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Assessed Reflective Writing: formulaic language and technologies of the self Paul Wickens Westminster Institute of Education Oxford Brookes University. Overview. reflective writing + context of UK HE

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  1. Assessed Reflective Writing: formulaic language and technologies of the selfPaul WickensWestminster Institute of Education Oxford Brookes University

  2. Overview • reflective writing + context of UK HE • quantitative analysis of formulaic language of reflective writing in the BAWE corpus : the discourse of small phrases. • RW in comparison to essays • RW: reflective practice and attendant discourses.

  3. Reflective writing • Writing to support a process of personal growth and learning • Writing characterised by self reflection and evaluation Schon (1987) The reflective practitioner Kolb (1984) – Learning cycles Dewey (1933)

  4. Elements of reflective practice • Cognitive skills - critical thinking, analysis, communication • Professional competence – specific skills • Personal attributes – beliefs, feelings and thoughts Hargreaves (2004). • Competencies – generic skills, Soft skills, professional/ discipline based competencies • Feelings – beliefs, thoughts, feelings • Process – reflect on experience, realising achievements and lacks, resolution and plan to improve,

  5. The rise of assessed reflective writing in the academy • Well established in professionally based / oriented disciplines (Health, Education, Business) • Increasingly important as an assessed genre in UK universities across a range of disciplines • Professional bodies: evidencing competencies (e.g. Nursing) • QAA – PDP – Sts to ‘reflect upon their own learning, performance, achievement’ ‘career related skills and capabilities can be recorded and (…) assessed.’ QAA HE 2009 Links to subject benchmarking. Enterprise in HE – transferable skills – link to PDP (Edwards 2005) • Pedagogic shifts: learner centred focus - Higher Education Academy

  6. Reflective writing in the BAWE project Some examples • Personal appraisal, career prospects (Hospitality Management) • Learning task reflective commentaries: onLiterature review (Health Studies, Anthropology), Database search (Chemistry) Library Exercise (Anthropology) • Self-reflection tasks following Problem questions(Computer Science) • Final sections of a multi-part tasks (Manufacturing, Medicine) • Reflective diaries reflecting on patient care (Occupational Therapy), overseas visits (Engineering) • annexes critiquing the authors’ own approaches (Business) • self-evaluations (Business) • feedback sections (Computer Science)

  7. BAWE Sub Corpus Reflective Writing • 65 texts 120,638 tokens • 16 disciplines • all 4 disciplinary areas Physical Sci. / Life Sci. / Social Sci. / Arts + Humanities Essay Sub corpus • 999 texts 2,740,000 tokens • all 4 disciplinary areas

  8. Word Lists – Key Words (Stubbs and Barth 2003) (I – Reflection [6], Essay [60]), Individual texts Notions of aboutness – lexical words • N-grams, P-frames (KfNgram 2007) • Biber and Barbieri 2007 ‘ interpretative frames for developing discourse’ (see also Hunston 2008) • Identify key recurrent lexical bundles for further study • Word Smith Tools • Concordance of identified items • Identify functional themes relating to reflective practice

  9. Reflection N-grams N-gram 3 in order to 88 be able to 60 one of the 52 was able to 45 of the group 44 i feel that 38 as well as 35 the importance of 33 to be able 33 would have been 32 25= 200 per million words N-gram 4 to be able to 33 i was able to 27 health and social care 23 the rest of the 22 on the other hand 18 at the same time 15 it is important to 13 13= 100 per million words i will try to 12 in the case of 12 we were able to 11 Range requirement: Minimum 4 texts, separate authors Biber and Barbieri 2007

  10. Reflection - N-gram 4 to be able to 33 i was able to 27 health and social care 23 the rest of the 22 on the other hand 18 at the same time 15 it is important to 13 13 = 100 per million words i will try to 12 in the case of 12 we were able to 11 i would like to 10 members of the group 10 at the end of 9 i feel that this 9 Tokens 120, 638

  11. Method: Biber and Barbieri (2007) Threshold: 4 N-gram , 40 per million words Range: min 4 texts, separate authors(essay 5 texts) Academic Prose: 20/million Academic Speech: 40-90/ million • Stance I was able to, I feel that this • Discourse Organisers as well as the, as a result of • Referential At the end of the, members of the group

  12. Phrase frame – 4 token Reflection: 96 = 800 per million words Essay: 5500 = 2000 per million words

  13. the * of the Reflect • the rest of theteam did not need to know how 0263i.txt • what the rest of thegroup feel 3064g.txt • affected the dynamics of thegroup. 3138a.txt • I feel the majority of thegroup was too 3059a.txt • to the detriment of the team. 0348c.txt (20 of 86 hits relate to team/ group) • considered the structure of the essay 3092d.txt • the aims of the following reflection are, first, 0116c.txt Essay • the effectiveness of the theories 0269d.txt • the context of the Enlightenment 0314d.txt • the end of the civil war, 0310e.txt • the inferiority of the imagination 0390a.txt • the implementation of the structural adjustment 0281d.txt

  14. Competencies, requirements and feelings WST concord: ‘ABLE TO’(173 hits, 2.27 per 1000 words) • Most common Cluster ‘to be able to’ (32) It is ADJ + to be able to + V + NG - evaluating competencies • It is very useful to be able to critique others approaches 0165d • It is important to be able to use non-verbal communication effectively 3138a V (modal) + to be able to + V - required/ desired competencies • All nurses need to be able to work as part of a team 3092d HSC • I hope to be able to contribute to devising 3113a Architecture In order + to be able to +V - specifying purpose of competencies • need to be acquired in order to be able to successfully run a project. 3113a • client's needs and the office ethos in order to be able to negotiate the 3113a

  15. Key collocation: 1st person Prn + Able to Competencies performed (What happened - observe / describe) • This inevitably impacted on the form of data I was able to collect, Competencies achieved/ practiced / improved (evaluating process) • I have been able to identify the strengths in my working and my character • I was able to improve my note taking skills , • I was able to develop more as a person . Lacunas/ Omissions • Nevertheless, I was never able to convince myself • thus I do not feel able to fulfil the expectations of third year Competencies for the future • Most importantly, I hope that in future I will be able to creatively engage in professional • strategies used in managing aggression and hope to be able to use them in my future practice

  16. Models of Reflection and RW • Kolb’s Learning Cycle + other models • Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis (Gibbs 1988 cited in Hargreaves 2004) Narratives of Reflection: • Valedictory narratives: a crisis – the narrator recognises the problem, turns the situation round • Condemnatory narratives: a crisis – poor decisions - outcome is negative, narrator feels guilty and/or angry • Redemptive narratives: allow student to express inappropriate attitudes as long as they are redeemed. Hargreaves (2004)

  17. Framing criteria I need to be able to Observation / Realisation (narrative) I observed .. I was/ am aware I realised that Omission / Commission I wasn’t able to I would have I have to admit that We should have Achievement / progress (evaluate) I have been able to I was able to improve .. I have learnt that (In order to) Summary evaluation How I felt about it I believe that I feel I Resolve to I need to improve / be able to I hope to … Categorising N-grams with ‘I/we’ - moves (Absolution?: The marking process and feedback)

  18. Required competencies – clustering The ability and purpose of responding to others is essential for a health and social care professional. Health and social care professionals need to be able to interact and understand others, whether it is other colleagues, patients or relatives. Communication skills and social relationships are vital in enabling them to do this and being able to effectively respond to others leads to better care and working relations. Effective communication in health and social care settings requires professionals to be able to analyse their own and other people's non-verbal behaviour as well as verbal. Non-verbal communication is vital for health and social care professionals to be able to respond to others effectively. They need to be able to not only reflectively listen to others but also be able to take note of what their body language is saying. (3069b Health)

  19. Theory How do feel about it? Title of assignment Course and qualifying • To enable me to identify and critically analyse a personal characteristic I will be reflecting on myfeelings about starting my first third year placement. My work will be guided by Gibbs (1988 cited in: Palmer et al, 1994 p39) reflective cycle, with stage 1 focusing on the description, feelings, evaluation and analysis phases. I am acutely aware of the increased expectations of third year students and the impending expectations of qualifying and hope that by focusing on a personal characteristic I feel needs attention I will be able to develop both personally and professionally. I will begin with a reflective journal entry. Beginning my first third year placement I can honestly say that Ifelt more apprehensive and nervous than at any other time during my course; notablyI feltless self-confident. I feared that my mentor and others would think I should be doing more than I felt capable of. (3092 g Health Care)

  20. Co-occurrence • Clustering of meanings about Feelings. • Co-occurence of key elements identified in Ngrams: (…) and hope that by focusing on a personal characteristic I feelneeds attention I will be able to develop both personally and professionally. • Competencies (be able to) • Affect (I feel/felt) • Requirement (need to) • Process of reflection (above meanings expressed as Verbs + future expressed in hope, will, develop) • Identified as relating to both the Personal and the Professional with Personal framing the professional

  21. Contextual Framings and Student Metadiscourse • The student in above example explicitly mentions a range of Practices and Discourses that frame this piece of RW: • Title of set task to identify and critically analyse a personal characteristic (3092 g Health Care) • Relevant / acceptable ‘Models’ of RP: My work will be guided by Gibbs (1988 cited in: Palmer et al, 1994 p39) reflective cycle, with stage 1 focusing on the description, feelings, evaluation and analysis phases. (3092 g Health Care) • Requirements of Course and Professional body I am acutely aware of the increased expectations of third year students and the impending expectations of qualifying (3092 g Health Care)

  22. Discourses and practices contd: constraints and context of reflective practice • I also felt that this intervention illustrates the value of reflection and evidence based practice and was the first time that I had really been aware of reflecting in action (Schon 1987).Evidence of reflective practice is now one of the requirements of the UKCC for all pre-registration nurses; they also note that qualified practitioners should continue to demonstrate this as part of their ongoing portfolio (Kirby et al) (3032g.txt HSC) • Working environment changes have forced employers to need a range of different qualities thus making them increasingly demanding with graduates (Guirdham, 1995). The service industry’ growth, increasing ethnic minorities and globalisation are some of the changes society has undergone, convincing Guirdham (1995) that interpersonal skills overcome technical ones. New organisational cultures have emerged, focusing on people and projects, thus, interaction, teamwork, and communication are imperative. (3013g HLTM)

  23. RP criticisms: assessment and essentialism • Editorial in Nurse Education Today: Reflection is “(…) hailed as the new black in nurse education. Everyone has to reflect and, what’s more, they have to reflect properly! “ “I have discovered that student reflections can be ‘wrong’. It is possible to ‘fail’ someone’s reflective activity. Bizarrely, students failed accounts are often sent back to them to ‘redo’.” Burnard (2005) Tension: Reflection (morally open, autonomy) and Reflective Practice, (ethical code of profession and relevant standards). Hargreaves (2004) Assessment: clear codified criteria required for evidenced based practice: • Professional Practice • PDP – HE based (note link to employers-Edwards 2005) • Academy Based – theory/ models/ literature

  24. Reflection and Reflective practice: tensions • RP is framed within the power relations of assessment. • “illegitimate narratives” (Hargreaves 2004) “the possibility that the assessment process is being used to ‘police’ students’ beliefs is an uncomfortable one,” (ibid p199) • Texts show that students aware of the external constraints for their narratives. (there is a clear linking of competencies, feelings, requirements – able to, feel that, need to – with clear references to external criteria and requirements. Educational and professional) • Affective aspects (I feel I….) Reflection framed as a shift in power relations (interpersonal relationships, equality, honesty, trust) • Ecclectone and Hayes (2009) Therapeutic Education - ”the search for truth is replaced by a purely subjective valuing of experience” p101

  25. ‘technology of the self’ • Foucault identifies shift from technologies of domination (subjects dominated and objectified by others through discourse and practices) to technologies of the self where individuals create own identities through ethics and self constitution. (Best and Kellner 1991 p60) • RP - need for evidence based practice - assessment and explicit criteria leads to globalising and totalising tendencies and attendant unequal power relations (which criteria, who defines, for what purpose, who polices?) • Reflection – essentialist – reflecting a ‘reality’ that is rhetorically constructed and discursively situated “reflection naturalises the practices and competencies that are identified as relevant to the practice at hand.” Edwards et al (2004)

  26. They just make it up … • Reflective Writing as fiction • A form of resistance? • Hargreaves (2004) argues we should embrace fiction in RP and assess that.

  27. References • Burnard, P. (2005). Reflections on Reflection. Nurse Education Today, 25, 85-86. • Best, S., & Kellner, D. (1991). Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations. Basingstoke: Macmillan. • Biber, D., & Barbieri, F. (2007). Lexical Bundles in University Spoken and Written Registers. English for Specific Purposes, 26, 263-286. • Ecclestone, K., & Hayes, D. (2009). The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education. Abingdon: Routledge. • Edwards, R., Nicoll, K., Solomon, N., & Usher, R. (2004). Rhetoric and Educational Discourse. London: Routledge Falmer. • Edwards, G. (2005). Connecting Pdp to Employer Needs and the World of Work: The Higher Edcation Academy.(link) • Fletcher W, (2007) kfNgram http://www.kwicfinder.com/kfNgram/ • Hargreaves, J. (2004). So How Do You Feel About That? Assessing Reflective Practice. Nurse Education Today, 24, 196-201. • Hunston, S. (2008). Starting with Small Words. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 13(3), 271-295. • Römer, U. (2008). Identification Impossible? A Corpus Approach to Realisations of Evaluative Meaning in Academic Writing. Functions of Language, 15(1), 115-130. • Stubbs, M., & Barth, I. (2003). Using Recurrent Phrases as Text-Type Discriminators: A Quantitative Method and Some Finding. Functions of Language, 10(1), 61–104.

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