A. Sicora

1. "Ethical approach in social and health care leadership and management II" Symposium5-6.10.2012 Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Hyvinkää Ethical and reflective methods at work Alessandro Sicora Alessandro.sicora@unica.it from A. Sicora 1

2. Summary Efficiency vs. effectiveness. A questionofethic? Reflection and reflectivepractice reflection Vs. managerialism Reflection on mistakes and failures Strategiesforreflectivepractitioners and leaders

3. Introducion Efficiency vs. effectiveness. A question of ethic?

4. The myth of efficiency... Even if we do more things in the shortest possible time and with the least possible amount of resources, are we sure we always do the right things? Does this way of doing generate more positive effects on the users who need help?

5. ...back to attention to effectiveness and reflection on the ultimate objectives. What are the most significant goals? Which way to go? Reflective practitioners and reflective leaders are constantly looking for new answers.

6. The final and most significat goal in social and health care has always to be the client/user, that is the person Ethics is the Polar Star, technics are the map, the compass… all the instruments to reach our goal.

7. Reflection and reflective practice A skilled practitioner – theoretical background Reflection and reflective practice are widely considered the basis for a skilled practitioner. The debate on this issue has been enriched by ideas from authors like Dewey, Freire, Polanyi, Schön, Argyris, Archer and many others. From different perspectives (philosophical, psychological, educational, sociological) they have given the theoretical background to understand how we can learn while doing.

8. reflective practice  ERA cycle • Experience • what happens to the people • Reflection • processes enabling people to learn from these experiences • Action • undertaken because of the new gained perspective

9. Reflection and reflective practice Theory vs. practice? The reflective practitioner (Schön): • knowing-in action • reflection-in-action • reflection-on-action Jan Vermer, The geographer (1668-69)

10. A dilemma for the helping professions: Navigate through maps (theories) or seas (really)?

11. To navigate through the “seas” of human reality • knowledge • experience • intuition Processes of reflexivity connect these 3 components

12. Nature of knowledge needed by practitioner in social and health care • Practice orientated • Synthesis for action • Narrative (es. Little Red Cup) • Stricteness but without perfect accuracy (It: “rigore senza esattezza”)

13. Bring out our tacit knowledge • Our knowledge is largely tacit (Polanyi) and we are unaware of it until "something" or "someone " different than usual, "foreign" forces us to reflect on and "see "what we took for granted.

14. reflection Vs. managerialism wide spread of procedural guidelines, forms and reference grids, which have produced mechanisms for standardized evaluations of situations and responses that are hardly compatible with the variety and diversity of situations in which people live activist frenzy (working without thinking) “we are often efficient but not effective” (Maria, s.w.)

15. Reflection on mistakes and failures How can we turn from reflexivity as an abstraction to a reflective practice in health and social services? Reflection on mistakes and failures is a promising field in which to develop strategies for the reinforcement of professional skills in social workers and other professionals working with them.

16. A mistake is… … an action, sentence, belief that unintentionally brings us away (a deviation) from what is correct, right, true 16 A. Sicora

17. Who decide/evalutate what is right or wrong? We, but also… Client/user community Agency (where we work) 17 A. Sicora

18. User • is he/she competent? • is he/she the one who is suffering the damage? • For example,. sugery, removal of a child from a family at risk… • Agency/Organization • procedures (risk of hardeing, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”) • colleagues (criticism) • Community/territory • Professional (Code of conduct) and scientific (knowledge ↔ expertise ↔ action) • Public opinion • State  laws A. Sicora 18

19. No! • The metaphor of Columbus discovering America “by mistake” while looking for a new route to India can help develop a better comprehension of the potentialities of this kind of reflection and help social workers find new ways to face the complex problems of their clients.

20. Learning from our mistakes - Strategies for a reflective practitioners and leaders Reflective frameworks Reflective writing Use of criticism

21. Questions, questions, questions… (reflexive frameworks)To give answers are all capable, but to ask the real questions take a genius (O. Wilde)

23. Reflective writing

24. analitic strategies Journal, on-going record, SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), Use of reflective frameworks (i.e. Johns (2000), Gibbs (1988), Borton (1970), three-a-day (eg, "three things I have learned from this day ..." or, "three recommendations for the future that I learned from this experience are ...."..... creative strategies Write a letter or an e-mail (without sending it), Write to someone, (i.e. to your mother or a close friend), Write as if you were another person, Writing as if you were a journalist, Telling a story, possibly a fictional story, Poems, Write an article in a particular style, Construct mental/conceptual maps...

25. “Criticism” as learning opportunity

26. Types of criticism • relevant criticism • unjustified criticism • vague criticism • useful to correct mistakes • questions: • do many people criticise me? • does it come from competent people? • are known and reasonable the standards of evaluation? • critics is objective? A. Sicora • to be turned into something more concrete 26

27. Assertive stategies to deal with criticism surprise the other person admit the truth ask for feedback

28. Conclusion: the end? Reflection, and above all reflection on our mistakes, is not only technically possible but is also ethically desirable because it improves the quality of services provided by we social workers. Activity is fed by a permanent tension to achieve something impossible. That is the total elimination of any mistakes or the attempt to reach the unreachable horizon. It is a journey that may not lead to any goal, but the ultimate destination of which is undoubtedly our personal and professional development, the achievement of sharper eyes to look at reality in a more pervasive way and of more capable hands to shape more effective interventions.