Reflective Piece Research Articles

How Do Veterinary Students Engage When Using Creative Methods to Critically Reflect on Experience? A Qualitative Analysis of Assessed Reflective Work.

Critical reflection-the exploration and questioning of one's experience, beliefs, assumptions, and actions-supports resilience, empathy, the management of uncertainty, and professional identity formation. Yet for many students and educators, the techniques to engage in critical reflection are elusive. Creative methods that foster engagement with emotional and uncertain aspects of experience reportedly help some students to reflect at a more critical level than when they use reflective writing, and this study explores more deeply the experiences of such students, who used creative methods to critically reflect on challenging or troubling past events. A narrative methodology was utilized, in which researchers collaboratively co-constructed an understanding of students' experiences of reflection to identify the activities and steps they used. Creative methods did not inherently lead to critical reflection, but when this was achieved, the creative approaches seemed to facilitate a staging of reflection, which incorporated five sequential stages: preplanning creative depiction, experimenting with different ideas, deliberately completing the reflective piece, reflecting on creative work, and reflecting again on learning and development. This cyclic, repeated revisit to experience, as students engaged in each stage of their work, appeared to facilitate both a deep connection with the emotional elements of experience and a more distanced analysis. This ultimately led to a deepening of understanding of events, including the construction of students' own beliefs and empathy with others' views.

THE DISUNITY BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY – A REFLECTIVE PIECE

A disunity seems to exist between psychology and psychiatry, stemming from their distinct theoretical backgrounds, with a notable disconnect in how to approach and treat severe mental health conditions. This reflective piece will seek to discuss and attempt to answer the questions – is there room for psychology and psychiatry to grow by addressing their disunity? And consequently, can more be done for those with these more severe mental illnesses by mirroring the efforts and advancements of clinical psychology for those with more ‘low intensity’ mental health conditions?

Using reflection to confront mistakes: Reframing failure for success

This reflective piece explores how to reframe mistakes as opportunities for improvement. It emphasises the power of honest reflection, taking ownership, and using a structured approach.

The Autonomous Thinking Teacher: Preparing English Teachers for the 21st Century

This concept paper describes the changes made to Singapore’s initial teacher preparation (ITP) programmes with a specific focus on its thinking teacher model (NIE, 2009) – a model of teacher agency and an approach to ITP that requires self-reflection on roles and practice, understanding theories and research, and adapting to changing learner needs (Tan & Liu, 2015). An important component of this model is a ‘meta’ course which all pre-service teachers are required to undergo. This ‘meta’ course called Professional Practice and Inquiry (PPI) initiative – which was introduced to develop reflective professionals – cuts through the entire ITP programme providing them with both a framework and a platform to curate their understandings across all their courses, reflect deeply about teaching and learning and highlight their best work. This paper demonstrates, by the use of vignettes from their reflective pieces, how the goals and various components made possible by the PPI initiative provided the impetus for English pre-service teachers to develop into autonomous thinking teachers.

The power of a partnership approach: the tripartite relationship between academics, academic skills staff and students

This reflection piece shares the innovative approach to an embedded skills model on an accelerated two-year BA programme. At the University of Greenwich annual teaching and learning conference (SHIFT), in 2020, a collaborative team from the degree course presented a case study on this model. This article explores how, through such partnerships, student success can be promoted and student outcomes can shine. Living and teaching through a pandemic has highlighted the importance of staff and student relationships to ensure success.

How useful is ‘racial justice’? deliberating ‘racial justice’ enunciations in sport

Not all claims for ‘racial justice’ are created equal. While ‘racial justice’ became an important term deployed by various sport figures and organisations, there have been few deliberations of its actual meanings and/or connotations. I argue that the underlying goals, visions, and theories of change of different ‘racial justice’ enunciations can vary significantly and that it is therefore urgent to unpick the seemingly assumed coherence across different discursive spaces. In this reflective piece, I tentatively map the possible interpretations of ‘racial justice’ enunciated in sport and discuss the potentials and limitations of this term in the long struggles towards creating a (sport) world free of racial injustices.

Seeing ourselves: Reflections of a trainee on placement at an eating disorder service during the Covid pandemic

This is a reflective piece of work written by a clinical psychologist in training working within an eating disorder service during the pandemic. The focus is on adaptations to the pandemic, namely virtual working, reflections/curiosities on the impact on eating disorder services and the clinicians working within them.

The RELATE model: strategies to effectively engage healthcare organisations to create amenable contexts for implementation.

The field of implementation science has emerged as a response to the challenges experienced in translating evidence-based practice and research findings to healthcare settings. Whilst the field has grown considerably in recent years, comparatively, there is a conspicuous lack of attention paid to the work of pre-implementation, that is, how we effectively engage with organisations to support the translation of research into practice. Securing the engagement and commitment of healthcare organisations and staff is key in quality improvement and organisational research. In this paper the authors draw attention to the pre-implementation phase, that is, the development of an amenable context to support implementation research. Drawing from examples across an interdisciplinary group of health systems researchers working across a range of healthcare organisations, the authors present a reflective narrative viewpoint. They identify the principal challenges experienced during the course of their work, describe strategies deployed to effectively mitigate these challenges and offer a series of recommendations to researchers based on their collective experiences of engaging in collaborations with healthcare organisations for research and implementation. This reflective piece will contribute to the narrative evidence base by documenting the challenges, experiences and learning emerging from the authors' work as university researchers seeking to engage and collaborate with healthcare organisations. The RELATE model is presented to guide researchers through six key steps and sample strategies in working to secure organisational buy-in and creating a context amenable to implementation and research. The six stages of the RELATE model are: (1) Recognising and navigating the organisation's complexity; (2) Enhancing understanding of organisational priorities and aligning intervention; (3) Leveraging common values and communicating to key individuals the value of implementation research; (4) Aligning and positioning intervention to illustrate synergies with other initiatives; (5) Building and maintaining credibility and trust in the research team; and (6) Evolving the intervention through listening and learning. The authors hope this guidance will stimulate thinking and planning and indeed that it will encourage other research teams to reflect and share their experiences and strategies for successful engagement of organisations, thus developing a knowledge base to strengthen implementation efforts and increase efficacy in this important enterprise. Researchers must relate to the world's everyday reality of the healthcare managers and administrators and enable them to relate to the potential of the research world in enhancing practice if we are to succeed in bringing the evidence to practice in a timely and efficient manner. Climates receptive to implementation must be developed incrementally over time and require actors to navigate messy and potentially unfamiliar organisational contexts. In this paper, the often invisible and lamentably underreported work of how we begin to work with healthcare organisations has been addressed. The authors hope this guidance will stimulate thinking and planning and indeed that it will encourage other research teams to reflect and share their experiences and strategies for successful engagement of organisations, thus developing a knowledge base to strengthen implementation efforts and increase efficacy in this important enterprise.

Reflections on Posthumanism: What does 'the economy' have to do with it?

reflection piece for inaugural issue

The philosophy and psychology of character

In this short reflection piece, I outline how I see both philosophy and psychology contributing to the study of character. In addition, I highlight an area where far more collaborative work needs to be done.

Two paths of social innovation in the post-pandemic world

PurposeThe Covid-19 pandemic has initiated a period of radical uncertainty, resulting in impacts on a scale that has and will continue to transform economies and societies across various contexts. Social innovation resonates with the challenges the pandemic presents. This paper aims to address the question of which form of social innovation will be most pivotal in the post-pandemic world.Design/methodology/approachThe paper has been developed by reviewing key literature on social innovation, with a specific focus on the most current contributions of Moulaert and MacCallum and Mulgan.FindingsSocial innovation is embedded in debates around social change but the “type” of social change that dominates the future of social innovation is connected to how social innovation interacts at different scales and with different actors engaged in shaping change in specific contexts. Building upon extant knowledge of social innovation we can hypothesise two paths of social innovation emerging/intensifying: one that seeks economic reform with an emphasis on meeting social needs in new ways and another that seeks complete systemic change.Originality/valueThis is a reflective piece that by reviewing current contributions to the social innovation literature questions the post-pandemic future of the field.

“I came, I saw, I conquered”: reflections on participating in a PhotoVoice project

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide first-hand reflective narratives from participants of their involvement in the overall process, with particular reference to the benefits and challenges of engagement. Design/methodology/approach Five participants agreed to write a reflective piece of approximately 500 words on their involvement in the PhotoVoice project. Findings The reflective narratives in this paper demonstrate the personal and professional benefits of sustained and meaningful engagement, while challenges such as power imbalances, identity management, time and cost commitments are discussed. Practical implications PhotoVoice is a methodology that has the potential to democratise knowledge production and dissemination. Originality/value There are scant examples in the PhotoVoice literature of the inclusion of participants involvement in dissemination activities. The reflective narratives in this paper demonstrate the personal and professional benefits of sustained and meaningful engagement, while challenges such as power imbalances, identity management, time and cost commitments are discussed.

The Men and the Boys, Twenty Years On

Following the launch of our first special issue in December 2020 (Cann et al. 2020) we are delighted to publish this second, linked issue. As evidence of the impact and dominance of Raewyn Connell’s ideas and their influence on the field, we received so many high-quality abstracts in response to our call for papers that we decided to create two collections. This second special issue of Boyhood Studies, An Interdisciplinary Journal, celebrates the twentieth anniversary of Raewyn Connell’s landmark text, The Men and the Boys (2000), and hosts a wide range of international and interdisciplinary authors to highlight the continued global relevance of the book and Connell’s work more widely. This issue continues this work by showcasing an impressive array of empirical research studies and reflection pieces by emerging and leading scholars that are guided by the original themes in The Men and the Boys.

Implementation of Innovative Educational Technologies in Teaching of Anatomy and Basic Medical Sciences During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Developing Country: The COVID-19 Silver Lining?

This article is a descriptive and reflective piece on the strategic adaptations that facilitated and enabled the teaching of anatomy and related basic medical sciences to medical students in an African medical school that never shut down during the COVID-19 induced lockdown of the year 2020. The article considers the roles of educational technology, innovations, media and how these were used to achieve learning objectives with optimal outcomes during the lockdown. Specific technologies and innovations including the Anatomage Table, Complete 3D Anatomy software, and the use of High-Fidelity Mannequin were deployed to facilitate effective teaching of anatomy and related basic medical sciences. This was aided by the robust use of a learning management system – Canvas, as well as internet facility for connection, videoconferencing, online sessions and online-based assessment in a strategically organised manner. This system was dynamic enough to respond to changes in COVID-19 related government policies including the lockdown and social distancing-related adjustments in the physical settings. The outcome was that the teaching of medical students did not stop, and optimal results were achieved. The article considers the roles of educational technology and innovations as well as the media and how these were used to achieve learning objectives with optimal outcomes during the lockdown. It is believed that this experiential piece would inspire and inform other medical schools on the benefit of building robustly dynamic medical school systems as well as the use of innovations in times of challenges. The article also considers both the limitations and benefits of technology in teaching anatomy. Very importantly, specific tools, innovations, and technologies were considered as used, and the information provided might be a guide for other potential users. Ultimately, the lesson learned would be of use to us and we believe we could also benefit many others.

Gender Inequality and Well-Being: Concepts and Their Measures Are Cultural Products—A Reflection on Li et al. (2021)

This Further Reflections piece was invited by the Editors of the journal to provide additional consideration of some of the significant issues under study in “Culture Moderates the Relation Between Gender Inequality and Well-Being” (Li et al., 2021) available online at https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620972492 and on pages 823 to 835 of this issue. Further Reflections are not commentaries on a particular article, though they are inspired by one. Rather, they provide broader perspectives on issues considered in Research Articles, beyond those that authors are able to provide in the Introduction and Discussion sections of their articles. The Editors’ objective with Further Reflections is that they will raise the level of conversation around psychological issues of societal importance. Further Reflections are by invitation only.

The Continual Relevance of The Men and the Boys, Twenty Years On

Following the launch of our first special issue in December 2020 (Cann et al. 2020) we are delighted to publish this second, linked issue. As evidence of the impact and dominance of Raewyn Connell’s ideas and their influence on the field, we received so many high-quality abstracts in response to our call for papers that we decided to create two collections. This second special issue of Boyhood Studies, An Interdisciplinary Journal, celebrates the twentieth anniversary of Raewyn Connell’s landmark text, The Men and the Boys (2000), and hosts a wide range of international and interdisciplinary authors to highlight the continued global relevance of the book and Connell’s work more widely. This issue continues this work by showcasing an impressive array of empirical research studies and reflection pieces by emerging and leading scholars that are guided by the original themes in The Men and the Boys.

Reflections on a wounded and bleeding temenos.

COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, and financial and political turmoil have uprooted our sense of personal and collective safety and predictability. Analysts are faced with professional and personal challenges, as well as a charge to help make sense of this new normal. This reflective piece focuses on the author's thoughts on a wounded and bleeding temenos. She grapples with the new reality of analysis carried out via technology (e.g. Zoom or telehealth). The article interweaves personal experiences with theoretical and professional reflections on two Jewish myths that relate to creating temenos or sacred space in the face of ancient disasters. Specifically, she discusses Choni HaMagel, a first-century BCE Jewish scholar and miracle-maker who prays for relief from a drought from inside a sacred circle. She also tells the tale of four Chassidic Rebbes who face crisis from a sacred space in the forest. The author frames this piece with two personal and numinous dreams dreamt during the pandemic; one offering scenes of destruction and one offering hope for a future transformation.

Struggling to help others: A reflection on the impact of Covid-19 on newly graduated psychologists

The focus on mental health has increased since the pandemic began. The idea of self-care has been placed on top of any and every hierarchical structure, encouraging people to embrace certain factors of stability. This article is a reflective piece exploring the struggle of a graduate psychologist in finding job opportunities to provide support to others, and how an education in psychology can contribute to the practice of self-care. It further reflects on feelings of self-doubt and the sense of putting theory into practice by showing gratitude to one’s surroundings.

Reflections on a person's experience of mental illness: an innovative teaching pilot for second-year medical students

AimsWe sought to develop a teaching pilot to help year 2 medical students meet the following learning outcomes: Develop a better understanding of patient and carer experiences of mental illness; Recognise and challenge unhelpful attitudes towards people with mental illness; Promote a broader understanding of cultural issues surrounding mental illness, including stigma and discrimination.Method337 medical students were invited to attend a lecture by author LQ, a documentary photographer who presented a narrative of his brother Justin's lived experience of schizophrenia (louisquail.com/big-brother-introduction). 197 students attended the session, which was recorded and made available online. Students were invited to enter a competition to win a signed copy of LQ's book, ‘Big Brother’ and asked to submit either a 500-word written reflective piece, or a creative work accompanied by a 200-word statement. 13 submissions were received, including paintings, drawings, collage, photography, and poetry, all of which were blind rated by authors SR and GB, based on originality and quality of reflection. Of the six shortlisted, three winning entries were chosen by author LQ.ResultAll reflections moved away from a technical understanding of schizophrenia, towards person-centred interpretations, with dominant themes of ‘stigma’, ‘disempowerment’, ‘understanding people as individuals’, ‘subjective experience of mental illness’, ‘inclusion’ and ‘healing power of nature’.The three prize winners (authors GY, AK and KT) used different mediums: GY painted an osprey over a chaotic collage of disordered and stigmatizing words (the osprey representing empowerment and the “reservoir for wellbeing in nature”); AK's sonnet began as an ode to the chaos of Justin's experience, but the concluding lines reframed this struggle, conveying feelings of hope and beauty; and KT's self-portrait, produced with a slow shutter-speed photograph, powerfully conveyed a sense of disorientation and disturbance. She reflected on how the stigma of mental illness affects self-perception. The talk was well-attended, and reflections were of high quality. A limitation of this pilot was that only a small proportion of students completed the reflective assignment.ConclusionInnovative teaching strategies are needed to address negative attitudes towards mental illness and psychiatry, which are prevalent amongst the medical profession. This pilot provides a model for combining carer-led, reflective, and creative elements in undergraduate psychiatry teaching, with the aim of challenging stigma. This model will be evaluated in a further study involving fifth year medical students, which will use a validated scale to measure change in students’ attitudes towards mental illness and psychiatry.

Looking to the old to understand the new – insights on how innovation ecosystems can leverage off innovation systems

ABSTRACT Pegging similar research constructs against each other is the usual norm where different streams of thought aim to seek validation and claim space in scholarship. Nevertheless, with the rapid rate of innovation and interaction globally, developing a construct solely on its own merit sometimes can be futile though enlightening. This is the dilemma I was faced with whilst undertaking my doctoral study which was aimed at understanding various facets of Innovation Ecosystems. Leveraging off Christopher Freeman’s supposition of learning from the old to inform the new helped my thought processes. Firstly, I looked to Innovation Systems research to assist in understanding functional activities that occur in Innovation Ecosystems. Secondly, I applied the same perspective when it comes to selecting cases that I analysed in the study. The overall aim of this reflective piece is to exemplify how one construct can always learn from another to morph from just being theoretical to being practical.