Reflective Piece Research Articles

Reflecting on psychosis: An honorary assistant psychologist’s experience

Whilst working on a mental health rehab ward I heard about a man who believed he was possessed by the devil. The story affected me and I wanted to understand why. To help me understand, I wrote this reflective piece.

Internationalization at Home (IaH) in Living-learning context

Internationalisation has been associated with the cultivation of global competencies. However, there have also been contentions about inclusivity, accessibility and mobility, and that it may privilege some. This reflective piece attempts to respond to these tensions through a description of and reflection on the effectiveness of two Internationalisation at Home (IaH) initiatives. It focuses on informal curricula in living-learning contexts where literature and concrete examples are scanty. Drawing on the learning points, it shares thoughts about the need for critical mass, whole university experience, and intentionality.

“This is oil country:” mediated transnational girlhood, Greta Thunberg, and patriarchal petrocultures

ABSTRACT In this short reflection piece I consider Greta Thunberg as a figure of mediated transnational girlhood whose “spectacular” visibility which circulated through global media networks reveals the sexist, racist, and ageist underpinnings of Alberta’s local oil culture. I begin to parse the mediated relationship between Thunberg and Alberta’s oil culture through the exploration of two examples of mediated misogyny, a sticker that seemingly depicts the teen being sexually assaulted, and an artistic street mural that was defaced by pro-oil activists, both which began as local responses to Thunberg, but quickly circulated globally via international news media and social media users. I suggest that these disturbing examples function as anxious local reactions to the perceived threats posed by the transnational figure of Thunberg, which challenge not only colonial and patriarchal promises of land ownership and resource extraction, but hegemonic ideas about girlhood and the future more generally.

Initiatives in primary school for the inclusion of a gender perspective

Abstract This reflective piece seeks to show how teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in primary schools can include a gender perspective as a tool to promote and develop social transformation and reflection when integrating Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in their lessons using different literary materials. The development of a gender perspective involves a critical examination of power and unequal relations between sexed bodies. In the case of Argentina, the passing of Law 26,150 created a National CSE Program, which enforces the teaching of a responsible sexuality education from a gender and human rights perspective. This article describes some of the literary materials and initiatives that we, two EFL primary level teachers, have designed and implemented for the development of such perspective in our lessons following a critical and dialogical pedagogy. We hope these initiatives can help other EFL teachers carry out similar practices according to their contexts.

Ballet & Books: Finding community and purpose through dance and literacy engagement during COVID-19

Background: Ballet and BooksTM is a community based organization dedicated to improving the lives of young children (3-9 years) through dance and literacy skill engagement. This program was developed by an undergraduate student as a means to engage community partners in changing the health of young children in Ithaca, New York and is now expanding nationally.
 Purpose: The purpose of this critical reflection piece is to describe the challenges that Ballet and BooksTM faced and how they overcame the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Details are provided regarding the challenges they overcame as an organization. Challenges addressed surround virtual learning, research efforts, and community building. With the deep passion, discovered purpose, and shared mission of college students and national partners, the program was able to thrive in a new normal.

Here is my heart: A reflective response to ‘Indigeneity in Europe’

In response to the three peer-reviewed articles in this special issue, this reflective piece begins with the author, a Māori woman with Celtic ancestry, acknowledging and claiming her indigenous skin—and, more broadly, an indigenous body of knowledge. The article responds to the articles by Sisalli, Van Werde, and Bagge and Berliner firstly by making connections with them; and secondly, through taking a step backwards into the author's own genealogy in order to suggest certain moves forwards for indigenous health and well-being. Finally, it ends with some comments about Western paradigms and Māori narratives.

Some reflections on Tom O’Regan’s “Some Reflections on the ‘Policy Moment’”

ABSTRACT This short reflective piece revisits Tom O’Regan’s article “Some Reflections on the ‘Policy Moment’” from 1992. Tom’s intervention in the cultural policy debate which raged at that time was magisterial, wide ranging and inclusive. He saw the argument for policy to frame engaged scholarly activity as limiting the social relevance of the humanities and social sciences. Whereas the traditional ‘inclusive and abstract’ injunction to be relevant was fashioned in such a way as not to prescribe the form of engagement, the policy injunction limits relevance to what ‘can be made actionable, publicly endorsed, institutionally sanctioned and found useful by government tribunals, policy-makers and other actors directly involved in the policy process’. This narrowing, he argued, misrecognises the multifaceted nature of policy formation and debate. I reflect on how Tom’s position, and that of Meaghan Morris, has influenced me subsequently through a brief discussion of various scholarly personae that the engaged scholar can adopt.

In Her Wake: On Blackness and Being on Our Own Terms

AbstractIn this reflective piece, scholar Riché Barnes tacks back and forth between her own biography as it intertwined with the biography of Leith Mullings, who was her first graduate student advisor. As an anthropologist invested in Black feminist thought, Barnes explores what it means to live in the wake of Leith Mullings.

Global health on the front lines: an innovative medical student elective combining education and service during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundAn innovative medical student elective combined student-directed, faculty-supported online learning with COVID-19 response field placements. This study evaluated students’ experience in the course, the curriculum content and format, and its short-term impact on students’ knowledge and attitudes around COVID-19.MethodsStudents responded to discussion board prompts throughout the course and submitted pre−/post-course reflections. Pre−/post-course questionnaires assessed pandemic knowledge and attitudes using 4-point Likert scales. Authors collected aggregate data on enrollment, discussion posts, field placements, and scholarly work resulting from course activities. After the elective, authors conducted a focus group with a convenience sample of 6 participants. Institutional elective evaluation data was included in analysis. Authors analyzed questionnaire data with summary statistics and paired t-tests comparing knowledge and attitudes before and after the elective. Reflection pieces, discussion posts, and focus group data were analyzed using content analysis with a phenomenological approach.ResultsTwenty-seven students enrolled. Each student posted an average of 2.4 original discussion posts and 3.1 responses. Mean knowledge score increased from 43.8 to 60.8% (p < 0.001) between pre- and post-course questionnaires. Knowledge self-assessment also increased (2.4 vs. 3.5 on Likert scale, p < 0.0001), and students reported increased engagement in the pandemic response (2.7 vs. 3.6, p < 0.0001). Students reported increased fluency in discussing the pandemic and increased appreciation for the field of public health. There was no difference in students’ level of anxiety about the pandemic after course participation (3.0 vs. 3.1, p = 0.53). Twelve students (44.4%) completed the institutional evaluation. All rated the course “very good” or “excellent.” Students favorably reviewed the field placements, suggested readings, self-directed research, and learning from peers. They suggested more clearly defined expectations and improved balance between volunteer and educational hours.ConclusionsThe elective was well-received by students, achieved stated objectives, and garnered public attention. Course leadership should monitor students’ time commitment closely in service-learning settings to ensure appropriate balance of service and education. Student engagement in a disaster response is insufficient to address anxiety related to the disaster; future course iterations should include a focus on self-care during times of crisis. This educational innovation could serve as a model for medical schools globally.

Reflection: An update on China’s wild meat consumption since COVID-19

Wildlife consumption in China has been widely condemned by academics and the public since COVID-19 was determined to have a zoonotic source by the World Health Organization. This reflection piece provides an up-to-date summary of wild meat consumption in China since COVID-19. It shows that there is an all-round transition underway. COVID-19 stopped wild meat consumption directly or made an impact by functioning as a new background or event. People’s demand has been reduced due to strict law enforcement, fines, and profound propaganda efforts. This has implications for controlling wildlife trade and consumption in some other countries similar to China. This reflection particularly re-interprets the motivations of consumers of wild meat since the outbreak of the disease and considers the reasons why people do not consume wildlife. This might be the first empirical work on China’s wild meat consumption before and after COVID-19, which explores the transformation around this eating habit and makes a few evidence-based predictions. Although there are good signs that we can expect an effective reduction of China’s wild meat consumption in the future, there is the call for a well-established legal system and strict implementation of laws and other strategies, and a widespread consumer education in food habits.

Continuous integration in urban social-ecological systems science needs to allow for spacing co-existence

Urbanization brings benefits and burdens to both humans and nature. Cities are key systems for integrated social-ecological research and the interdisciplinary journal of Ambio has published ground-breaking contributions in this field. This reflection piece identifies and discusses integration of the human and natural spheres in urban social-ecological research using the following foundational papers as important milestones: Folke et al. (1997), Ernstson et al. (2010) and Andersson et al. (2014). These papers each take unique approaches that aim to uncover core properties—processes, structures, and actors—of urban systems and set them into mutual relationship. This piece will end with a forward-looking vision for the coming 50 years of urban sustainability and resilience study in Ambio.

Researching and Teaching Scientology

The academic study of Scientology (most often meant to mean the Church of Scientology) is complicated by a problematical inherited discourse between media, academics (and their students) and the Church of Scientology. In this short reflection piece, it is argued that this discourse should be understood within a wider context of attitudes to the study of New Religions within the academy, and the impact of CoS engagement with mainstream media. Additionally, it is argued that the preconceptions of both students and CoS representatives reflect these discourses, which in-turn impact not only upon research and teaching about Scientology, but also upon public projections of religious identity by the CoS. Referencing recent frameworks of Lived/Represented/Reported Religion, the article suggests that the study of diverse and everyday Scientology may offer a fruitful approach to future scholarship.

Still I Rise – A reflective piece on two ethnic minority clinical psychologist’s leadership journeys

The article is a reflective piece based on the author’s interest, when they were a trainee to explore the leadership journey of two ethnic minority clinical psychologists. The psychologists were asked specific questions aimed at considering leadership from the lens of race, culture and ethnicity. Despite the interviews having been conducted in 2018, the themes that emerged speak truth of the current realities of oppressive barriers present within the profession.

Narratives, masks and COVID-19: A qualitative reflection.

Tracing explanatory narratives of mask-wearing throughout COVID-19, we argue that multiple narratives contribute to the global experience of COVID-19, making it as much a social and political object as it is a scientific one. This assumption drives our commitment to take seriously alternative narratives that do not conform to dominant ones in order to examine how structures of power might privilege particular types of ‘truths’ and with what consequences. We see this reflective piece as a re-articulation of social work’s historic call to interrogate dominant ways of knowing, particularly the ways in which science obscures its own power and politics and sidelines other narratives in the process.

College Students Training Law Enforcement Officers: The Officer Charlie Get Fit Project

While most law enforcement agencies recognize the importance of physical fitness for their officers and encourage them to maintain an adequate level of fitness, many find it difficult to implement a fitness program successfully. Prior studies and literature support the implementation of community-centered fitness initiatives. The purpose of this study was to (1) describe participant outcomes from the service- learning project Officer Charlie Get Fit Project and (2) delineate Kolb’s experiential learning model implemented by undergraduate kinesiology majors when applied in an exercise setting. Students were charged with working directly with police officers over an 8-week program with the goal of lowering health-risk factors for the participants. Additionally, the project provided an opportunity for students to assess their own learning style and infuse it in a real-world professional application. Participants included 16 police officers (M = 44.6, SD = 10.7 years of age) and one elected city administrative official. Paired sample t tests revealed nonsignificant differences between the pretest and posttest scores on the 10 fitness measures. Descriptive statistics revealed improvements in categories of body weight, BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, resting heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, sum of skinfolds, and overall body fat percentage. Participant exit interviews indicated positive qualitative results. The student reflection piece indicated that the frequent writing helped with (1) the myriad of planning and preparation issues, (2) selecting a community partner and recruiting participants, and (3) data collection and analysis. This study was an important assessment of immersive learning opportunities provided through classroom lecture and development of community partnerships.

Personal reflections on navigating the COVID-19 pandemic: From vision to reality.

Transitioning from bedside nursing to public health nursing after graduating with my Master's in Public Health was a unique experience, particularly as I navigated the COVID‐19 pandemic as a new public health and nursing leader. Personal reflection pieces can provide a meaningful review of the experiences of integrating clinical nursing practice and more broad public health practice. The purpose of this paper is to offer my reflection and synthesis of the lessons learned while leading a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) through the COVID‐19 pandemic. Additionally, I reflect on the future of FQHCs and the critical need to advance public health as a field and empower public health nurses.

Choppy waters: The importance of accounting for shifting drug utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic in future observational drug-related studies.

The 2019 novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic caused a large shift in the delivery of healthcare globally, including prescription drugs. Media reports of drug stockpiling, anecdotal reports of an uptick in commonly used medications and off-label use of medications to treat COVID-19, have led to rapidly changing drug utilization trends.1 We have observed shifting drug utilization trends in a number of our ongoing projects globally. These shifting drug utilization trends should be of consideration for anyone conducting future observational drug-related studies - we write this Reflective Piece, Hot Topic as a word of caution to our colleagues.

Promoting Reflexivity During the COVID-19 Pandemic&lt;br /&gt; &amp;nbsp;

Reflexivity is a concept that is pivotal in understanding and conducting qualitative inquiry but can be relevant to the teacher identities as they shuttle between what they do as teachers and how they engage with participants in conducting research. In the Notes from the Field article, the authors, Maribel Greene and Gloria Park (a doctoral student working on a research project with doctoral program peers and a graduate faculty member teaching the qualitative research course, respectively) focus on a research-oriented concept of reflexivity to bring about more awareness around their roles and responsibilities as an emerging qualitative researcher (Greene) and a graduate faculty member (Park) working with individuals from diverse contexts. In addition to highlighting reflexivity in their respective roles and responsibilities, the authors document the unprecedented influence the COVID-19 pandemic has had on their work. In this collaborative reflective piece, they discuss their positionalities and reflect on the role of reflexivity not just in their research but as a tool to navigate their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors highlight the importance of (1) being vulnerable; (2) looking more inward in what they do as a researcher and a graduate faculty member; and (3) taking risks in being reflexive to better understand their respective roles. The authors conclude with a list of critical questions and insights inviting readers to find ways to carry on the commitment to integrate reflexivity in working with individuals from diverse backgrounds in both teaching and research contexts.

Not on our own: Peer coaching our way through COVID-19

This reflective piece will explore the importance of peer coaching as a tool to support studies, while also addressing the isolative nature of not just doctoral study but also in the authors’ wider professional leadership lives. As we all face an extended period at home (and for Lacey and Kerry this means also juggling caring responsibilities and home schooling) the reflective piece will examine how this peer coaching relationship has enabled them to navigate COVID-19, re-constituting themselves as leaders in a spatially and temporally different environment.

Taking pause: Drawing from the history of neurology during COVID-19

This narrative account uses a moment of patient care to connect multiple influences on my training as a resident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seemingly unrelated, my newly found interest in the history of neurology, my patient, and the new dynamics of hospital care have made me become a better physician through this reflective piece.