in the Narrative Reflective Process through metaphoric and artistic means. Participants identified salient challenges associated with their experiences. Narrative threads that emerged include feelings around being discovered, unfair expectations by healthcare providers, feelings of guilt and the tension from competing roles: APN and mother. APN-mothers represent a unique population with enhanced knowledge, skills and judgement; however, they indicate that there is insufficient communication and interprofessional collaboration between parents and Emergency Department staff. Further research is needed to foster and improve therapeutic relationships between APN-mothers and healthcare providers. Findings can inform the development of family centred care guidelines for healthcare professional parents and their children. This study explores the experiences of an understudied population. This research will impact APN-mothers, healthcare professionals in the Emergency Department as well as nursing students and researchers. EQUATOR guidelines and SRQR reporting method used. APN-mothers, caregivers and support persons of children with chronic disease enacted investigator-participant roles and were involved in each step of the study process. In addition, some patients (participants' children with chronic diseases) were included in data collected.

Leading Academic Development in Dynamic Higher Education International Settings

Within the super complex higher education environment academic development inhabits a dynamic domain that varies from institution to institution. Leading academic development requires the ability to effectively lead change, people, programmes, and yourself. This paper provides a critically reflective narrative of my experiences leading academic development across a lifespan in Australia and the UK. The narrative of my leadership development is shaped by my reflection on the University of Liverpool’s Leadership Commitment Framework and the UK Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Supporting Learning in Higher Education and integrated throughout three case studies. The first case study, set in a large Faculty in an Australian university, explores inspirational, distributed, and entrepreneurial leadership; academic development initiatives are relatively informal in this case. The second case study, set in a large Australian university at the institutional level explores strategic leadership of processes and people; academic development initiatives are more formalised through university governance processes in this case. The third case, set in a Russell Group university in the UK, explores transformational leadership relevant to leading academic development teams and programmes in a highly regulated environment. Across the three cases issues of identity, influence, and power in relation to leading academic development in dynamic environments are explored and insights highlighted to provide advice and guidance to aspiring leaders of academic development and leaders of learning and teaching in higher education.

Raising learner awareness of L2 writing spaces: supporting researchers, teachers, and learners through system mapping

This work examines how system mapping, an established exploratory and analytic technique grounded in complex dynamic systems theory, can operate as a heuristic to increase learners’ language awareness (LA) and develop their L2 writing proficiency. Accordingly, this study addresses repeated calls in the instructed SLA literature for effective research methods that directly serve learners at the point of enquiry. That is, although related research often foregrounds learners and pedagogy rather than theoretical abstraction, questions remain about how participants benefit at the time data are collected. To explore this concern, this work engaged system mapping through a LA pedagogy and followed two intact university classes (one using system mapping, and one not: N = 30) over one semester. Comparative quantitative and qualitative analyses of learners’ narrative reflections and academic essay writing highlighted that system mapping facilitates the raising of ­learners’ LA in service of developing their writing. This work demonstrates how system mapping capitalizes on learning theories that support image-schematic interventions and underscores how system mapping engages with and advances LA pedagogy in service of researchers, instructors, and students alike.

Towards a ‘Community for Practice’—A Narrative Analysis of the Evolution of Higher Education Scholars

In higher education (HE), collaborative activities that revolve around a core idea, practice, or knowledge base, such as learning circles, communities of practice or inquiry, peer observation, and peer-assisted teaching, are known to support professional learning. This paper explores the experiences of eight HE scholars from Australia and New Zealand, across four years, as they recognized a new means of collaborative professional development that transcends known approaches and extends beyond an immediate focal point. The group originally formed to support the development of HE fellowship applications, but evolved to what they now consider a community for practice (CfP), where the purpose of collaboration has changed to meet the unique learning needs of each member. During their four years of collaboration, meeting discussions were recorded, and individual and community narrative reflections about participation in the group were created. A thematic analysis of these collective data sources revealed the group’s evolution, and the authors draw on their experiences to tell their story with an aim to enhance professional learning in HE. The study highlights that individuals’ distinct and varied needs can be developed and supported through scholarly, collegial engagements such as a CfP, which does not necessarily require an immediate point of practice.

Having a ‘Chat’ about Hybrid and HyFlex

This paper offers a reflective narrative detailing the utilisation of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), with a focus on ChatGPT 3.5, HIX.AI, and Perplexity, in the construction of a concise report on Hybrid and HyFlex teaching models. The writing approach encompassed the formulation of prompts directed at GenAI, tackling issues related to naming conventions, student implications, and strategies for effective teaching in Hybrid and HyFlex settings. Following the presentation of the report produced by GenAI, the paper culminates in a critical reflection on the overall writing process involving GenAI and considers the possible implications. The overall sense from this exercise is that free versions of GenAI can produce a reasonably competent and articulate piece of work but only with time, patience and an existing prior knowledge base that enables the ‘author’ to be able to evaluate and interact with the AI output.

Mourning Septembers: A micro poetic-narrative autoethnography of teaching planners

I was recently very moved while reading ‘Constructing identity by writing roots into life: A poetic autoethnography’ by Andrew J. Garbisch in which he used a poetic-narrative autoethnography to explore his lived experience as a transracial Asian American adoptee. In it, he shares four of his original poems, following each with a narrative reflection. Favourite lines include the conclusion of his poem, ‘Allegory of the Tsohg’: ‘But you’re not supposed to hear any of this, I should really hush,/ Otherworldly, I’m sorry, I’ve already said too much’. Although I feel largely distanced from much of what is discussed in this piece, including adoption and experiencing the world as a person of colour, I was nevertheless struck by this project and many moments resonated, especially how his efforts to ‘construct meaning of [his] own identity’ was a somewhat ‘haunting endeavor’ (39). He inspired me to try and write a piece that ‘take[s] a bird’s eye view’ (43) of my educator journey and self – that is, how I am wrangling with reconciling that my years in academia have now eclipsed my previous time spent as a secondary English teacher. Because I have found arts-based research methods, such as narrative and poetic inquiry, to be quite generative (see, e.g. Author 2022, 2020, 2019, 2018a, 2018b), I immediately understood Garbisch’s piece as an inspiring mentor text – an exemplar of sorts for how to write to wrestle with the (albeit completely differently) somewhat haunting identity work that I find myself moving through presently. I love his bringing together of methodologies that I have used independent of one another but had not yet melded before. As such, his approach, structure and exercise in vulnerable arts-based work largely inspired this ‘micro’, snapshot-style project, which is also built on my learning from arts-based researchers, poets and storytellers I admire (e.g. Clandinin and Connelly 2000; James 2009, 2017; Sameshima et al. 2017; Faulkner 2019; Prendergast et al. 2009, among others). They have taught me a great deal, including how poetic inquiry can be a way of living in the world (Leggo cited in Irwin et al. 2019) and that narrative inquiry might consist of telling stories from our past that lead to possibilities of retellings and potential futures (Clandinin and Connelly 2000); such teachings also deeply inform this piece.

Considering ChatGPT as a partner needs careful planning and some upskilling for everyone.

This paper critically reflects upon a year of partnership with ChatGPT since it became freely available. By exploring the possibilities and limitations of utilising such tools through a personal reflective narrative and the metaphoric notion of partnership it considers the advantages and limitations of this tool in context, recognising both students and teaching faculty are at risk of McDonaldization of their work. Beyond the benefits there are impacts on the amount and type of work being done by both academics and students.

Teaching Social Determinants of Health in Undergraduate Medical Education: A Longitudinal Curricular and Experiential Program in the United Arab Emirates.

Social determinants of health (SDH) have a major impact on illness and wellness. However, research shows a lack of training on SDH in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, with studies confirming that the social needs of patients are not routinely identified or addressed by health care professionals in clinical practice. The medical education community is currently working to incorporate SDH into undergraduate training but has had limited guidance regarding educational topics, modes of teaching, and evaluation criteria in this domain. This article describes the evolution, process, and structure, along with student perceptions, lessons learned, and future directions, of an SDH educational program in the United Arab Emirates. Using the Institute of Medicine's behavioral and social science knowledge domains as a framework, the program includes a didactic component with workshops, reflective practice training, and an experiential component that integrates home visits with social activities in collaboration with community partners. The program began in 2019. To date, 114 students have completed the didactic sessions and at least 1 year of the experiential component. Student surveys and reflective narratives reveal positive perceptions of the program and improved SDH knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

Delivering Effective Medical Education in the Midst of a Pandemic-A Reflective Narrative

The COVID 19 pandemic was a disruptor in all spheres of activity including education.
 This article reflects lessons learnt during the pandemic to ensure uninterrupted delivery of teaching, learning and assessment online. Difficulties with online platforms, faculty development to adopt new methods of teaching as well as ensuring student wellbeing are discussed. The need to ensure reliable and valid assessment is discussed. Finally, the need for good record keeping and ensuring regulatory standards are not breached is emphasized. This is a personal reflection of 3 academics who participated in the implementation of the process in a private medical school and is supported by good practice evidence as reference.

Preparing for Death While Investing in Life: A Narrative Inquiry and Case Report of Home-Based Paediatric Palliative, End-of-Life, and After-Death Care.

Paediatric palliative care is pivotal for addressing the complex needs of children with incurable diseases and their families. While home-based care offers a familiar and supportive environment, delivering comprehensive services in this context is challenging. The existing literature on home-based palliative care lacks detailed guidance for its organization and implementation. This qualitative narrative inquiry explores the organization and provision of home-based paediatric palliative care. Data were collected from healthcare practitioners using conversations, storytelling, and reflective journaling. Schwind's Narrative Reflective Process was applied to synthesize the data, resulting in an in-depth case description. The narrative approach illuminates the complexities of home-based paediatric palliative, end-of-life, and after-death care. Key findings encompass the importance of early-care coordination, interprofessional collaboration, effective symptom management, emotional and psychosocial support, and comprehensive end-of-life planning. Through the case study of the child patient, the challenges and strategies for providing holistic, family-centred care within the home environment are described. Practical insights gained from this report can inform the development and improvement of home-based palliative care programs, benefiting researchers, practitioners, and policymakers seeking to optimize care for children and families in similar contexts.

Unquiet Qing: The Course of Lovesickness in the Modernization of Chinese Literature

Lovesickness (xiangsi bing), a disease of qing (sentiment, passion, feeling, desire, and love), emerged as a literary topos in China's medieval lyrical tradition and was developed through late imperial drama and fiction. This article examines narratives of lovesickness in popular literature—both fiction and drama—from the Song (960–1279) to the Qing (1644–1912), including some texts rarely discussed in English scholarship from the perspective of love writing. With thorough documentation, we present two classic plot patterns of the literary malady: one involving mutual affection of separated lovers, the other the one-sided passion, whether of unrequited (usually male) love or of one part of a couple longing for reunion. We argue that the notorious lovelorn figures in late Ming (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries) legal cases and Qing scholar-beauty xiaoshuo novels made lovesickness a target for criticism by literati and prompted reflection and revision of traditional narratives. With the modernization and westernization of Chinese literature, this classical literary malady was finally “cured.” The disappearance of lovesickness reflects the gradual replacement of classical ways of thinking with a modern cognitive style and, simultaneously, the transition of Chinese literature from classical to modern.

The weight of “the keys”: two autoethnographic accounts of how mental health nurse training has changed over the decades

Purpose This paper aims to critically compare the impact and preparedness for practice of two types of mental health nurse training in the UK. One being a hospital-based apprenticeship model from the 1980s; the other a university-based and more academically focussed approach from this millennium. Design/methodology/approach This autoethnographic reflective commentary describes and reviews the effectiveness of two training curricula for Registered Mental Nurse (RMN) training. The first being the certificate-level 1983 syllabus of the UK Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting, which was replaced in the late 1990s by diploma and degree-level Project 2000 training of the General Nursing Council. Using a reflective narrative approach to describe the lived experience of two qualified nurses, it compares, reviews and critiques both initiatives. Findings The author/researchers found both benefits and negatives inherent in each model. These were grouped into five key headings, which are a sense of belonging/identity; exposure to clinical practice; differences in training modality; development of clinical management skills and clinical preparedness; and academic merit. The older curriculum lacked an academic or research base, whereas the more recent approach encouraged and enhanced this element. However, with regard to preparing the clinician/registered nurse to feel confident in addressing a range of clinical and managerial challenges, the older style training seems to deliver better outcomes. They conclude that a move towards a “middle ground” between the two models may be of benefit to future RMN preparation. Research limitations/implications This study reports on the experience of two registered nurses. Therefore, the sample size is small. However, autoethnography is acknowledged as an effective means of delivering qualitative research; in addition, the authors access and use material from the wider literature to triangulate and critique their approach. This paper adds to the literature but also allows for duplication by others to further test the findings. Practical implications This type of study provides an opportunity for others to review, compare and contrast nursing or other multi-discipline changes in training/curriculum. The research method is one that is transferable and can be used within areas of practice, which have resource limitations. It provides an opportunity to replicate it in other services or jurisdictions. Social implications Nursing in the UK has experienced significant change over the past four decades. For RMNs, the move from hospitals into the community has been transformational. In addition, the influence of higher academic standards and the influence of the recent pandemic have challenged the profession and individuals within it. This study demonstrates positive and negative elements of the dilemma faced by nurses and offers a further contribution to this area. Originality/value There are a number of academic papers, media stories, statutory reports and guidance that explore the impact of changes within nurse training. This paper uses a first person autoethnographic study of the impact and effectiveness of these changes at a human level, the nurse on the ground. It uses the ward medicine keys as the vehicle to represent the huge responsibility that newly qualified nurses must face; this is not widely represented elsewhere in the literature!

From the Margins to the Center: Cultivating Collective Healing with Soulcial Work Praxis

ABSTRACTBlack, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC) educators working in predominantly White institutions (PWIs) disproportionately experience violence rooted in historical, structural, and interpersonal oppressions that negatively impact mental and physical health which necessitates multi-level healing. In response, a BIWOC educators’ healing circle incorporated Critical Transformative Potential Development (CTPD) to create a collective and collaborative healing process from the harm of institutional gendered racism. The BIWOC circle integrated decolonial strategies, including storytelling and healing spaces, to encourage the cultivation of sustainable health and wellness practices. Through the reflective narratives of four BIWOC healing circle participants, we consider the ways CTPD can be a decolonizing force. Participant narratives support the introduction of Soulcial Work Praxis (SWP), and its evolution from CTPD, as a decolonizing theoretical framework for soul care, transformation, and healing, proclaiming that rebellion is our salvation, community is our protection, and healing is our liberation. The SWP dimensions within participants’ reflections highlight our pillars of humanity: space, grace, time, and opportunity. Considerations for broader application in social work education, research, and practice are also presented.

Exploring Chinese bilingual teachers’ language ideologies: a Bernstein’s recontextualization perspective

This study explores the language ideologies of Chinese Bilingual Teachers (CBTs) in educational contexts, conceptualizing language ideology as a representation of beliefs about educational practices that result from the interactive construction of teachers’ discourse and language scheme during the recontextualization of language policy. The authors conduct a qualitative approach, analyzing reflective narratives from 12 participants in China to examine their adherence to three types of distinct language ideologies: Standardization Centripetality (SCP) versus Standardization Centrifugality (SCF), Meritocracy Centripetality (MCP) versus Meritocracy Centrifugality (MCF), as well as Employment-incentive Centripetality (EICP) versus Employment-incentive Centrifugality (EICF). The findings across these six dimensions underscore the nuanced and multifaceted nature of CBTs’ language ideologies, indicating that the presence of multiple language ideologies can be accommodated within the educational system. The contribution of this study is to facilitate the professional growth of CBTs by assisting them in addressing the discrepancies between the ideologies they strive to maintain and implement, and the ideologies they literally carry out in their own teaching practice.

Pragmatic approach to mobilizing individuals with critical illness due to COVID-19: clinical perspective

Purpose To provide pragmatic guidance for acute rehabilitation management and implementation of early mobility for individuals with critical illness due to COVID-19. Methods Clinical perspective developed through reflective clinical practice and narrative review of best available evidence. Results Current clinical practice guidelines do not provide guidance for implementation of early mobility interventions for individuals with critical illness due to COVID-19 who require enhanced ventilatory support or support of inhaled pulmonary artery vasodilators. Many individuals who may benefit from implementation of early mobility interventions are excluded by strict interpretation of current guidelines. Conclusions Risk vs benefit of implementing early mobility interventions in individuals with critical illness due to COVID-19 can be mitigated through coordinated efforts of interdisciplinary teams to promote shared decision-making through therapeutic alliances with patients and their families. Clinicians must clearly define the goals of care, understand the limitations of monitoring equipment in the intensive care unit, prepare to titrate levels of oxygen based on an individual’s physiologic response to mobility interventions, and help individuals maintain external goal-directed focus of attention to optimize outcomes of early mobility interventions.