Title: Critical Reflection: Practice and Research
Assessment Task 1: Presentation of critical incident (and initial critical reflection discussion)
Goal: To identify a critical incident from your practice that you will subsequently critically reflect on
Format: This learning/assessment task requires you to identify a critical incident from your practice (either from your first placement, or from other relevant work experience) that you will present to your tutorial group. This practice example will need to be significant
to you, given that it will form the major basis of your learning. Some of the reasons for the significance of this practice/ incident may include: that you would like to learn more about it; you felt challenged by it; you would like to improve your practice in this area; it presented some dilemmas for you; you would like to change in some way; and/or you thought you did it particularly well.
The presentation should include a description and analysis of an aspect of your practice/incident upon which you would like some group feedback. Some questions that may help with your initial reflections include: Why did I choose this incident? How do I feel about it now? What do I hope to learn by reflecting on it? What aspects will I focus on in the second assignment? How will this link to the relevant course materials and theoretical perspectives?
The description of this practice/incident should be as concrete and specific as possible, and explain why the practice/incident was chosen, what you hope to learn from working on it, and ultimately identify further areas of learning that you will explore in your essay. You should use the Guidelines for Critical Reflection as exemplified by Fook (2012) in your set text. A focus of the presentation should be to elicit feedback and reflection from group members. You should think of imaginative ways in which to present your material, particularly methods that involve the class and encourage them to help you critically reflect. Remember also that the class will be like a type of peer supervision group for you, so you should choose methods and processes that maximise the type of feedback you would like and need to assist with learning/Assessment Task.
In addition to your presentation you will be asked to submit your preparation notes and/or overheads to your tutor at the time of your presentation, including relevant background/context information and succinct critical incident description. More specific requirements for this will be discussed further in the first tutorial.
Criteria - The presentation of critical incident (and an initial critical reflection discussion will be assessed according to your ability to:
- identify an area of learning within the description of your practice that you will subsequently critically analyse in depth;
- prepare a 1 page hand out for the class documenting relevant background/context information and succinct critical incident description;
- demonstrate an openness and capacity for critical reflection through a willingness to expose your practice to scrutiny and interrogate implicit assumptions and values embedded within it, in a group setting;
- critically analyse the values and ideological underpinnings of dominant discourses;
- demonstrate an understanding of the inextricable relationship between theory and practice in relation to the presentation of your piece of practice/incident;
- participate in a critical and reflective discussion process to devise a process for on-going learning from your own professional practice experiences;
- identify further areas of learning associated with the pieces of practice/specific incident that you have particularly chosen to focus on;
- facilitate a critically reflective environment and learn from the reflective discussion your presentation will generate;
- demonstrate a critical awareness of the ethical dimensions of critically reflective practice;
- demonstrate effective public speaking skills required for professional social work practice/education;
- communicate clearly and present relevant information in creative and imaginative ways;
- engage the class and enlist class participation to maximise the class feedback on your practiceinitial reflections, including why the practice/incident was chosen, and what you hope to learn from working on it;
- show a critical awareness of the ethical dimensions of critically reflective practice.
Assessment Task 2: Major reflective analysis essay
Goal: To critically reflect on a piece of practice and develop a critical practice framework.
Format: This essay should be an in-depth analysis of the whole piece of practice/incident and the relevant context, your experience of this, the learning gained from the analysis, the subsequent practices attempted/proposed future practices, and the learning from this. The analysis should be linked with relevant critical theories covered in the course (ie feminism, postmodernism/poststructuralist and/or critical postmodernism), and should include identification of particular assumptions and values, critical reflection on these, deconstruction and reconstruction of your practice along critical lines, and end with a description of the critical skill/ practice framework which you believe you have developed over the duration of this course (ie what you have learned from the combination of the course materials and the critical reflection on your incident). That is, how is your thinking different from your practice now that you have critically reflected on your piece of practice/incident, having deconstructed and reconstructed your initial account of the practice/incident? What have you learned in this process? What are the implications for your practice? How might you use this process as a tool for on-going development of your practice framework? Therefore, this assessment requires you to intentionally articulate your practice framework.
Criteria This major reflective analysis essay will be assessed according to your ability to demonstrate:
- advanced application of the skills of critical reflection to your practice;
- the development of your own professional framework through critically analysing your practice experience and inductively generating theory from the process of reflection-on-action;
- a comprehensive engagement with the materials from the entire course (ie weeks 1- 13) and therefore a sound understanding of the deconstruction and reconstruction processes of critical reflection and its associated critical postmodern theoretical underpinnings;
- critical analysis of the values and ideological underpinnings of dominant discourses;
- a sophisticated understanding of the inextricable relationship between theory and practice;
- a solid understanding of the ethical dimensions of critically reflective practice;
- a logically structured, well researched, coherently argued essay that is appropriately supported by relevant published literature;
- clarity and expression: clear quality of expression including correct grammar, punctuation and spelling;
- referencing; evidence or reading referenced and documented through correct use of citations, quotations and reference list.
Assessment Task 3: Tutorial participation
Goal: To participate in creating a critically reflective culture through collaboration with others.
Format: Your tutorials are an opportunity for dynamic discussion and reflection upon the issue raised in the readings, and the issues raised by students' presentations. In this course, you will be expected to demonstrate active and informed participation, which requires
much more than simple attendance.
Criteria - This assessment will be graded according to the following criteria:
- active and informed engagement in class discussion;
- active participation in critical reflection presentations;
- evidence of engagement with and comprehensive understanding of the readings;
- capacity to share your learning from the readings with other members of the tutorial.