The intention of this essay is to demonstrate an understanding of reflective practice using academic theories of reflection, to be able to enhance my reflection regarding a group interview, which involved three of us gaining an understanding of a service users experience with social workers and an individual interview with a service user surrounding them telling their story. I will also demonstrate how the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) domains, the HCPC Standards of Proficiency (SOP), and HCPC Guidance on Conduct and Ethics for Students guided this interview process. This will then allow me to establish the ways in which what I have learned can be used within a future practice. I will be incorporating Kolb’s Experiential Learning …show more content…
Good communication as a social worker requires the professional to be both sensitive and understanding of their situation to allow a rapport to be built with the individual (Trevithick, 2000).
Regarding stage 3 of Kolb's cycle, the formation of abstract concepts and generalisations. I gathered that If someone is visually-impaired then it’s important to adapt your communication and ensure they have been understood. Within my individual interview, the service user was visually impaired. Therefore, I used verbal communication, such as paraphrasing throughout the interview so that the service user could feel that I was making a significant effort to engage and understand where they were coming from and it shows that I was receiving his story firmly and didn’t want there to be any misunderstandings since he couldn’t see my body language. Cournoyer (2011) acknowledged that verbal and non-verbal communication indicators are significant aspects to encourage the service user to express themselves. Which in turn allows the service user to feel you understand their situation, and encourages them to place trust in the social
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I found that 'self-awareness and critical reflection are necessary' (Robert-Lena-Malcolm 2002) if I am to be conscious of my impact on others so that my 'responses arise from the client's or user's situation rather than my past or needs' (Biestek, 1957). Therefore, to make improvements in this area I would need to set out time during the day to reflect and process my practice, to be able to have that clear understanding of my strengths and
For the purpose of this assignment I will consider how I have already started to develop as a ‘Critical Practitioner’. By this statement I would put forward how I am being ‘open minded’, use a ‘reflective approach’ that takes account of ‘different perspectives, experiences and assumptions’ (Glaister cited in the reader pg 8). I will discuss how my practice has developed and has been influenced by K315 course materials such as Barnett’s three domains of critical practice, action, reflexivity and analysis (Barnett cited in Glaister in the Reader p. 13) as key aspects of understanding the complexities involved in practicing critically. I will also discuss the importance of Glaister’s three pillars of everyday practice, ‘Forging of relationships’, ‘empowering others’ and ‘making a difference’. (Glaister cited in the reader pp. 17-21). I will analyse and evaluate my progress using examples from my practice learning opportunity in a Criminal Justice setting which will illustrate ways in which I have begun to demonstrate the autonomy required of a qualified worker, ‘respecting others as equal’s and the ‘open and not knowing approach’ (Glaister cited in the reader pp 12-14) whilst working to SiSWE standards. I will conclude by demonstrating why as a Critical Practitioner and reflective thinker I have been able to make informed judgements that seek to empower the service user, allowing them to take account of their views whilst balancing the complexity of professional power issues.
This essay will explore the authors meaning of reflection, how various reflective styles can benefit the practitioners within their settings, and how important reflection is within Early Years Practice. According to Appleby (2010, p.10), reflection is a generic term which describes various behaviours involving feelings, and thinking about thoughts and experiences, in order to examine issues and develop, new understandings and insights. Reflection within practice allows the practitioner to develop a sense of awareness around their daily activities, and helps them to evaluate how they could evolve these activities further, if the given opportunity was to arise again. Similarly, keeping a reflective journal
Reflection is a significant component of pre-registration education (Davis et al.2000). Hillard (2006) claims that for practitioners to learn from an experience they need to go beyond description and should reflect on their experiences in practice as this could potentially uncover any underlying influences, motivations and knowledge. Reflecting on an experience could then be identified as a process to bridging the gap between theory and practice (Bulman & Schutz, 2004).
Learning by critical reflection creates new understandings by making conscious the social, political, professional, economic, and ethical assumptions constraining or supporting one’s action in a specific context (Ecclestone 1996; Mackintosh 1998). Critical reflection’s appeal as an adult learning strategy lies in the claim of intellectual growth and improvement in one’s ability to see the need for and effect personal and system change. Reflection can be a learning tool for directing and informing practice, choosing among alternatives in a practice setting, or transforming and reconstructing the social environment (Williamson 1997). Can critical reflection be taught in a classroom? Does the new knowledge created foster change? This Myths and Realities investigates the extent to which critical reflection can be taught to adult learners.
Schon (1983) identified “reflection on action” and “reflection in action”. In reflection on action, professionals consciously scrutinise their past practice to gain insight and improve future practice.
I believe nearly all my skills require further development, but the skills I feel require the most attention and development is control of myself and how I listen to my client. My own values and assumptions I feel are hampering my development of skills. Ways I can improve on this is by doing my own research into different or opposing values and assumptions and finding their positives and finding the negatives within my own, to help find a more balanced practice. The way I listen could greatly improve as it took Lucy pointing out how she wanted and/or needed support from me, for me to make the session more productive. As I need to listen equally to answers of inaction and answers of action. And focus more on listening to Lucy and not problem solving, as I said during our session “you’re safety and [those] around you are safe … are the ultimate goal of our session’s”. (Harms, 2007; Ivey & Ivey, 2007; Trevithick, 2005). The analysing and planning of further development of my skills has given me hope within my current short-comings, and my future
The verbal communication goal is to encourage the client to fully express the changes and wants of set outcomes established. Both verbal and non- communication can have an impact on the client once interaction is met. Non-verbal communication consists of body language, facial expressions, closeness, and eye contact (Schore, 2008). If a client senses the listener is uninterested or showing signs of discomfort due to their diagnosis or disability, it can cause one to be unengaged in the conversation. Verbal communication can also result in the same disengagement due to the social worker/ therapist tone of voice. Social workers are to be mindful and educated on the background of the client being served to be aware of the different approaches to take when engaging with the individual. The social work intern effective of non-verbal communication skills as the client continued to discuss her life before her recent hospitalization. The social work intern ensured to make steady eye contact, in which the client was receptive of. The social work intern also created a posture that created empathic body language, allowing the client to be more open during
For these past two meetings, we as a team perform conferences that practice us to the real-world setting. During these weeks, I have noticed weaknesses of myself and the other members of the team. Our experiences show how an incomplete knowledge of one’s profession and role in the team can affect the flow of the conferences and the decision as a group. Through these, it contributes to better understanding of our mistakes and gives a perception of how to improve our ways that will meet the standards for the real-world setting.
From the beginning, where we were unfamiliar with each other and became a team, my team and I had started to learn each other name and getting to know each other. Throughout each meeting, we slowly start to feel more comfortable and open minded with each other. Not only are we getting familiar with each other, each meeting that was held we progress of becoming an effective team member, we learn our strengths and weaknesses of everyone. During the meetings, we learn many concepts from the textbook, “Communicating in Small Groups: Principles and Practices” by Steven A. Beebe and John T. Masterson. We were able to learn different types of concept in the textbook and utilized it as a team to complete certain tasks. The three concepts that impacted my team and I are human
As a graduating senior, there are many stressful, but necessary preparation needed so we are ready for the next chapter of our lives. Whether I’m looking to find a job, going to graduate school, or take times off, these preparation and skills are still essential to have. Among all the enrichment activities, I have chosen “Informational Interview” and “The Job Search and Social Media”. My main focus currently is to find a job upon graduation; I want to acquire some work experience, and if necessary, graduate school will be an option down the road. Interview is perhaps the most important part of the job application process; it is an opportunity for the company to value you as a person and as a potential worker in person, and it is also an opportunity
In a team-oriented setting, everyone contributes to how well the group succeeds overall. You work with fellow members of the group to complete the work that needs to be done. Having the right people in the correct roles is an important factor in measuring the success of a team, where you are united with the other members to complete the main goals. Every group is made up of definite strengths and weaknesses. Our team's 3-5 major strengths necessary to work accordingly consist of Informer, Summarizer, Orienter, Piggy-Backer, and Encourager. One of our strengths as a team is that we get input from everyone involved. Every member of our team is a leader in some way. Part of being a good leader is knowing how important it is to receive the best ideas from each member of their team. We attend group meetings where we discuss any challenges, issues, and problems. At these meetings, we often exchange ideas or brainstorm new ones with each other and come up with the best and most creative team solutions as potential answers to those perceived problems.
In reflection on my learning experience in the group class, I have gained clarity on what sorts of competencies of facilitating group therapy, as well as in what areas social workers and students tend to feel most strong in my practice. Regarding my specific gains in competencies, I feel that I learned the most and was most likely to gain specific group facilitating competencies at the weekly class. Learning in group class is taught me the tools to use to work with groups therapy, communities and also with individuals through the process of changes. In this past three months I think a lot of opportunities have been created to shadowing with (beside and behind) and being a part of group members to learn. In addition, this class has taught me about the skills and how effectively help
Really, listening to my clients and hearing what they have to say, will help me in this area. Learning about self-understanding and self-control requires reflection on my thoughts and reasoning. Understanding myself will allow me to understand my client’s. Not maintaining self-control will interfere with the quality of service I can provide to my client. Self-understanding and self-awareness will also continue the utilization and maintenance of professionalism.
In order to gain some purpose while working in a group, I know it can be challenging task to do because every group member is required to agree and cooperate. I am privileged to become a part of a group and completed our task successfully. Our group consists of 5 members and we experienced the stages of group development along with which different roles being considered. Our group formed with the common interest of competing and representing ourselves as competent and knowledgeable. The storming phase involved a trial being held to determine the capabilities of each other and positions were found to be disputed due to which we voted on leader of team. In the norming stage, roles of every group member have been stated and identified with the
In our growing, diverse society it’s very important to have diverse communication skills. The reason for this is because it brings richness in our society. Effective communication helps us better understand a person or situation and enables us to resolve differences, build trust and respect, and create environments where creative ideas, problem solving, affection, and caring can flourish (Robinson, Lawrence, and Jeanne Segal). It helps our society flourish. Communication is the process of understanding information through the transmittal of words, actions, hidden messages, signals or thoughts. Communicating in a world of diversity may require more than just a transmittal of words. Communication sometimes require more than one process depending on who you are communicating to. Communicating in a world of diversity has many benefits. Communication is split into two parts which is listening and speaking. Speaking as well as listening goes hand in hand with each other. Speaking and listening is verbal and nonverbal. Listening is one of the most important aspects of effective communication (Robinson, Lawrence, and Jeanne Segal). It’s not always what is being said but rather what is being done. Non-verbal communication is a big part in communication also. Both the talker and listener are participating in non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication is depicting the body language, body movement, gestures, postures, eye contact, or either one of the five senses. Developing the ability to understand and use nonverbal communication can help you connect with others, express what you really mean, navigate challenging situations, and build better relationships at home and work (Robinson, Lawrence, an...