Thursday 30 July 2015

Critical Friend(s) and Editors

I’m sure that I went over my finished project 100 times, checking and double checking that it made sense, testing out the links from different browsers and devices.  I could see nothing else that needed to be changed, so I pressed “submit” – done. 

I opened my project a number of times after that.  On a few occasions I referred to information from it.  At one point we shared our project with a classmate.  It must have been about the 10th time that I looked at it, post submission, that it jumped out at me:  that BLATANT, SILLY ERROR that I had missed, missed, and missed again jumped off the screen at me.   I could not believe it!  How could I have missed something like that after reviewing it so many times?!

Sometimes we use the term “looking over” something.  I looked over my project so many times, that I overlooked my error.  It couldn’t see the details anymore. 

This experience has reminded me of the importance of reaching out for support through this journey.  There are multiple roles within that support structure, and an editor is a key role.  When an editor reviews our work, they are doing so with fresh eyes and are looking for corrections that need to be made, the organization of the project, and flow of our work. They are the critical eye that focuses on grammar and structure.  

We talked last week about the importance of having the support of critical friend.  Similarly to an editor, a critical friend also provides feedback, but with a focus on "where are you coming from and what is your idea?" as opposed to the structure. A critical friend and is someone that can bring a different perspective, encouraging you to consider alternate angles. Their job is to review with a critical eye and question what you are doing, in order to push you to broaden your consideration. Sometimes  a critical friend may be needed to simply bounce some ideas off of. This relationship requires some of the same characteristics as other important relationships in our life: honesty, trust, communication and patience. On this side of that relationship, it requires openness to receive and consider criticism graciously. 

There are other types of support that I know I will need throughout this masters journey, such as encouragement and patience from friends, family and colleagues….and someone to clean the house :-).  I foresee leaning on various critical friends and editors in my life, and I hope that I can be a valuable critical friend to some of my RRU colleagues.  I know that my friends and family are behind me, and for that I am grateful. 


This is a complex journey and I recognize that we will benefit from supporting others and from receiving what others have to offer along the way.     

Wednesday 22 July 2015

Team Work - Today (Literally)


I think that most of us would agree that team work doesn’t always look like this:




The experience of working on a team can be an inspiring, productive, satisfying experience.  It can also be uncertain, especially when working with people that you have not previously worked with. There are the questions of who will take on which role?  Will the team be focused?  Will the team work efficiently? Will we communicate well? Will everyone contribute? 

This afternoon we were presented with our first team assignment as part of the Introduction to Research course in MALAT at RRU.  We were tasked with creating a presentation to explain how we would use different research traditions to address our topic.  There were three or four people assigned to each team.  The timeline was tight, as the presentations are to be made in the morning, not to mention we have a lot of other course work to address as well. 

We listened to each other, we shared ideas, we considered one another and we worked collaboratively.  We got the job done efficiently and all three of us were happy with the experience (at least that’s what the other two told me) and with the work that resulted from it.

Yesterday, the subject of one of our group sessions was about working in teams.  One of the team work concepts that we discussed was Tuckman’s model of group development.  In our experience today, we pleasantly skipped over the storming stage, spent a brief time in the norming stage and moved promptly into performing.  


Tuckman's Model of Group Development



When I reflect on what attributed to our success today I can identify the following:

1) Respectful Communication
·         We listened patiently
·         We spoke in turn
2) Common Goal
·         Consideration for the best interests of each individual within the team
·         We returned to the question of “what do we need to accomplish” throughout the process
3) Collaboration
·         We were able to build on each other’s thoughts and ideas, rather than getting tied to our individual thoughts
·         We each took sections to look up and we did some of our work in a shared document
One thing that we did not set out at the very beginning was identifying our individual roles on the team.  We did not spend time identifying our strengths, but rather started right in on the conversation of where our interests were, regarding a topic.  Because it was a small group, the role division may not have been as crucial.  The overall effort was very collaborative.   

Maybe being a part of a new team can be seen as an opportunity, starting off without biases of how the experience will be.  It is valuable to reflect on what worked well and to consider how those attributes can carry forward to other team experiences. 

Sunday 19 July 2015

Cultures of Inquiry and Me

Over the last two weeks, as part of the Introduction to Research course, I have been orienting myself with the cultures of inquiry as explained in Mindful Inquiry in Social Research.   The process of creating the required infographic allowed me to begin to understand the distinct epistemological assumptions of the various cultures of inquiry and how they can complement each other, offering different aspects on which to build meaning.  

As I initially read through Mindful Inquiry in Social Research, I created a table for each culture of inquiry, making notes regarding the types of concerns that each inquiry addressed, the epistemological assumptions, and the relationship between the researcher and the research.  I colour coded my information and then proceeded to deconstruct it and reorganize it, identifying patterns and aspects that resonated with me.   I am a very visual learner, so this process was effective and I was excited to discover the connections and how I could relate to some inquiries more than others.   


Phot by Lori Kemp (Lori's kitchen)
There were four inquiries that I was initially drawn to: hermeneutic inquiry, phenomenological inquiry, comparative-historical inquiry, and ethnographic inquiry.  Each of these cultures demands a degree of empathy from the researcher, with varying degrees of engagement with the subject.  I also could see how the nature of these inquiries could move in and out of one another, at times providing a foundation of knowledge from which to build upon, and other times potentially revealing a different perspective to meaning. For example, hermeneutic inquiry involves the interpretation of textual and non-textual information.  It is often essential to interpret information, before moving deeper into another culture of inquiry.  Hermeneutic inquiry has the potential for supporting many of the other cultures of inquiry.  Ethnographic inquiry involves the study of people and cultures.  In order to understand the lives of another culture, it may be beneficial to spend some time in comparative-historical inquiry, identifying patterns that may contribute to the ethnographic research. 

Bentz and Shapiro (1998) described the concept of using several cultures of inquiry within a particular project as triangulated research design, where researchers use different methods, traditions and techniques at different levels.  Comparatively, they also described the spiral of mindful inquiry as a motion of knowledge, progressing around a spiral and through different cultures of inquiry, while expanding and moving forward.  In both of these concepts, the researcher is at the centre of the research.   

I was inspired to see the correlation between the various cultures of inquiry and although my reflection focused specifically on the four inquiries of hermeneutics, phenomenology, comparative-historical inquiry and ethnographics, I look forward to further exploration, reflection and discovery.


Infographic - Cultures of Inquiry Reflection - Lori Kemp


Reference:
Bent,V.M., & Shapiro, J. J. (1998). Mindful Inquiry in Social Research. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

Sunday 12 July 2015

Welcome to Reflecting in Mindful Inquiry

Lower Lake, Kananaskis - photo by Lori Kemp

Welcome to this space, Reflecting in Mindful Inquiry.  This blog is a part of my journey in the MA in Learning and Technology program, specifically as part of the Introduction to Research course.  I hope to use this practice as a reflection on the learning, which based on the first week, I anticipate being vast.

The text book for this course, Mindful Inquiry in Social Research, introduced me to many new terms and concepts in research, including cultures of inquiry, research methods, research traditions and epistemological frameworks.  I realize that these concepts are large and deep and that in one week I have only scratched the surface.

I appreciate that the authors have taken a somewhat holistic approach to the introduction of research.  The idea of Mindful Inquiry resonates with me, particularly mindfulness in the sense of being aware and working with focus and attention, concepts which the authors describe as being an inherent part of Buddhism.   Mindfulness extends beyond the notion of taking responsibility for one’s own actions, thoughts and experiences, and calls one to be considerate of how those actions, thoughts and experiences affect others.   From a research perspective, this requires thoughtful consideration in all aspects of the cycle, from identifying the purpose and articulating the question, to determining the appropriate cultures of inquiry and the research methods, and evaluating and communicating the knowledge. 

These initial thoughts on Mindful Inquiry have brought me to this blog page as “Reflecting in Mindful Inquiry.”  I considered a few variations of this idea such as "A Reflection of Mindful Inquiry" or "Reflecting on Mindful Inquiry."  I have settled on my chosen title in hopes that it will ground me in this space, as I consider my connections to the learning from within a place of mindfulness and awareness.  The image that comes to mind when I consider this idea is a place of centeredness, connecting with and moving through the considerable surrounding activity (I think I feel a second blog post brewing!). 

From my perspective, reflection will be key in working, living and inquiring from a place of mindfulness.  It is in my nature to reflect upon things.  I prefer to be able to step away from a problem to consider it more deeply, and to look at it from different perspectives.  I can think of several situations when I have left a meeting or discussion and after further reflecting on the details for sometimes only a few minutes, coming up with alternate contributions that would have been preferable to the “on the spot” contributions.  Reflection can take time.  I must say that I have found it challenging to reflect (to the extent that I would prefer) on the ideas and concepts that we have been exposed to in the first week of our program, within the short time that we have.  The learning curve has been quite steep, and my mind is just getting warmed up.  That being said, I am seeing that the activities that we have been asked to do (such as this blog) are activities of reflection themselves.  I am looking forward to this journey that has only just begun. 



Reference:
Bent,V.M., & Shapiro, J. J. (1998). Mindful Inquiry in Social Research. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.