A Critical
Reflection on Professional Practitioner Inquiry
At the beginning of this module I reflected the last module
more, thinking about what I had learnt in regards to networking, critical
thinking and reflection. I also gave some thought to the feedback of my last
module, about getting deep within my practice. So I decided to become a
Governor at a different school to where I work to develop my network, critical
thinking as well as get a better picture and understanding of the environment in
which I work. (Appendix A)I also started the afterschool club that I had briefly mentioned in the
last module that I wanted to do. Becoming a Governor and starting the
afterschool club gave module 2 the foundation and direction I wanted to go and
explore within my inquiry.
During Task 4, I started to blog questions that perhaps I
already knew the answers too or thought. (Appendix
B) I also learnt during some of the governor training I had, that asking
questions you think you already know the answers too or naïve questions can develop
critical thinking as the questions lead to further questions and discussion.
This is also demonstrated in (Appendix
C) because Alan analysed, started to develop my questions, raised questions
and developed a discussion. From this I
did start to think about the questions more and the literature.
I found creating a SIG was a bit of a problem at first
because my Art form is different from my fellow students, I then decided to
compare and contrast other things I may have in common with them, using Bubble
Maps (Appendix
D) and found the strongest connection I had was teaching, this lead me to
Hannah Shepard’s blog who is also a Teacher Assistant. After some discussion via
her blog (Appendix
E) I joined the Facebook SIG. I found the SIG useful for progressing
through the course and my Professional and Personal Networks for developing my
inquiry.
Ethics is something I found interesting, and at first a lot
to take in, although I have some understanding of ethics in the work place (Appendix
F), have my own personal Ethics and I analyse Codes of Practice (Appendix
G). Reader 5 is what made me stop and think! Thinking of ethics from
different angles and perspectives, questioning what is right or wrong; when personal
ethics clash against professional ethics and ethics within different laws or
cultures. (Appendix
H) It also made me think about how personal ethics can impact on society –
the ethical butterfly effect. This section was a thought-provoking learning
curve.
Whiles reading ‘Reader 6’ I started to think about the Data
Collection Tools I would use, weighing up the pros and cons (Appendix
I). This led me to piloting an Observation Grid and planning a
questionnaire for my inquiry. I also reflected on two other pilots’ I had run during
my afterschool club for my inquiry (Appendix
J) as well as reflecting on the tools (Appendix
K).
This module has engaged my thinking in many ways to help me
develop my inquiry, helping me raise questions and improved my analysis. As well looking at and exploring the different
types of literature that gives my inquiry some foundation (Appendix
M)( Appendix
N)( Appendix
O). The ethics has given me room for thought and the ethics I need to
beware of for my inquiry.
