Thesis (MEdPsych)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The research question I wondered about was whether becoming a reflective practitioner/teacher could contribute to a sense of empowerment and greater effectiveness in practice. I am telling my own story in this study and have chosen to do this through the use of a variant of Life History Research called Narrative Inquiry. This is a qualitative approach to research and makes use of narratives. Field texts (journal entries, family stories, teacher stories) were produced through conversations, observation and journal writing. These field texts were then presented in narrative form. Analysis of the field texts, as well as the story was done throughout the research process. I used conceptual tools developed within Narrative Inquiry to analyse the narrated data in order to foreground the two main areas namely personal and professional growth. Based on this study of my personal experience of the use of reflection, it would seem that becoming a reflective practitioner could indeed contribute to a sense of empowerment and more effective classroom practice by supporting personal and professional growth and development. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die navorsingsprobleem waaroor ek wonder is of die gebruik van refleksie as reflektiewe praktisyn kan bydra tot 'n gevoel van bemagtiging en groter effektiwiteit binne die klaskamer. Aangesien ek my eie storie in hierdie studie wou vertel het ek besluit om gebruik te maak van 'n variant van lewensgeskiedenisnavorsing naamlik 'Narrative Inquiry'. 'Narrative Inquiry' is 'n kwalitatiewe benadering tot navorsing en maak gebruik van stories. Narratiewe data (dagboekinskrywings, familieen onderwyserstories) is geproduseer uit gesprekke, waarneming en die skryf van 'n dagboek en is in die vorm van 'n storie vertel. Analise van narratiewe data vind plaas regdeur die navorsingsproses. In die analise van die narratiewe data is gebruik gemaak van konseptueie terme wat binne 'Narrative Inquriry' ontwikkel is om die professionele en persoonlike ontwikkeling uit te lig. Uit hierdie studie van persoonlike ervaring van die gebruik van refleksie as 'n reflektiewe praktisyn wil dit blyk dat die gebruik van refleksie wel kan bydra tot gevoelens van bemagtiging en groter effektiwiteit binne die praktyk, aangesien dit professionele en persoonlike groei en ontwikkeling ondersteun.

COVID-19 exacerbated a pre-existing and well-documented mental health crisis on college campuses in the United States. During COVID-19, more college students than ever before in recorded history reported feelings of anxiety and depression, among other mental health issues. There are myriad possible causes for the decline in mental health among college students. One clear cause is the introduction of the smartphone, its widespread adoption, and its frequent use by college-age people. Research also revealed that an unprecedented number of college students are completely disconnected from religion and spirituality. Studies demonstrated that cultivating a religious or spiritual life can be beneficial for one’s mental well-being. The efforts on college campuses to provide mental health resources for students would benefit from additional support. This care should be accessible to more students and should combat the unfortunate stigma around receiving help for mental health. Undergraduate introductory philosophy courses taken as a requirement by various majors can serve as responses to this call for additional care. These classes are inherently accessible and can offer students an engaging experience with self-care by implementing exercises inspired by philosophy as the art of living. Although philosophy as the art of living does not necessarily have to replace religion or other forms of mental health care, it can offer an experience that is of therapeutic value in the classroom. This tradition has a rich, ancient history of intending to serve this purpose. The objective of this research was to present and examine self-care exercises from philosophy as the art of living and to evaluate how these can be taught in the college classroom in response to the mental health crisis on college campuses. It also aimed to render the experience of teaching these exercises. The research was executed through a hermeneutical and phenomenological approach. The phenomenological methodology was performed by a teacher in the form of a self-study. It was also conducted with the teacher as a witness to what transpired in introductory philosophy classes with thousands of students in dozens of individual classes in a diverse metropolis. A college introductory philosophy course in this epoch of mental health crisis on campuses should abide by philosophy as the art of living’s imperative to decrease suffering. There is a vital need for additional resources to respond to the decline in mental wellness among students. The results of this research demonstrated that philosophy as the art of living and its emphasis on exercises can be successfully applied to the college classroom. In this research, students were given time on a regular basis during class to be in silence, confront Socratic-style questions that encouraged them to examine and care for themselves, practice self-writing to heighten their ability to think and pursue the aim of self-care, and then read to engage with philosophical texts to support their self-care. Students consistently and rigorously engaged with these exercises. Their time spent in silent practice provided an opportunity for therapeutic, meditative, and peaceful reflection. Educators should consider implementing these exercises in introductory philosophy classes and beyond as ways to offer self-care to students who may be struggling with their mental health, as so many are.

Furthermore, whether they have the conscious and courage to break through the restraint which is given by the educational bureau and the school or not, they could be divided into two categories: the dependent inner-control empowerment and the transcendent inner-control empowerment. For example, if teachers confine their reflection within the existing value norm, we describe it as dependent inner-control empowerment. As for the LATQ teachers, they possess outer-control empowerment which makes teachers analyze and judge their own teaching practice from others' standards. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) / Lastly, in terms of how practical reflections influence teachers' professional development, the reflections of HTQ and LATQ teachers share a common characteristic. That is, they are both an active learning process of the teachers, even though the reflections are the results of outside forces. And the differences among the two groups of teachers are as follows: (a) the HTQ teachers look at their own professional experiences as the important basis reflection. (b) In terms of the process of reflection, the outcomes of the point by point summarizing process lead to the incremental change in teaching style while the outcome of systematic inquiry is the fundamental change in the renovation of espoused theories and theory-in-use. (c) As for the HTQ teachers, the ability of understanding, controlling and creating practice from reflections has given them inner-control empowerment. / Secondly, practical reflection results from the interaction between teachers' habitus and school field. The main factors in teachers' habitus that influence teachers' practical reflection are the attitudes and motivations of teachers' professional development, educational beliefs, the time of reflection and the competence of inquiry. The main factors in school field that influence teachers' practical reflection include principals' assumption of teachers' learning motivation (compelling), the need of school image management (performance), freedom for teachers' professional development (freedom), the concept of teaching and learning (focus on student learning) and teachers' culture (learning & communication). / The great demands of creative talents in knowledge economy and the pursuit of better humanistic teaching and learning challenge teachers' professional competency. Teachers are expected to be more adaptive and creative in curriculum implementation. Theoretically, teachers' practical reflection is the process of curriculum deliberation and creation. In this context, the inquiry into practical reflection has important theoretical contributions on how to advance curriculum implementation and teacher professional development. / The main research findings are as follows: Firstly, there are intrinsic differences in contents, levels and process of practical reflection between HTQ and LATQ teachers. / The present study addresses the following three questions. (1) What practical reflection has been done in curriculum implementation? (2) Which factors influence teachers' practical reflection? (3) How practical reflection affects teachers' professional development? / 趙明仁. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2006. / 參考文獻(p. 261-272). / Adviser: Hin Wah Wong. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-03, Section: A, page: 0869. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2006. / Can kao wen xian (p. 261-272). / Zhao Mingren.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Background: Recent literature on medical professionalism claims that self-awareness and the ability to reflect upon one’s experiences is a critical component of professionalism; however there is a paucity of empirical evidence to support this claim. This study employed a mixed methods approach to explore the utility of reflective writing and self- and peer assessments in explaining professionalism lapses among medical students. Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted using students from Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) who had been disciplined for unprofessional behavior between 2006-2013 (case group; n=70). A randomly selected control group (n=230) was used for comparison. Reflective ability was assessed using a validated rubric to score students’ professionalism journals. Mean reflection scores and assessment scores were compared using t-tests. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the impact of reflection scores and self- and peer assessment scores on the likelihood of having been disciplined for unprofessional behavior. Subsequent qualitative analysis further explored when and how students learned professionalism during their clinical experiences. Results: The study found that students in the case group exhibited lower reflective ability than control students. Furthermore, reflective ability was a significant factor in explaining the odds that a student had been cited for professionalism lapses. There were no differences in self-assessment scores between the two groups, but students in the case group had significantly lower peer assessment scores than control students. Peer assessment scores also had the greatest influence on the odds that a student had been cited for professionalism deficiencies during medical school. Qualitative analysis revealed that students learn professionalism from role models who demonstrated altruism and respect (or lack thereof). Conclusions: These findings suggest that students should be provided with guidance and feedback on their reflective writing to promote higher levels of reflection, which may reduce the number of students who are cited for professionalism lapses. These findings also indicate that peer assessments can be used to provide students with insightful feedback regarding their professional development. Finally, role models have a strong influence on students’ professional development, and therefore must be cognizant of the implicit messages their behaviors convey.