Reflecting blues - Perceptions of policing students undertaking a Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS) course with regard to reflective practice and associated skills

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Education Doctorate and awarded by Brunel University.This research considered the perceptions of policing students who attended a Preparing to Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS) course at a Central London College for Further Education, in relation to their study needs, motivation levels, relevant support and reflective practice. This phenomenological study considered 15 students from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) employing the use of semi-structured interviews to gather data. The findings were that the students‟ perception in relation to the support offered by the MPS was insufficient and this may be due to the pedagogical approach to learning favoured by many students. Several appeared to require support with learning and writing level at three or four. The college did very well in respect of the perception of the students in relation to the support they experienced. The scarcity of time and the intensity of the course was a prominent factor, where some had underestimated how much time they would need to allocate to study. Overwhelmingly the students required support when engaging in study at level three or four and there appeared to exist very little knowledge in how to write an assignment. Some of the students appeared to favour a more pedagogical approach to study and in some cases reacted against the andragogical style employed by the college. Support from the mentor was valued considerably by most of the students and this appears to be a contributory factor in easing the students back into study. In relation to students‟ perceptions of Reflective Practice (RP) there existed three distinct groups, namely those who considered that they used reflective practice, those who considered they did on certain occasions and one who did not. In general there existed a positive attitude towards the concept of RP although none of the students kept a record of their subsequent RP following the PTLLS course. The phenomenon of Situational Reflective Practice was observed which took the form of Reflection-re-Action and Reflection-re-Inaction. This is concerned with the way in which a social group or an organisation is behaving and the impact this has upon an individual. Further research in relation to the idea of Situational Reflective Practice is called for

Reflective questions, self-questioning and managing professionally situated practice

Reflective self-questioning arises within the workplace when people are confronted with professional problems and situations. This paper focuses on reflective and' situated reflective' questions in terms of self-questioning and professional workplace problem solving. In our view, the situational context, entailed by the setting, social and personal/individual perspectives, is interactional. The supporting empirical data is drawn from our work with two groups in their tertiary phase of education: professional trainers within a large corporate organisation and para-professionals within a large college system; each embraces phenomenological principles. The discussions of situated reflective practice (SRP) entail those circumstances where change is visited upon the individual by forces outside their immediate control. The positive sense of SRP is that it can prepare an individual for anticipated change, and is therefore considered a method of change management. The situation acts as a catalyst for the thought

Reflective questions, self-questioning and managing professionally situated practice

Reflective self-questioning arises within the work-place when people are confronted with professional problems and situations. This paper focuses on reflective and ‘situated reflective' questions in terms of self-questioning and professional work-place problem solving. In our view, the situational context, entailed by the setting, social and personal/individual perspectives, is interactional. The supporting empirical data is drawn from our work with two groups in their tertiary phase of education: professional trainers within a large corporate organisation and para-professionals within a large college system; each embraces phenomenological principles. The discussions of situated reflective practice (SRP) entail those circumstances where change is visited upon the individual by forces outside their immediate control. The positive sense of SRP is that it can prepare an individual for anticipated change, and is therefore considered a method of change management. The situation acts as a catalyst for the thought

Reflectivity, reflexivity and situated reflective practice

This paper describes an aspect of reflective practice referred to as ‘Situated Reflective Practice’ (SRP). The overarching theory is derived from social theories of structuration and reflexivity. In particular, from Giddens’s (1984) theory of structuration, this sees social life as interplay of agency and structure. Discussion of the research reported here centres on the nature of such situated reflection, considers related literature and presents the data collected in a recent small-scale study. The original purpose of the research was to explore the perceptions of corporate trainers on a course for Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS). As a result of this research the concept of Situated Reflective Practice was generated. It is argued that here exist some situations where a person will find themselves in a position over which they have little control, avoidance or veto. The major conclusion of this study was that key interview themes enabled the delineation of a series of five characteristics representing increasing structural distance in space and time between the reflective practitioner and the professional situation in which they work

Are Science Teachers Immune to Reflective Practice?

This chapter discusses the apparent tension between science and reflective practice. The tension occurs when a scientist embarks on a training programme, or engages in professional development, in which reflective practice is an inherent part. We offer a new model of reflective practice referred to as Situated Reflective Practice (SRP) along with a range of strategies that assist reflective practice in groups

The stereospecificity and catalytic efficiency of the tryptophan synthase-catalysed exchange of the α-protons of amino acids

(13)C-NMR has been used to follow the tryptophan synthase (EC 4.2.1.20) catalysed hydrogen–deuterium exchange of the pro-2R and pro-2S protons of [2-(13)C]glycine at pH 7.8. (1)H-NMR has also been used to follow the tryptophan-synthase-catalysed hydrogen–deuterium exchange of the α-protons of a range of L- and D-amino acids at pH 7.8. The pK(a) values of the α-protons of these amino acids have been estimated and we have determined whether or not their exchange rates can be predicted from their pK(a) values. With the exception of tryptophan and norleucine, the stereospecificities of the first-order α-proton exchange rates are independent of the size and electronegativity of the amino acid R-group. Similar results are obtained with the second-order α-proton exchange rates, except that both L-tryptophan and L-serine have much higher stereospecificities than all the other amino acids studied