Saturday, June 6, 2009

Reflective Practice research design

I have been plodding along with my PhD and thinking about reflective practice and trying to work out how to design my research. I am getting towards the stage where I need to make some decisions and make a start if I am ever going to finish.

I had an idea about setting up a couple of different reflective practice groups, including a blogging group to test out some different reflection methods and techniques and explore people's experiences, but it all sounds too restrictive. How will I know which are the best or the right methods to select? What happens when people leave or join the group? I don't want to impose my ideas about reflective practice on other people - I think it is the kind of thing that you have to work out for yourself and personal preferences are very important.

So I was thinking that maybe I should do simple old qualitative research, where I talk with people about their experiences of reflective practice, how they learned about it, when they began to value reflective practice and how do they do it. I think it would be fascinating reading. This way, I could invite people to be involved and perhaps target some of the influential writers about reflective practice. There is also a place for me to explore the idea about blogging for reflective practice and find out about bloggers' experiences.

I have been reading Dave's blog - he has been writing about using a blog for reflective practice, and his ideas fit in really well with mine. I'm off to the 15th International Reflective Practice Conference: Comhrá at the end of the month and I am presenting my research ideas about reflective practice and blogging. I'm interested in your thoughts and ideas - do you think we can use a blog for reflective practice? Do you think my research proposal will work?

4 comments:

Sarah Stewart said...

Yes, definitely use a blog for reflective practice - you know my views on this. I think the major issue to sort is one of confidentiality.

Helen said...

Hi Sarah
Thanks for the feedback. I agree that confidentiality is a major issue to work out and I am still struggling with this one myself.

thanks

Helen

Sylvina Tate said...

Hi Helen

I have just come across your blog and wanted to let you know that I will be at the Conference in Limerick so perhaps we can catch up. I have been teaching using reflective practice for years but am currently tring to set up a blog to support healthcare professionals using reflective practice. It is in its very early stages and a bit on hold at the moment as it is a busy time at work. Have a look and give me your thoughts www.your-professional-journey.com. Perhaps I could help you with your research.

Lets catch up

Sylvina

Kaya said...

Dear Helen

You may find reading "Heuristic Research: Design, Methodology and Applications" by Clark Moustakas helpful. I find his writing very powerful.

cheers
Kaya