Action, reflection and occupational therapy

The action research cycle described in a previous post will look familiar to occupational therapy students and therapists. Cycles of reflection and action are embedded in occupational therapy education and in demonstrating our ongoing compentence for practice through the occupational therapy board 'Continuing Competence Framework for Recertification  CCFR process.

 Bannigan and Moores (2009) describe reflection as a "deliberate, structured process involving the processing of information to assist with learning from complex situations" (p. 343). 

Image source:

http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/enviroprojects/what.html

The occupational therapy programme places a high value on experiential learning with 1000 hours of fieldwork completed over three years.

We have been encouraged to use Kolb's cycle of experiential learning to bring together our practical experiences, our critical reflection on those experiences, links to theory and further practical experiences informed by theory and our reflection. 

In the development of their model David Kolb and Roger Fry  were influenced by Kurt Lewin who first developed action research.

Another central figure linked to concepts of action and reflection and social change is Paulo Freire. His concepts of conscientization and praxis developed in his 1970 book "Pedagogy of the oppressed" have been influential in the development of participatory action research internationally.

I really like the definition of praxis from the Paulo Freire Institute so I have reproduced it here.......

"It is not enough for people to come together in dialogue in order to gain knowledge of their social reality.  They must act together upon their environment in order critically to reflect upon their reality and so transform it through further action and critical reflection" Freire Institute (2011). Concepts used by Paulo Freire. Retrieved from http://www.freire.org/paulo-freire/concepts-used-by-paulo-freire/

References: 
Bannigan, K., & Moores, A. (2009). A model of professional thinking: Integrating reflective practice and evidence based practice. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 76(5), 342-349.  

Freire Institute (2011). Concepts used by Paulo Freire. Retrieved September 3, 2011, from htp://www.freire.org/paulo-freire/concepts-used-by-paulo-freire/

Smith, M. K. (2001). 'David A. Kolb on experiential learning', the encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved August 29 2011,  from http://www.infed.org/b-explrn.htm

Smith, M. K. (2001) 'Kurt Lewin, groups, experiential learning and action research', the encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved August 29, 2011, from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-lewin.htm 

Experiential learning.....

Participatory action research has an emphasis on experiential learning....

Last week I got to do some of my own learning through 'doing' when I 

attended a meeting of a group involved in an action research project.

Action research is traditionally conceptualised as a series of cycles...

Image sourced from

http://celt.ust.hk/ideas/ar/intro.htm

Sitting in on the meeting it was not as clear cut as this cycle would suggest. It appeared to me that many of the stages were intertwined and would continue to be so for the duration of the project. This made for a more open-ended process that was responsive to change and new data/directions emerging in the research.

During the meeting participants....

• Reflected on what have the group had done so far 
• Discussed where they wanted to go (with the initial identified problem and data they had compiled so far)
  
• Planned action to be taken in the coming weeks and months
• Reflected and discussed other issues they may want to address in the future
• Discussed pragmatic concerns such as budgets and distribution of information 

Several things seemed to make this meeting successful including:

• Power-sharing.....Encouraging group members to take up roles of responsibility
• The acknowledgement of different skills and expertise within the group...
• Group facilitation...the use of open questions and reflecting back to the group....
  
• Range of levels of participation within the group... 
• High level of participant interest, involvement and commitment to the issues/problems