Developing constructive action: personal construct psychology, action research and professional development

Author(s):  
Maureen Pope ◽  
Pam Denicolo
2010 ◽  
Vol os17 (4) ◽  
pp. 179-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R Brocklehurst

Aim The aim of this paper is to introduce the reader to personal construct psychology as a theory to help understand the process of change in facilitative and mentoring relationships. Background Continuing professional development is critical if practitioners are to keep up to date with new ideas, techniques, and materials. However, is it important not only to consider what is learnt, it is also important to understand the how of learning in order to develop an approach that leads to lifelong learning. Mentoring, coaching, and appraisal are all facilitative processes that aim to encourage professionals to engage with their own development. This leads to differing degrees of both behavioural and attitudinal change. As a result, it is useful to have a theory that can help an individual to understand these changes and to identify any difficulties that are associated with them. Approach Personal construct psychology has long been recognised as a potential framework for personal development. It has been used extensively in a broad range of domains, including clinical and educational psychology, management, and psychotherapy. Conclusion Personal construct psychology is a useful theory for understanding the facilitative process because it enables the facilitator to form a conceptual framework to comprehend behavioural and attitudinal change. Its underlying philosophical approach also supports lifelong learning, given its emphasis on an enquiring mind and reflection, both of which are key to continuing professional development.


1987 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 43-51
Author(s):  
C. T. Patrick Diamond

Personal construct psychology enabled teacher stress to be conceptualised in terms of their perceptions of their ability to cope with stressors. Different degrees of support were seen in terms of the teachers' allocation of dependencies. Pre- and post-intervention questionnaires and FOCUS-ed (or cluster analysed) Dependency (individual and mode) grids were used to reveal and manipulate 11 teachers' resources and then to monitor how their group levels of stress were affected. Although the study reflected an idiographic approach rather than a substantive pattern, stress was reduced for the highly stressed, maintained for the moderately stressed and increased for the low stressed. Since using a not coping rather than a coping perspective characterised the distressed group before the intervention, teachers may need to emphasise a more affirmative stance. Once teachers establish what they construe as stressful and what support they can use, they are in a more informed position to engage in stress management or maintenance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-106
Author(s):  
Henning Bundtzen ◽  
Mark Heckmann ◽  
Gerriet Hinrichs

The research question we would like to answer with this article is if agile related constructs or personal assessment criteria can be elicited from a personal construct system of employees and leaders by carrying out a repertory grid study in an organisation. The methodology of personal construct psychology was chosen to get an unbiased view of the corporate culture. In a plannable world an organisational structure with a hierarchy of executives and managers following a vertical top-down approach makes sense. A world that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) requires a different model to organisational design. Horizontal integration that fosters involvement and empowerment has proven to be an agile response to this new environment. Consequently, agile management methods are a key instrument for an organisation to prepare for future challenges in a competitive industry. But how can an organisation assess its own agile status quo? This research uses personal construct psychology (PCP) to visualize the agility status of an organisation. A range of recent empirical and practical research articles were studied to filter the most relevant practices and critical factors of organisational agility. The findings are compared to a data basis generated by 61 repertory grid interviews carried out in a SME to evaluate whether personal construct theory is a suitable approach to assess the agility status of an organisation. The findings are visualised with a repertory grid software using Generalised Procrustes Analysis (GPA). This methodology creates a 3D visualisation of the agile assessment criteria derived from the interviews. By comparing the spatial distances between construct clusters and elements the researcher and reader able to assess whether an organisation has incorporated agile practices and traits or can further advance to react more agile and flexible to external forces. Repertory grid structured interviews based on PCP generate simultaneously quantitative and qualitative results. As these are compared to the literature-based findings, it reflects a triangulation research approach.


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