Reflective Practice In Pastoral Ministry Education Essay

Reflective Practice In Pastoral Ministry Education Essay The focus of this paper is reflective practice, which is the ability of individuals to learn from critically analysing events and experiences that they encounter in their daily lives besides the values and theories that support those activities. This is employed in various professionals such as in teaching, nursing, environmentalists among other professionals as a supplement for formal professional learning. In this study, reflective practice will be examined from a pastoral point of view. The term reflective practice will be examined with reference to its definition, the various types of reflective practice that exist and the models of reflective practice that are in use today. Additionally, reflective practice will be analysed from a pastoral point of view whereby the various ways in which it can be used in Christian ministry will be explored as well as the ways in which it has enabled the writer of this paper to develop or change their public relations as far as the ministry is concerned. Finally, the role of reflective practice in the learning experience of the writer will be examined. 2.Reflective practice 1)Definition Reflective practice is one of the core characteristics in professions such as education, health, environmental management and theology among others and usually refers to the ability of an individual to reflect on actions or acts in a way that facilitates further learning for the individual. This usually involves paying special attention to the activities of everyday life with special reference to the values and theirs that are the basis for these actions. Reflective learning encourages practice-based professional learning whereby individuals are able to learn from their experiences as opposed to formal and structured teaching. The term reflective practice is composed of two words; reflection and practice whereby the term reflection means to critically and accurately evaluate an item, an individual or a situation while experiencing them or after one has encountered them. Practice on the other hand refers to learning or mastery through repetition. Reflective practice has been defined by Moon as a set of abilities and skills, to indicate the taking of a critical stance, an orientation to problem solving or state of mind whereas Cowan has defined reflective thinking as the situation when they analyse or evaluate one or more personal experiences and attempt to generalise that from thinking. Biggs on the other hand defined reflective thinking as a reflection in a mirror is an exact replica of what is in front of it. Reflection in professional practice, however, gives back not what it is, but what might be an improvement of the original . In conclusion therefore, the process of reflective learning may be thought of as a process through which individuals critically evaluate their actions, thoughts and experiences and through this critical appraisal, are able to experience autonomous learning. The connection between knowledge and practice is further facilitated by the availability of an experienced professional within the discipline, in this case theology and pastoral ministry. In laymans terms, the practices and strategies for reflective practice includes questioning the manner in which one carries out various activities and comparing it to the manner in which others carry out the same activities; the search for alternatives in the course of accomplishing the same activities; comparing and contrasting; keeping an open mind; looking for the framework, theoretical basis and underlying rationale for those activities; viewing from various perspectives by asking for the viewpoints of others; consideration of the consequence s; hypothesising, testing, seeking, identifying and resolving problems . 2)Advantages of practice reflective Reflective practice in pastoral ministry is associated with a higher understanding for the minister of his or her own style in the course of ministry besides validation of his or her own ideas, beneficial challenges to traditional approaches, recognition of the role of ministry in society and the respect for diversity in the course of applying theories in practice . 3.Types Of Reflective Practice 1)Content Reflection This refers to the recounting of something that happened by the practitioner who in this case is the minister . This may be the outright description of a situation or of a problem such as Mr. Stan did not tell me anything that may have been troubling him in spite of the fact that I reassured him that I was ready to listen and despite his revelation that his family was unreceptive to him 2)Process Reflection This is where a practitioner the process that was involved in the happening of an event such as as I narrated in the encounter with Mr. Stan what my purpose was, then I began to carry out an intense physical assessment. I asked again about any concerns once in the middle of taking temperature, and did not mention it again. Mr. Stan failed to make eye contact when he said everything was ok. 3)Premise Reflection Premise reflection is where a problem, issue or situation is evaluated with the view of understanding why it happened or occurred. For example I wonder why he failed to respond to my questions. How come I didnt notice and respond to his body language then? Why did I not feel comfortable digging a little more? Did I ask about her problems too early in the interview and too often again when in the middle of the task? Was I comfortable? What should I do differently in a future situation? Do I feel comfortable acting differently in the future? What would assist me in the future? 4)Action Reflection This is also known as reflection on action and is used to refer to the reflection of actions, activities and events that happened in the past and may involve documentation of those past events and experiences and may be referred to as Schons model of reflection. 5)Critical Reflection Critical reflection is the process of analysing, reconsidering, and questioning experiences within a broad context of issues and can be broken down into various dimensions for the purposes of addressing various activities besides various levels of reflection. The first, second and third dimensions constitute the ordinary process of reflection whereas the fourth dimension constitutes the core of critical reflection. The first dimension involves critical observation for the purposes of understanding the issues in a deep and accurate way through the use of frameworks such as past experiences. The second dimension involves an exhaustive description of what has been observed whereas the third dimension involves the making of the meaning of what has been described. Finally, the fourth dimension refers to the addition of breadth and depth to the issue through asking questions about and relating meanings to a variety of professional and personal issues. 6)Reflection In Action Reflection in action refers to the reflection of an individual on action while in the course of carrying out the action. This is manifested in constant thinking throughout the duration of the action and is referred to as knowing in action, thinking on your feet and keeping your wits about you besides learning by doing as described by Schon. 4.Models Of Reflective Practice The purpose of these models is to enable professionals to draw lessons out of experiences in the course of enabling professionals to develop independence and to create a continuous, life long, learning experience. 1)Argyris and Schon 1978 In 1978, Argyris and Schon proposed the single loop and the double loop models of reflective practice on the basis of the identification and correction of an error, fault or mistake. Single loop learning is where the individual continues to rely on the old procedures in spite of the identification and resolution of a problem whereas double loop learning is where upon the identification and resolution of a problem, new procedures are adopted and in case the same problem appears again, a new solution is found. Later, Schon brought up the idea of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action whereby the former may be defined as thinking on their feet and the latter may be described as felt knowing. The idea behind these two concepts is that in the course of any practice, a professional normally experiences feeling, emotions and thoughts that are derived from a similar past experience and which enables them to face the situation at hand directly. 2)Kolb 1984 This model was heavily influenced by the works of Dewey and Piaget in the 1970s and besides focussing on experimental learning, is centred on the change of information into knowledge. This occurs when an event has already come to pass and involves the reflection of the individual on the experience in order to gain understanding and insight of the concepts, which are then transferred into a new situation. Thus, knowledge obtained from a specific situation is constantly and regularly utilised and builds on an individuals experience and knowledge . 3)Gibbs 1988 This is an improvement of Kolbs experimental learning cycle whereby structured debriefing is used as a way of enabling reflection. The stages of a full structured debriefing in order are: the initial experience, the description of the experience, the description of the feelings that an individual encountered, the valuation of the experience, an analysis of the experience, the general conclusions that an individual makes from the experience and analysis, the specific conclusion and the personal action plans in case a similar situation is encountered in future. These steps are also known as the Gibbs model of reflection or the Gibbs reflective cycle and are summarised as: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, and conclusion and action plan. 4)Johns 1995 This is a structured model of reflection that consists of a guide for individuals to gain higher understanding and is designed to include the participation of a colleague or a mentor, who facilitates faster transformation of the experience to learnt knowledge. This model is based on the earlier works of Carper and puts emphasis on the ability of a professional to access, understand and put into practice information gathered empirically through looking in on ones thoughts and emotions and looking out at the events that took place. This model includes Carpers four patterns of knowing which are: empirical, personal, ethical and aesthetic and reflexive. 5)Rolfe 2001 The basis of this model is Bortons developmental model of 1970 and involves a simplistic cycle consisting of three questions that a professional asks. These are: what, so what and what next. This enables an individual to describe a situation accurately, which further enables scrutiny of the situation and construction of knowledge that was learnt through the experience. After this, the various ways and methods in which one may improve as well as the results of ones response to the situation are evaluated . 6)Bauds model Bauds model places emphasis on the feelings and emotions of an individual besides being cyclical. This model recommends a critical analysis of an experience or an event with reference to the emotions or feelings that were experienced in the course of the event or after the event and application of the lessons that were learnt from this experience. 7)Greenaway 3-stage Model This model is based on three activities that are performed in cyclical progression. These are plan, followed by do, which is followed by review and so on. It is suggested that this model is closely related to the Gibbs model of reflective practice. 5.Use Of Reflective Practice In Christian Ministry The role of reflective practice in Christian ministry and Pastoral work cannot be overemphasised. This is especially so taking into consideration that ministry involves the delivery of the word of a perfect God, through an imperfect individual to other imperfect individuals with the aim of bringing them close and closer and closer to the fold. Additionally, Christian ministry is much more than preaching and one of its other components is to set a good example to the congregation and thus the need for reflective practice among the Christian ministers. 1)Reflective Practice in Church Ministry Leadership To begin with, reflective practice is important for a pastoral minister to accomplish his or her leadership role within a ministry. The leadership of any ministry is important in the achievement of the goals and objectives of that particular community in addition to influencing their congregations to view and value these in the same way. The role of leadership demands certain behaviours from the Christian minister and hence the minister needs to constantly reflect on his or her behaviour and adopt behaviour and actions that will serve as an example to the community. This would enable the attainment of goals and objectives besides steering the congregation to greater heights . 2) Reflective Practice in Prayer and Instruction Reflective practice may be used by the ministers to encourage congregation to reflect on their thoughts, experiences and events with reference to Biblical teachings as well as prayer as a way of encouraging them to live lives that are more godly. This may also be used by the ministers themselves as well in striving to live lives that are more godly. 3)Reflective Practice in Improving the Running of the Churchs Affairs. In the course of management of the affairs of the church, not everything that the minister comes across will have been taught in class and it is prudent for him or her to come up with ways of handling such situations. Additionally, the minister may find that some of the management that he or she may have learnt in the classroom are not so practical in some situations and it is in such times when reflective practice should be used to invent more olutions to management problems. 6.Role Of Reflective Practice In The Course Of Learning 1) Reflective Practice in Time Management In the course of learning, reflective practice has come in handy especially in the course of time management. By looking at past events and experiences, I have learnt how to plan ahead for activities, how to prioritise activities and the importance of allocating time both for working and for relaxation purposes. Unlike in the past, I am now able to meet my obligations and the stress that comes with undone work has dramatically reduced in my life. Consequently, in spite of fulfilling my responsibilities, I am able to engage in activities that I like. 2 )Reflective Learning in Accommodating Others Accommodation of others has been a challenge all along in my life and more so in the course of Christian ministry studies as a result of the diverse viewpoints that are held by my fellow students. However, by reflecting past instances of my intolerance towards the opinion of others, I was persuaded to try and accommodate the feelings of others. This turned out to be worthwhile as I learnt that it is important to accept the views and opinions of others no matter how offensive they are to me, since I realised that people like being listened to and understood even if not necessarily agreed with. This, I have learnt is perfect for harmonious living and coexistence even with my classmates. 3)Reflective Practice and Challenges at Work and in personal life Reflective practice has been instrumental in assisting me to deal with challenges at work and at home. In the past, difficulties and work would spill over when I got home and difficulties I experienced at home would affect my work. As a result of reflecting on these situations, I learnt that there is a time and place for everything and that what happens at home should not affect what happens at work and what happens at work should not impact my life away from work. This has enabled me to find fulfilment at home and at work in spite of whatever difficulties I may be experiencing. This has made me more effective in my work and responsibilities. 7.Conclusion This paper has been centred on reflective practice within the context of pastoral ministry. To begin with, the definition of the term reflective practice has been defined in laymans terms but the definitions of various experts such as Moon, Cowan and Biggs have also been included. The advantages of the practice of reflective practice especially among pastoral ministers have also been mentioned besides the types of reflective practice. The types of reflective practice that have been discussed in this study are: content reflection, process reflection, premise reflection, action reflection, critical reflection and reflection on action. This paper also contains brief discussions on the various models of reflective practice that have been proposed by experts over the years which are: Argyris and Schon model of 1978, Kolb model of 1984, Gibbs model of 1988, Johns model of 1995, and Rolfes model of 2001. Additionally, the importance of reflective practice in Christian ministry has been expl ored and in this case, its role in church leadership, prayer and instruction and in the running of the affairs of the church has all been discussed. The impact of reflective practice in my personal life has also been outlined with reference to its effects on the challenges that I encounter in my personal and professional life, in accommodating others, and in time management.

What Makes a Good Psychology Essay?

Words: 525 â€Å"What makes a good Psychology essay? † When writing an essay it is important to explain what the essay question is asking for. This helps when it comes to understanding what information is required from the essay. Before starting the essay the topic area that the essay question refers to must be recognised and well-understood, so researching topic areas before beginning an essay is essential. There are many modules in psychology such as cognitive psychology, individual and abnormal behaviour, biological psychology, social and development psychology and so on.It is important to determine which of these modules the essay question is relating to. Once the essay question has been understood the next step is deciding in what information to include. The information must be valid and relevant to the question. The content of the essay could be either descriptive or analytical; a descriptive essay, for example, needs to be factual and concise describing a specific area of psychology. An analytical essay on the other hand, requires you to compare and contrast different methods or models.A psychological essay involves specialist vocabulary, the content of the essay is written using psychological terminology in a clear and concise manner. To be able to write this way technical terms and definitions must be understood. An essay must be precise and also be able to distinguish between fact, opinion and argument. There are other factors that affect the quality of a psychology essay such as clarity and grammar. An essay must be easy to understand but yet use complex psychological terms. The point of a psychological essay is to convey relevant information in an academic manner.It also helps to know what information gains mark, as to avoid the inclusion of any irrelevant information. Academic English must be used to ensure that the person writing the essay is not misunderstood by the essay marker, academic English is more formal than â€Å"normal† En glish as it creates a sense of professionalism and confidence. Psychological essays have a generally accepted structure. They are written in continuous prose. The first section is an introduction providing the reader with background information about the topic area also includes the hypothesis or aim of the essay.The main section or discussion provides accurate descriptions of the topic area and the theories or research related through it. Essentially the main section attempts to answer the hypothesis or the title of the essay. Any relevant statistical information would be discussed in this section but still using a formal English style. The last section is a conclusion to the essay; this contains a summary of the discussion or main section, an evaluation will also be included and any sources or references would be cited here.Good psychological essays always have supporting data or evidence; the inclusion of these would make a reliable and precise essay. Psychological essays cite so urces using a specific method where the name of the author is written with the date of the supporting publication following in brackets. The Harvard system of referencing is used in psychological essays, both direct and indirect forms of referencing can be used. I have concluded that a good psychological essay would follow the processes I have discussed. Source – (www. psy. gla. ac. uk)

Getting the Best Scholarship Essay Samples Pdf

Getting the Best Scholarship Essay Samples Pdf The Birth of Scholarship Essay Samples Pdf If a student has a kid, they may require a phone in the event of a health emergency. Especially, write the method by which the scholarship is able to help you continue your education including the financial conditions of your family members and how you'll have the ability to help them as well. Some scholarships will just request a statement of financial need. If there are a number of scholarships provided by the exact same institution, specify which one applies to your circumstance. If you're applying for a scholarship odds are you will should compose an essay. If you're asking for a scholarship, odds are you're likely to should compose an essay. What's more, it's your opportunity to spell out why you will need money logically and reasonably. Without knowing good essay making, your likelihood of going into a very good college are slim. Possessing another man reading the essay is vital. It is your chance to tell your story. With our essay help you may be certain nobody shall get a better mark for the work than you. Remember that the individual reading your essay would like to give out money. Scholarship Essay Samples Pdf - Dead or Alive? The most important advantage of scholarships is that you receive money but do not need to pay anything back like with loans, as an example. In case the student is on call for work, he or she'll require access to a telephone. The scholarships you find are likely to fit into specific themes that you must have the ability to identify to be able to save your family time, frustration, stress, and most of all money. They are going to fit into specific themes which you must be able to identify in order to save your family time frustration stress and most importantly money. 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Facts, Fiction and Scholarship Essay Samples Pdf You might take a look at our Essay Outline Template to direct you in the introduction of such document. Paragraph i state a summary of what you're going to speak about in the essay. Detail what steps which you have already taken to cover your education, such as 529 Savings Plan. Begin with your achievements during your preceding amount of education, which might incorporate both academic and noncurricular activities. Writing financial need essays can be part of the application approach. Start brainstorming now, and you might find yourself a winner! Know the mission, vision, goals, and aims of the school and state how you'll be able to assist them achieve or promote it should you get chosen among their scholars. The end result is a strong essay with scientific depth. To help you produce a productive essay outline here are tips that can assist you. 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Identity and Ideology Beyond Death in Emily Dickinsons...

Emily Dickinson had a fascination with death and mortality throughout her life as a writer. She wrote many poems that discussed what it means not only to die, but to be dead. According to personal letters, Dickinson seems to have remained agnostic about the existence of life after death. In a letter written to Mrs. J. G. Holland, Emily implied that the presence of death alone is what makes people feel the need for heaven: â€Å"If roses had not faded, and frosts had never come, and one had not fallen here and there whom I could not waken, there were no need of other Heaven than the one below.† (Bianchi 83). Even though she was not particularly religious, she was still drawn to the mystery of the afterlife. Her poetry is often contemplative of†¦show more content†¦Beauty is even capitalized in the sentence to stress its importance. By punctuation, one cannot as easily rush through this line without feeling the weight of it. Therefore, I believe it is because Dickinson had found the words to fully express what she meant that she used dashes to intensify their impression on the reader. The narrator of this poem seems to be Dickinson herself. Dickinsons poetry about death is often imaginative of what it would be like to die, (as in â€Å"I heard a fly buzz†). It seems unnecessary for her to create a fictional narrator for her poems that are not about the narrator so much as they are about the situations of the narrator. Also, there is no evidence to indicate the â€Å"I† referring to a person other than Dickinson herself. In â€Å"I died for Beauty,† Dickinson begins by imagining her own death. The opening line does not tell us how the author has died, but attempts to explain why. That she died for beauty could mean one of a number of things. The â€Å"for† could mean â€Å"in order to obtain,† as in the sentence â€Å"I paid for lunch.† The problem with this definition is that the rest of the poem does not indicate the expectation of the narrator to have gained something by dying. Another possible meaning of â€Å"forâ₠¬  could be â€Å"in place of,† as a bodyguard is willing to â€Å"take a bullet for† a person being protected. However,