scholarly journals Conversations on Method: Deconstructing Policy through the Researcher Reflective Journal

Author(s):  
Ruth Slotnick ◽  
Valerie Janesick

In this article the authors argue that the researcher reflective journal is a critical interpretive tool for conducting educational policy analysis. The idea for this research grew from the experiences of a doctoral candidate (Ruth) in pursuit of a policy focused dissertation and a series of on-going conversations with her qualitative methodologist (Valerie). The structure of the paper takes a dialogue form on the topic of policy analysis and the various uses of the journal, including found data poetry and photographic representations of the self as a research instrument, which may expand the findings and increase options for data presentation. Sections of the paper include a discussion on journal writing as a creative process, the reflective role of the researcher when examining policies, and the challenges of constructing a well-designed methodological framework.

Author(s):  
Bình Thị Thanh Nguyễn ◽  
Ngọc Thị Thanh Trần ◽  
Ngọc Thị Lê Hoàng

Critical thinking has been recently recognised as an important skill in Vietnamese education and in EFL field. However, research on critical thinking practices or critical thinking development in Vietnamese EFL classes is still rare. This study investigated some Vietnamese EFL students’ critical thinking via their reflective journals in American-British Literature classes.30 reflective journals of 15 students were analysed to look for the evidence of the students’ critical thinking. Seven students (out of 15) were then invited for a semi-structured interview to further understand their thoughts in their reflective journals and to get their opinions about the role of reflective journal writing for opportunities to express or develop critical thinking. Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) cognitive levels and Barnett’s (1997) criticality domains were combined to form a framework for analysing the data in this study.The study found that the students demonstrated their critical thinking by being able to analyse, evaluate and create not only literary knowledge but also themselves and the world. Reflective journal writing was found to assist the opportunities to develop students’ critical thinking. It is implied from the study’s findings that the critical thinking framework which combines Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) cognitive levels and Barnett’s (2015) criticality domains can be used as a reference tool to develop and assess critical thinking or to design teaching contents with the integration of critical thinking. Reflective journal writing activity can be widely used in EFL content classes in general and in EFL Literature classes in particular to promote students’ critical thinking.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsey E. Medeiros ◽  
Logan M. Steele ◽  
Logan L. Watts ◽  
Michael D. Mumford
Keyword(s):  

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Donnelly ◽  
Radmila Prislin ◽  
Ryan Nicholls
Keyword(s):  

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Ramona Bobocel ◽  
Russell E. Johnson ◽  
Joel Brockner

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Chambers ◽  
Nick Epley ◽  
Paul Windschitl
Keyword(s):  

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Feldman

This paper is a contribution to the growing literature on the role of projective identification in understanding couples' dynamics. Projective identification as a defence is well suited to couples, as intimate partners provide an ideal location to deposit unwanted parts of the self. This paper illustrates how projective identification functions differently depending on the psychological health of the couple. It elucidates how healthier couples use projective identification more as a form of communication, whereas disturbed couples are inclined to employ it to invade and control the other, as captured by Meltzer's concept of "intrusive identification". These different uses of projective identification affect couples' capacities to provide what Bion called "containment". In disturbed couples, partners serve as what Meltzer termed "claustrums" whereby projections are not contained, but imprisoned or entombed in the other. Applying the concept of claustrum helps illuminate common feelings these couples express, such as feeling suffocated, stifled, trapped, held hostage, or feeling as if the relationship is killing them. Finally, this paper presents treatment challenges in working with more disturbed couples.


2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-243
Author(s):  
Irit Degani-Raz

The idea that Beckett investigates in his works the limits of the media he uses has been widely discussed. In this article I examine the fiction Imagination Dead Imagine as a limiting case in Beckett's exploration of limits at large and the limits of the media he uses in particular. Imagination Dead Imagine is shown to be the self-reflexive act of an artist who imaginatively explores the limits of that ultimate medium – the artist's imagination itself. My central aim is to show that various types of structural homologies (at several levels of abstraction) can be discerned between this poetic exploration of the limits of imagination and Cartesian thought. The homologies indicated here transcend what might be termed as ‘Cartesian typical topics’ (such as the mind-body dualism, the cogito, rationalism versus empiricism, etc.). The most important homologies that are indicated here are those existing between the role of imagination in Descartes' thought - an issue that until only a few decades ago was quite neglected, even by Cartesian scholars - and Beckett's perception of imagination. I suggest the use of these homologies as a tool for tracing possible sources of inspiration for Beckett's Imagination Dead Imagine.


2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-336
Author(s):  
Zosia Kuczyńska

The Brian Friel Papers at the NLI reveal a long and relatively unexplored history of major and minor influences on Friel's plays. As the archive attests, these influences manifest themselves in ways that range from the superficial to the deeply structural. In this article, I draw on original archival research into the composition process of Friel's genre-defining play Faith Healer (1979) to bring to light a model of influence that operates at the level of artistic practice. Specifically, I examine the extent to which Friel's officially unacknowledged encounter with a book of interviews with painter Francis Bacon influenced the play in terms of character, language, and form. I suggest that Bacon's creative process – incorporating his ideas on the role of the artist, the workings of chance, and the extent to which art does violence to fact – may have had a major influence on both the play's development and on Friel's development as an artist.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document