Unravelling the Mystery is a qualitative case study that examines the teacher researcher's reflection-in-action as she teaches using process drama. The teacher-researcher taught a class of Year Seven students for a school year. She worked with the students using process drama from 2-5 hours per week. All sessions were recorded and transcribed as part of the reflective practice research. They were then examined to study how the teacher might use reflection-in-action. The data is written as a series of vignettes. The vignettes are used to illustrate reflection-in-action and as a basis for discussion and analysis. In the thesis the data from five of these sessions is presented as vignettes-these vignettes illustrating the teacher's reflection-in-action process. The analysis focuses on the reflection-in-action for the teacher. The vignettes and accompanying analysis for the basis for an illustrative model of the scope of the teacher' reflection-in-action as she works using process drama. The study addresses the following questions: · How might reflective practice inform my teaching? · How can I as a researcher describe and document my reflection-in-action when working as a teacher in process drama? · What is the scope of my reflection-in-action when working as the teacher in process drama? · How might an increased understanding of reflection-in-action be useful to teachers of process drama? These questions are considered in light of the analysis and literature review. The study concludes that reflective practice is valuable to enable teachers to develop their practice. It recommends that this type of research is beneficial to both develop models of practice and to improve the practice of individual practitioners.

The dual problem space model of writing (Scardamalia, Bereiter and Steinbach, 1984) shows how writers develop their knowledge and understanding of the world by reflecting on problems of substance and problems of presentation in planning a composition. Reflective thought is attributed to a two-way communication between a content problem space and a rhetorical problem space. The content space involves the development of ideas, while the rhetorical space is concerned with achieving various purposes in composition. This thesis reports an instructional experiment comparing alternative approaches to teaching the self-regulatory strategies required for the two-way process of reflection. The experiment compared the dialogue approach of current practice, which relies on the teacher to provide the linking operations between the two problem spaces, with two experimental approaches which promote development of self-regulatory strategies of reflection, so that students are able to sustain such a two-way process independently. The experimental approaches are described as a guided discovery approach proposed by Evans (1991) and an approach described as cognitive apprenticeship developed by Scardamalia, Bereiter and Steinbach (1984). Three instructional programs were prepared by the author to represent the three alternative approaches examined in the present study. The control program utilised the dialogue approach of current practice in which the dialectical process is carried on between teacher and student. The two experimental programs focused on promoting processes of self-questioning rather than questioning by an external agent such as a teacher. The guided discovery program consisted of activities which prompted self-questioning processes. The cognitive apprenticeship program employed scaffolding in the form of procedural facilitation cues to stimulate the self-questioning process. A pre-test and post-test control group design was used involving three groups, two experimental (guided discovery and cognitive apprenticeship) and one control (dialogue), with instructional method as the independent variable and rated reflectiveness of writing as the dependent variable. Instruction was concentrated on teaching the two-way problem formulating and problem solving strategies of the reflective process for opinion essays and factual exposition essays. The experiment compared the effectiveness of programs by measuring changes in overall reflectiveness of writing. Significant improvements were obtained for the experimental teaching methods withrespect to opinion essays. This research provided some support for the hypothesis that instruction which fosters self-regulation of the planning process through processes of reflection results in more reflective writing than instruction in which such regulation is prompted by the teacher.

<p>The purpose of this paper is to investigate and to analyse didactic considerations and decisions made by pre-school teachers in the context of a multi-cultural pedagogical environment.</p><p>The basic theoretical perspective is social constructivism, but notions from Donald A. Schön and John Dewey's theories of thinking and reflection have also informed the study; even Hans Lorentz' definition of a multi-cultural pedagogical environment has been employed as an analytic tool.</p><p>The empirical study consists of a qualitative field study at a pre-school, where participatory observation and a group interview have been used in order to collect data. Those who participated were teachers at the pre-school.</p><p>The results of the study, when analysed in accordance with the method, shows mainly three things. First of all that the teachers at the pre-school, in their didactic considerations, make use of the following methods of knowledge formation: knowledge-in-practice, reflection-in-practice, reflection on practice, reflection on knowledge-in-practice, and reflection on reflection-in-practice. Secondly, that no reflection particularly on the learning conditions in a multi-cultural pedagogical environment takes place. Finally, that there is little time available for the teachers for reflection at all, either individually or collectively.</p><p>A conclusion I draw from the study is that, if the teachers at pre-schools should be able to reflect consciously about their work, and to transform not consciously reflected thinking about it into consciously reflected thinking, it is necessary for them to resort to explicit and focused conversations with one another. A further conclusion is that lack of time for reflection among teachers at pre-schools renders difficult a conscious discussion among them about the multi-cultural pedagogical aspect of their work context. This means that, unless they are given the time they need they are bound to end up in a kind of dilemma: In order to fulfil their special mission they need to reflect on it, but there is no time for them to do so.<strong></strong></p>

The importance of critical thinking as an outcome for students graduating from undergraduate nursing programs is well-documented by both the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) and the National League for Nursing (NLN). Graduating nurses are expected to apply critical thinking in all practice situations to improve patient health outcomes. Reflective writing is one strategy used to increase understanding and ability to reason and analyze. The lack of empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of reflective writing interventions on increasing critical thinking skills supports the need for examining reflective writing as a critical thinking strategy. The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a reflective writing intervention, based on Paul’s model of critical thinking, for improving critical thinking skills and dispositions in baccalaureate nursing students during an eight-week clinical rotation. The design for this pilot study was an experimental, pretest-posttest design. The sample was a randomly assigned convenience sample of 70 baccalaureate nursing students in their fourth semester of nursing school at two state-supported universities. All participants were enrolled in an adult-health nursing course and were completing clinical learning experiences in acute care facilities. Both groups completed two critical thinking instruments, the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and the California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory (CCTDI), and then the experimental group completed a reflective writing intervention consisting of six writing assignments. Both groups then completed the two tests again. Results showed a significant increase (p=0.03) on only the truthseeking subscale on the CCTDI for the experimental group when compared to the control group. Some other slight differences on subscale scores could be accounted for by the institution, age, ethnicity, and health care experience differences between the control and experimental groups. Strengths of this study included the innovative intervention and the convenient format of intervention administration, completion, and submission. Limitations of the study included institutional differences, the eight-week commitment, and the lack of control of some aspects of the study environment. Evaluation of the qualitative data, replication in a larger sample, inclusion of different levels of students, and alternative design of assignments are all areas for future research.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-228).

The present study focuses on the phenomenology of the violent encounter, and is to be understood as the study of the violent encounter as a phenomenon, i.e. as experienced. The overall aim is to elucidate, analyse and describe violent encounters within psychiatric care as experienced by carers and patients. Moreover, the study aims at promoting the development of a phenomenological research approach in caring science in general and elucidating tacit caring knowledge in particular. The thesis includes three empirical studies and one methodological study. The research is guided by a phenomenological and lifeworld theoretical approach. Research data consist of narratives and qualitative interviews, as well as reenactment interviews with carers and patients. Data are analysed for meaning. The analysis and synthesis of meaning are aimed at openness and meaning sensitivity through a reflective attitude characterised by the intent to bridle the process of understanding. The goal of the analysis is to describe the general structure of the phenomenon and its meaning constituents. The result shows that violence and threat do not evolve in “naked” caring, characterised by encounters where carers are able to touch their patients at the same time as being touched, speaking both literally and figuratively. It is through “naked” caring and caring touch that the carers are able to reach the patients and to give undisguised invitations to genuine presence. The possibilities of touch rely on the carers’ capacity to be authentic and to genuinely wish well. Violence is on the contrary nourished by touch without caring intention, or non-touch, i.e. caring where the reciprocity of touching and being touched is missing between patients and caregivers. In the discussion, the different meanings of the violent encounter are related to the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty and Lévinas. The philosophical dimensions of touch are investigated and it is discussed how the “naked” encounter can be understood from a phenomenological ethical standpoint. The discussion focuses on the caregivers’ vulnerability and the high demands they are subjected to. It is also argued that a foundation of caring science is needed in caring practice in order to make possible a development of a caring attitude that prevents violence.

Attention is an acknowledged component of the therapeutic relationship that is the heart of clinical work and the base of competence. The centrality of the therapeutic relationship itself has been recognized throughout the history of clinical work. The clinician’s work is based, in part, in attending to the client by actively and openly listening to the client with attention and engagement. However, attention has been lacking within mental health disciplines to what occurs within the process of clinical attention. As a result, little knowledge exists about the structure of clinical attention itself. This dissertation studied the structure of clinical attention to understand what occurs when clinicians attend to their clients in sessions. The thesis focused on the internal processes occurring within the clinician, not on actions or interventions taken in sessions. The literature review grounded the study theoretically in mind science and contemplative science, the study of reality grounded in both objective and subjective experience. The literature review also conceptualized attention in its sub processes of mindfulness, meditation, reflective practice and affect regulation, examining literature relevant to those constructs as well as to the history, philosophy and psychology of attention. The literature revealed a lack of knowledge of the structure and process of clinical attention. Using the extant literature, a new theoretical framework of attention was constructed. Attention was conceptualized as composed of levels of pre-reflective and reflective attention as related to the attention sub processes. A phenomenological methodology was used to study the structure of clinical attention in relation to holistic competence. Fourteen clinicians, all of whom met the criteria for attaining expertise in the use of attention in their clinical work, participated in an explicitation interview. Data analysis followed a modified phenomenological methodology in a series of steps as the data were grouped in invariant constituents, reduced to emergent themes and analyzed for a textural structural description from which a structural description was constructed. From the structural description was distilled the essence of clinical attention. Clinical attention was seen to consist of a dynamic and iterative process of intention and intuition. Intention and intuition were seen to be based in different attentional levels, both of which were recursively and iteratively related to attention’s construction as a process grounded in inner awareness providing the potential abilities to reflect on experience and regulate affective experience. The study concluded with a discussion of the relationship of the skill of clinical attention to a holistic competence based in levels of procedural capability focused on concrete behavioural action and meta competence focused on clinical judgment, self-awareness and self-reflection on the actions taken. The implications of the study’s findings for training clinicians in attention were discussed.

Attention is an acknowledged component of the therapeutic relationship that is the heart of clinical work and the base of competence. The centrality of the therapeutic relationship itself has been recognized throughout the history of clinical work. The clinician’s work is based, in part, in attending to the client by actively and openly listening to the client with attention and engagement. However, attention has been lacking within mental health disciplines to what occurs within the process of clinical attention. As a result, little knowledge exists about the structure of clinical attention itself. This dissertation studied the structure of clinical attention to understand what occurs when clinicians attend to their clients in sessions. The thesis focused on the internal processes occurring within the clinician, not on actions or interventions taken in sessions. The literature review grounded the study theoretically in mind science and contemplative science, the study of reality grounded in both objective and subjective experience. The literature review also conceptualized attention in its sub processes of mindfulness, meditation, reflective practice and affect regulation, examining literature relevant to those constructs as well as to the history, philosophy and psychology of attention. The literature revealed a lack of knowledge of the structure and process of clinical attention. Using the extant literature, a new theoretical framework of attention was constructed. Attention was conceptualized as composed of levels of pre-reflective and reflective attention as related to the attention sub processes. A phenomenological methodology was used to study the structure of clinical attention in relation to holistic competence. Fourteen clinicians, all of whom met the criteria for attaining expertise in the use of attention in their clinical work, participated in an explicitation interview. Data analysis followed a modified phenomenological methodology in a series of steps as the data were grouped in invariant constituents, reduced to emergent themes and analyzed for a textural structural description from which a structural description was constructed. From the structural description was distilled the essence of clinical attention. Clinical attention was seen to consist of a dynamic and iterative process of intention and intuition. Intention and intuition were seen to be based in different attentional levels, both of which were recursively and iteratively related to attention’s construction as a process grounded in inner awareness providing the potential abilities to reflect on experience and regulate affective experience. The study concluded with a discussion of the relationship of the skill of clinical attention to a holistic competence based in levels of procedural capability focused on concrete behavioural action and meta competence focused on clinical judgment, self-awareness and self-reflection on the actions taken. The implications of the study’s findings for training clinicians in attention were discussed.

At the outset, I dis-claim any knowledge or understanding what-so-ever, which is a peculiar stance to take for a nurse educator immersed in the language of “expertise,” “best practices,” and “champion” healthcare offerings. I do not dis-claim knowledge to absolve my professional accountability, nor do I absolve myself of being responsible for my text, rather I apprehend this journey of sentience and incarnation as an infant experiencing and learning the world in which it finds itself. It is only through a naïve, furtive play that I am able to proceed, through the difficulties and paradoxical tensions of constructed identities, without complete paralysis. As I play and ponder my way through multiple methodologies, a representational form emerges between repetitious moments of contemplation, remembering lived experiences, and reflecting on philosophical discourses. The difficulty or tension lies in the provocation of identities, as nurse, educator, and mother, among many other stances and formulations. Each identified discourse compels me to challenge the gaps in my knowledge in new ways. As I explore, I unravel the forms of text that are various incarnations of narrative reflection. The choices I make are about inquiring through concept, form and identification, which I both uniquely challenge as an individual and hold in common by being socially and historically situated. Each transition, contemplation and provocation is hopeful and volatile. I am always attuned to how it is that I live the spaces between each, unknowing my “self” as my otherness, letting go the ideal/real and becoming the (/) through a relational pedagogy.

Purpose: Hyper-reflective superficial cells were an unexpected finding while examining the corneal epithelium using confocal microscopy (CM), during an MSc thesis conducted in 2006 at the University of Waterloo, Canada. The author1 suggested that the appearance of these hyper-reflective cells could be associated with solution induced corneal staining (SICS) that was also observed in those participants who had manifested these hyper-reflective cells. However, this hypothesis has not been reported in the literature. This thesis aimed to investigate variables that could possibly predict the appearance of hyper-reflective superficial cells. These investigated variables were the effect of: contact lenses, contact lens solutions, lens/solution combinations, long-term use of certain contact lenses and solutions, age, dry eye symptom, topical anaesthetics and sodium fluorescein. In addition to this, the normal superficial epithelium of controls was defined. Methods: CM images of the superficial epithelium were obtained during the various experiments from: 32 non-contact lens wearing participants, 18 post-menopausal participants symptomatic of dry eye and 18 post-menopausal age-matched asymptomatic women and 147 adapted soft contact lens wearers. For one experiment CM was performed with the contact lens in situ, making the use of a topical anaesthetic unnecessary. Superficial cellular appearance of CM images was graded using a custom grading scale. Hyper-reflective cells were counted. Corneal staining was assessed using sodium fluorescein. Results: Results obtained during the various experiments revealed that hyper-reflective cells predominately appeared with the use of a specific lens/solution combination. Also, the number of hyper-reflective cells peaked after two hours of lens wear. It was also shown that when hyper-reflective cells occurred during an experiment, not every participant who was exposed to that specific lens/solution combination manifested hyper-reflective cells. Also, a great deal of inter-subject variability in observed numbers of hyper-reflective cells was noted. Conclusion: In conclusion, this thesis established that the hyper-reflective cells that were observed by Harvey were reproducible and may co-occur with corneal staining induced by a specific lens/solution interaction