Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T11:01:33.417Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Exploring the Development of Reflective Capacity in Young People

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 March 2016

Helen Hickson ,
Jennifer Lehmann  and
Fiona Gardner
Helen Hickson*
Affiliation:
La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University
Jennifer Lehmann
Affiliation:
La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University
Fiona Gardner
Affiliation:
La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University
*
address for correspondence: Dr Helen Hickson, La Trobe Rural Health School, PO Box 199, Bendigo, VIC 3552, Australia. Phone: 61 3 5444 7593. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

People use reflection and reflective practice for many different reasons, including for self-care and to make sense of their experiences. In this study, social workers spoke about how they learned to be reflective, with many participants describing activities in their childhood that developed their reflective capacity. The aim of this article is to apply these ideas and examine the factors that enhance reflective capacity in children and young people. This research was part of a PhD study that involved interviews with 35 social workers in USA, Canada, UK and Australia. This exploratory study found that activities like story reading and asking children to reflect on their behaviour are early steps in the process of becoming reflective, but this needs to be followed up with conversations that deconstruct assumptions to make sense of experiences and explore multiple perspectives. This research is important for health and human service workers and others who want to develop reflective capacity in children and young people, particularly for children subject to disadvantage who need to overcome trauma and adversities.

Keywords

reflective practicecritical reflectionlearning reflectionchildhood development
Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , June 2016 , pp. 154 - 161
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alerby, E., & Elidottir, J. (2003). The sounds of silence: Some remarks on the value of silence in the process of reflection in relation to teaching and learning. Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 4 (1), 41–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anisfeld, M. (2014). Language development from birth to three. New York: Psychology Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Argyris, C., & Schön, D. (1996). Organisational learning II. Theory, method and practice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing.Google Scholar
Aukes, L. C., Geertsma, J., Cohen-Schotanus, J., Zwierstra, R. P., & Slaets, J. P. J. (2007). The development of a scale to measure personal reflection in medical practice and education. Medical Teacher, 29 (2–3), 177–182. doi: 10.1080/01421590701299272.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baldwin, M. (2004). Critical reflection: Opportunities and threats to professional learning and service development in social work organizations. In Gould, N. & Baldwin, M. (Eds.), Social work, critical reflection and the learning organization (pp. 41–56). Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist, 37 (2), 122–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnett, M. (1987). Empathy and related responses in children. In Eisenberg, N. & Strayer, J. (Eds.), Empathy and its development (pp. 146–162). Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Boud, D., & Garrick, J. (1999). Understanding learning at work. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Brookfield, S. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Cornelius, S., Gordon, C., & Ackland, A. (2009). Towards flexible learning for adult learners in professional contexts: An activity-focused course design. Interactive Learning Environments, 19 (4), 381–393. doi: 10.1080/10494820903298258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crittenden, P. M. (1992). Children's strategies for coping with adverse home environments: An interpretation using attachment theory. Child Abuse & Neglect, 16 (3), 329–343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Denzin, N., & Lincoln, Y. (Eds) (2011). The handbook of qualitative research, (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
Dewar, B. A., Servos, J. E., Bosacki, S. L., & Coplan, R. (2013). Early childhood educators’ reflections on teaching practices: The role of gender and culture. Reflective Practice, 14 (3), 381–391. doi: 10.1080/14623943.2013.767234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dewey, J. (1910). How we think. Boston, DC: Heath.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donaghy, M., & Morss, K. (2007). An evaluation of a framework for facilitating and assessing physiotherapy students' reflection on practice. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 23 (2), 83–94. doi: 10.1080/09593980701211952.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elliott, J. (2005). Using narrative in social research. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. London: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fazel, M., Reed, R., Panter-Brick, C., & Stein, A. (2012). Mental health of displaced and refugee children resettled in high-income countries: Risk and protective factors. The Lancet, 379 (9812), 266–282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fonagy, P., Steele, M., Steele, H., Leigh, T., Kennedy, R., Mattoon, G., & Target, M. (1995). Attachment, the reflective self, and borderline states: The predictive specificity of the Adult Attachment Interview and pathological emotional development. In Goldberg, S., Muir, R., & Kerr, J. (Eds.), Attachment theory: Social, developmental, and clinical perspectives (pp. 233–278). Hillsdale, NJ, USA: Analytic Press, Inc.Google Scholar
Fonagy, P., & Target, M. (1997). Attachment and reflective function: Their role in self-organization. Development and Psychopathology, 9 (4), 679–700.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fook, J. (2002). Social work: Critical theory and practice. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Fook, J., & Askeland, G. A. (2006). The ‘critical’ in critical reflection. In White, S., Fook, J., & Gardner, F. (Eds.), Critical reflection in health and social care (pp. 40–53). Maidenhead: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Fook, J., & Gardner, F. (2007). Practicing critical reflection: A resource handbook. London: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Gibbs, J. (2014). Moral development and reality, (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hickson, H. (2011). Critical reflection: Reflecting on learning to be reflective. Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 12 (6), 829–839. doi: 10.1080/14623943.2011.616687.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hickson, H. (2013). Learning critical reflection for professional practice. In Fook, J. & Gardner, F. (Eds.), Critical reflection in context: Applications in health and social care (pp. 57–67). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as a source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Larsson, S., & Sjöblom, Y. (2010). Perspectives on narrative methods in social work research. International Journal of Social Welfare, 19 (3), 272–280. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2397.2009.00672.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacCoby, E. (1980). Social development: Psychological growth and the parent-child relationship. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Mezirow, J. (1990). How critical reflection triggers transformative learning. In Mezirow, J. (Ed.), Fostering critical reflection in adulthood: A guide to transformative and emancipatory learning (pp. 1–20). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Mischler, E. (1986). Research interviewing: Context and narrative. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Morley, C. (2008). Using critical reflection as a research methodology. In Liamputtong, P. & Rumbold, J. (Eds.), Knowing differently: An introduction to experiential and arts-based research methods (pp. 265–280). New York: Nova Science Publishers.Google Scholar
Murphy, A., Steele, M., & Steele, H. (2013). From uut of sight, out of mind to in sight and in mind: Enhancing reflective capacities in a group attachment-based intervention. In Bettmann, J. E. & Friedman, D. D. (Eds.), Attachment-based clinical work with children and adolescents (pp. 237–257). New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, S. (2010). Women's and children's exposure to mass disaster and terrorist attacks. Issues in Mental health Nursing, 31 (1), 45–53. doi: 10.3109/01612840903200035.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) (2009). Supporting children's development, extract from Putting Children First, the magazine of the National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) Issue 31 September 2009. (pp. 3–5). Retrieved from http://ncac.acecqa.gov.au/educator-resources/pcf-articles/Supporting_children's_dment_problem_solving_and_mathematical_skills_Sep09.pdf.Google Scholar
Ordway, M. R., Sadler, L. S., Dixon, J., & Slade, A. (2014). Parental reflective functioning: Analysis and promotion of the concept for paediatric nursing. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 23 (23–24), 3490–3500. doi: 10.1111/jocn.12600.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oyserman, D., Elmore, K., & Smith, G. (2012). Self, self-concept, and identity. In Leary, M. and Tangney, J. P. (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (2nd ed.) (Chapter 4). New York: The Guildford Press. Retrieved from http://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/782/docs/handbook_of_self_and_identity_-_second_edition_-_ch_4_pp_69-104_38_pages.pdf.Google Scholar
Pittman, J. F., Keiley, M. K., Kerpelman, J. L., & Vaughn, B. E. (2011). Attachment, identity, and intimacy: Parallels between Bowlby's and Erikson's paradigms. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 3 (1), 32–46. doi: 10.1111/j.1756-2589.2010.00079.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollard, A. (Ed.). (2002). Readings for reflective teaching. New York.Google Scholar
Porges, S. (2015). Making the world safe for our children: Down-regulating defence and up-regulating social engagement to ‘optimise’ the human experience, Children Australia, 40 (2), 114–123. doi: 10.1017/cha. 2015.12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redmond, B. (2006). Reflection in action: Developing reflective practice in health and social services, (2nd ed.). Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Riessman, C. (1993). Narrative analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Riessman, C., & Quinney, L. (2005). Narrative in social work. Qualitative Social Work, 4 (4), 391–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruch, G. (2012). Where have all the feelings gone? Developing reflective and relationship-based management in child-care social work. British Journal of Social Work, 42 (7), 1315–1332. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcr134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruey, S. (2010). A case study of constructivist instructional strategies for adult online learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41 (5), 706–720. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.00965.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sadler, L. S., Slade, A., Close, N., Webb, D. L., Simpson, T., Fennie, K., & Mayes, L. C. (2013). Minding the baby: Enhancing reflectiveness to improve early health and relationship outcomes in an interdisciplinary home-visiting program. Infant Mental Health Journal, 34 (5), 391–405. doi: 10.1002/imhj.21406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarantakos, S. (2005). Social research, (3rd ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner - How professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Schön, D. (1994). Teaching artistry through reflection-in-action. In Tsoukas, H. (Ed.), New thinking in organizational behaviour (pp. 235–249). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.Google Scholar
Shore, A. (2012). Bowlby's environment of evolutionary adaptiveness: Recent studies on the interpersonal neurobiology of attachment and emotional development. In Narvaez, D., Panksepp, J., Schore, A., & Gleason, T. (Eds.), Evolution, early experience, and human development: From research to practice and policy (pp. 31–67). New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shore, A. (2015). Early right brain regulation and the relational origins of emotional well-being. Children Australia, 40 (2), 104–113. doi: 10.1017/cha.2015.13.Google Scholar
Simpson, A. (2008). Brain changes. Young adult development project. USA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Worklife Center. Retrieved from http://hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/youngadult/brain.html.Google Scholar
Slade, A. (2005). Parental reflective functioning: An introduction. Attachment & Human Development, 7 (3), 269–281. doi: 10.1080/14616730500245906.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slade, A. (2007). Reflective parenting programs: Theory and development. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 26 (4), 640–657. doi: 10.1080/07351690701310698.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stacks, A. M., Muzik, M., Wong, K., Beeghly, M., Huth-Bocks, A., Irwin, J. L., & Rosenblum, K. L. (2014). Maternal reflective functioning among mothers with childhood maltreatment histories: Links to sensitive parenting and infant attachment security. Attachment & Human Development, 16 (5), 515–533. doi: 10.1080/14616734.2014.935452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stein, M. (2008). Young people's transitions from care to adulthood: International research and practice. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Taarvig, E., Solbakken, O. A., Grova, B., & Monsen, J. T. (2015). Affect consciousness in children with internalizing problems: Assessment of affect integration. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 20 (4), 591–610. doi: 10.1177/1359104514538434.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Theron, L., & Theron, A. (2014). Meaning-making and resilience: Case studies of a multifaceted process. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 24 (1), 37–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wexler, L., DiFluvio, G., & Burke, T. (2009). Resilience and marginalized youth: Making a case for personal and collective meaning-making as part of resilience research in public health. Social Science & Medicine, 69 (4), 565–570. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.06.022.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed