‘Dear Fabulous!’ Personal and Professional Identities evolving in the interactional context of self-reflection
Issue: Vol 7 No. 2 (2016) Professional Identity in speech and language therapy: Contexts and constructions
Journal: Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders
Subject Areas: Linguistics
Abstract:
Reflective practice, particularly that linked to clinical learning in the context of service learning pedagogies, has the potential to influence the development of students’ identities, particularly for students on professional courses (e.g. in healthcare contexts). Data drawn from first year speech and language therapy students’ selfdirected letters (‘Dear me…’) are analysed through the lens of a thematic content analysis, using the tool of Leximancer. This data represents twenty-one students’ written reflections on anticipated (‘before’) and completed (‘after’) interactions with a person with a communication disorder. In addition to an analysis of ‘before’ and ‘after’ reflections (via the ‘Dear me…’ letters), the analysis considers the data as an internal dialogue that takes place over time with the students’ reflective selves. The data will demonstrate a broadening view of a more ‘considered self’ and increasing acknowledgement and consideration of the ‘other’ (i.e. another person). The development of a future professional identity emerges as just one facet of identity work within the context of reflections on personal development and growth, in the safe environment of letters to self.
Author: Caroline Jagoe, Irene Walsh
References :
Bamberg, M. (2004). Narrative discourse and identities. In J. C. Meister, T. Kindt, W. Schernus, and M. Stein (eds) Narratology Beyond Literary Criticism: Mediality, Disciplinarity, 213–237. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Baxter-Magolda, M. B. (2004). Evolution of a constructivist conceptualization of epistemological reflection. Educational Psychologist, 39 (1): 31–42.
Bringle, R. G., Hatcher, J. A. and McIntosh, R. (2006). Analyzing Morton’s typology of service paradigms and integrity. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 13 (1): 5–15.
Bucholtz, M. and Hall, K. (2005). Identity and interaction: A sociolinguistic cultural approach. Discourse Studies, 7 (4–5): 585–614. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461445605054407http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461445605054407
Cretchley, J., Gallois, C., Chenery, H. and Smith, A. (2010). Conversations between carers and people with schizophrenia: A qualitative analysis using leximancer. Qualitative Health Research, 20 (12): 1611–1628. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1049732310378297
Georgakopoulou, A. (2002). Narrative and identity management: Discourse and social identities in a tale of tomorrow. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 35 (4): 427– 451. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15327973RLSI3504_2
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Cambridge: Polity.
Hepworth, N. and Paxton, S. J. (2007). Pathways to help-seeking in bulimia nervosa and binge eating problems: A concept mapping approach, International Journal of Eating Disorders, 40 (6): 493–504. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eat.20402
Hewett, D., Watson, B., Gallois, C., Ward, M., and Leggett, B. (2009). Intergroup communication between hospital doctors: Implications for quality of patient care. Social Science and Medicine, 69: 1732–1740. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.09.048
Hmelo-Silver, C. E. (2004). Problem-based learning: What and how do students learn? Educational Psychology Review, 16 (3): 235–266. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:EDPR.0000034022.16470.f3
Hoffman, K. and Berg, S. (2014). ‘You can’t learn it in school’: Field experiences and their contributions to education and professional identity. Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science, 38 (3): 220–238.
Jones, S. R. and Abes, E. S. (2004). Enduring influences of service-learning on college students’ identity development. Journal of College Student Development, 45: 149–166. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/csd.2004.0023
Leximancer Manual (Version 4). (2011). Leximancer Pty Ltd. http://static1.squarespace.com/static/539bebd7e4b045b6dc97e4f7/t/53c33e0fe4b056735b9b4683/1405304335237/Leximancer+Manual+Version+4.pdf
Maudsley, G. and Strivens, J. (2000). Promoting professional knowledge, experiential learning and critical thinking for medical students. Medical Education, 34 (7): 535–544. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2000.00632.x
McVicker, S. and Horton, S. (2007). Reaching out: Working with university undergraduate speech and language therapy students in a conversation partners programme. British Aphasiology Society Newsletter. Summer. Retrieved from www.bas.org.uk.
McVicker, S., Parr, S., Pound, C., and Duchan, J. (2009). The Communication Partner Scheme: A project to develop long‐term, low‐cost access to conversation for people living with aphasia. Aphasiology, 23 (1): 52–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02687030701688783
O’Connor, K. M. O., Lynch, K., and Owen, D. (2011). Student-community engagement and the development of graduate attributes. Education + Training, 100–115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00400911111115654
Riley-Doucet, C. and Wilson, S. (1997). A three-step method of self-reflection using reflective journal writing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 25 (5): 964–968. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.1997.1997025964.x
Smith, A. E. and Humphreys, M. S. (2006). Evaluation of unsupervised semantic mapping of natural language with Leximancer concept mapping. Behavior Research Methods, 38 (2): 262–279. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/BF03192778
Stillman, R., Snow, R. and Warren, K. (1999). ‘I used to be good with kids’: Encounters between speech-language pathology students and children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). In D. Kovarsky et al. (eds) Constructing (In) Competence: Disabling Evaluations in Clinical and Social Interaction, 29–48. London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Stokes, J., Horton, S., and McVicker, S. (2009). Conversation partners in progress: reports and reflections on the learning experience of students, practitioners and people with aphasia. Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists Scientific Conference, 17–18 March 2009, London.
Thornton, A. (2013). Artist, Researcher, Teacher: A Study of Professional Identity in Art and Education. Bristol: Intellect Ltd.
Travalgia, J. F., Westbrook, M. T., and Braithwaite, J. (2009). Implementation of a patient safety incident management system as viewed by doctors, nurses and allied health professionals. Health (London) 2009 May 13 (3): 277–296. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1363459308101804
Trede, F. (2012). Role of work-integrated learning in developing professionalism and professional identity. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 13 (3): 159–167.
Trede, F., Macklin, R., and Bridges, D. (2012). Professional identity development: A review of the higher education literature. Studies in Higher Education, 37 (3): 365–384. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2010.521237