Critical Reflection - Module 2

Critical Reflection on Professional Practitioner inquiry

 

When commencing this module I understood that I would be developing several lines of inquiries, to stem into one line of inquiry for my end plan. I made a considered attempt in selecting the questions that I wanted to ask. As I am a practitioner in a school, I really wanted it to be about the professional practise that I am conducting at this present time. I came up with these questions (Appendix A). The one that caught my eye was ‘Do we have a Role Model as adults?’ as I thought I could connect this with the students. Alan, my advisor, created a blog about Lines of inquiry and this inquiry question was on it, saying how it needs indentifying and where do my insights lie? (Appendix B). My first thought when I reflected on this was, how could I change this and make it more appropriate and systematic. I reflected for a couple of days about what was happening, specifically in and around my school and after a long conversation with my SIG group at school, I discussed boys achievement within the Performing Arts. From there I worked on this topic. My SIG group have really helped by commenting on questions I have put to them and bouncing ideas to one another. It was really helpful, as they did not always agree on the points raised, so I got more interesting responses to comment on.

When I started to look at Professional Ethics, I started to see this would be a weakness for me. I was struggling to come to terms with some of the terminology. When reflecting on this, my professional ethics within the work place are in fact at a very high standard. When researching and developing my lines of Inquiry I realised that I am going to need the input from students. This is where I would need to make Ethical considerations. I have learnt by reflecting on my blog, that all students must have a clear option in taking place in the research and if they don’t want to, that I cannot force them. A quote from Reader 5 which I have used I plan:

‘The concerns about treating those people whom you gather data needs to be thought through and explained with great clarity in your plan.’

The reason for this is that every person involved in your inquiry has a choice to be there or not. You as the researcher cannot make that choice for that person. I have learnt by reflecting on my blog that all students/teachers must have a clear option in taking place in the research and if they don’t want to I cannot force them to do this. This is how I treated my colleagues in the mock trial I conducted. The ethical problem I faced when in my SIG group was that I had a variety of characters, some quiet, experienced, loud and older. I had to consider this before we did the group discussion. Even though I asked the questions to the group I made sure that everyone had the opportunity to speak. I also made them aware that they didn’t have to take or answer any questions they didn’t feel comfortable with. I videoed them but made sure they were all okay with this first. I sent a copy of all the questions to my colleagues before the meeting, so they had chance to prepare. I did this as they are all working professionals and I didn’t want to impose on any of their time.

When I started on planning for the inquiry I was quite worried and unsure on how to approach some of the tasks. I decided to pilot the methods and tools that would help with an inquiry research. I decided to trial all four methods. All of the methods have their pros and cons but I selected

·         Observations

·         A focus group

·         Questionnaire.

When researching these methods, I decided that they suit my line of inquiry and that I can adapt them to help me get the best result and research. My pilot observation came out with some fascinating facts that we have already utilised in the Performing Arts lessons. (Appendix C)

 

When reflecting back on this whole Module, I have learnt that I have some real strong qualities in my teaching, which I can connect to my BAPP degree such as I have strong time management, as I have timed all my tasks correctly. I am able to use ethical considerations within the work place at all times, with fair judgements being made. I have created a strong Line of inquiry, as I am focused and working professionally with outstanding practitioners. My weaknesses are focusing on gathering correct literature for my inquiry and needing to use Google to search for the correct words that could make all the difference. When reflecting back on this inquiry I have managed to provide a plan with a thoughtful line of inquiry.