Critical reflection on Professional Practitioner Enquiry

Critical reflection on Professional Practitioner Enquiry.

Part 1

It became clear whilst carrying out the research for the first task that my initial ideas still required much refinement. I began to doubt my initial resolve as I encountered a number of stumbling blocks (Appendices A).

Although the number of SIG’s I joined (Appendices B) did not result in much of a dialogue, it was suggested (Appendices B) that I may find people with similar interests on LinkedIn. Disappointingly I also found a lack of conversations through these groups. Consequentially I began actively engaging more with my network outside of the course, discussing my thoughts and honing my ideas.

Despite much of my research and progress resulting from relationships outside of BAPP I have had a number of informative discussions via fellow students blogs (Appendices M, Appendices N, Appendices D), as well as various insightful conversations with my course tutor, which have informed my enquiry.

It was one of these conversations with my tutor that helped decide that Interviews, rather than a desk based approach to gathering data, would be my chosen method to inspire excitement into the research process (Appendices D).

Part 2

When I recorded my own thoughts on the codes of practice in my chosen profession Appendices E at the beginning of this section, I had not been aware of their complexity and importance. It was only after seeing them compared with two actual codes of conduct that I began taking seriously this previously overlooked topic Appendices C. This assisted in my new found appreciate of the relevance, and key part, ethics must play in a professional context and how these lessons extend to the practices of conducting my own enquiry.

Part 3

The final tasks of this module were to pilot and review the merits and limits of four different tools for data gathering Appendices I, Appendices F, Appendices K, Appendices L, and review three pieces of literature that are related to my topic Appendices H, helped develop not only better skills to carry out my specific enquiry but was when I became aware of a possible winning combination.

Guided by further discussions with my tutor and network, it was at this point, that my enquiry took its current shape. After experiencing each of the pilot investigatory tools, I was confident that interviewing was the best medium for me to gather the information I desired whilst simultaneously having the potential to increase my professional network and when I had completed the three literary reviews I was convinced of the value a wide variety of literature Appendices G, would bring to this subject.

Storing the many sources that have informed this enquiry thus far Appendices J will allow me to more easily share my findings with, and help others in the future.

Through the completion of its various tasks designed to, challenge and broaden my thinking, this module, whilst being underpinned by the networking and critical reflection skills developed during the first module, has built on, and augmented them, and thereby enlightened every other aspect, from the ethical considerations to the tools and skills essential in creating and refining a comprehensive professional practitioner enquiry.

APPENDICES

Appendices A             Phil’s Blog – Current Lines of Enquiry

Appendices B             Phil’s Blog - WANTED!! Help and SIG

Appendices C             Phil’s Blog – Task 5B

Appendices D            Phil’s Blog – Break throughs!!

Appendices E             Phil’s Blog – Task 5A

Appendices F             Phil’s Blog – Pilot Survey

Appendices G             Google Docs - Phil Carroll - SIG Resources List

Appendices H            Phil’s Blog - Literature Reviews

Appendices I              Phil’s Blog - Results of Piloted Investigatory Tools

Appendices J              Google Docs – Screen shot of BAPP websites

Appendices K                        Google Docs – Interview with Susan Alexander

Appendices L             Google Docs – Interview with Paul Preston

Appendices M            Lisa Whyte’s Blog – P & P - comments

Appendices N                        Phil’s Blog – Break throughs!! - comments

Results of Piloted Investigatory Tools

Four different methods of information gathering, analysis and evaluation were piloted. The intention was to familiarize us with their main features as well as increase our proficiency with their execution. The undertaking of these pilots not only helped illuminate which tools may be of most value to our enquiry, but also helped further clarify our enquiries and provide further contextual research.

My lack of clarity with my final subject hampered the focus group I held at the last campus session, limiting both the benefits I could derive from it as well as depriving me of any valuable insights at the this early stage of my enquiry. My primary concern with this tool would be the negative influence to the responses given resulting from group perception.

My pilot survey was rather more successful and although I have chosen other tools for my current enquiry I learned a lot from its execution and will without doubt use surveys in the future for data gathering.

I used a mix of descriptive and analytical questions to gain more useful information. The additional information boxes as I did from the tick box section. I can get many peoples opinions relatively quickly and easily. The information is likely to be easier and quicker to interpret. However it should be noted that social desirability is likely to be present in both Survey and Interview. Although in an interview you are able to put the interviewee at their ease to increase the chances of eliciting a truthful answer, the survey does have the advantage of being anonymous so it could be argued that this encourages the most truthful responses. With an interview however you may be able to spot an un-truthful answer, through their non-verbal communication but with a survey you would need to carry out a number of surveys in which you could trial the ordering as well as phrasing of questions to attempt to lessen any affects that social desirability may be playing which would take a lot more time but also require a lot more resources. I asked the questions in a set order as it leads through a natural process so I didn’t want to randomize the order in which they were asked. Saying this one of the respondents did say that a couple of the questions were misleading because they came too early in the survey.

My survey was answered by 7 people, meaning that the results can only be relied upon to an extent, when drawing hypotheses from their data. Irrespective of this fact, the process was a very beneficial and a number of valuable lessons were learned from the experience as well as some unexpected points to consider and explore further throughout my enquiry. It doesn’t really assist my enquiry directly but was non the less an interesting exercise to gain the opinions from the other side of the coin (not just the coaches but their clients). In terms of improvement, Q1, Q5 could be less ambiguous which could result in better end data. Q2 & 6 worked really well and Q8 brought out some information that I had not even considered.

After having completed my survey I found a link to Peter Bryant’s post on preparing a survey [http://peterbryant.smegradio.com/?p=42] through Alicia’s blog which, after the experience I had just had creating my own was very helpful. Together with actually completing Peter’s Survey I was able to apply his thoughts to the practice of survey writing. It was concise, clear and focused. He had it in 2 pages making it less intimidating, encouraging fuller answers. Q1 “What terms describe your artistic form (you may select more than one)”, clearly illustrates the importance and ease with which you can lead the respondents to provide their answers but in the format you desire. The use of the instructions in brackets really would have helped a number of my questions. 

In terms of hours per week, how long do you spend: [table] excellently designed to capture exactly the info he wanted to capture. After taking part in a couple of other surveys I also gleaned some great ideas which I shall carry through to future surveys. Jo Bradley’s Blog – my comments.

When writing this survey I did not really have a crystal clear idea of what I went into it to achieve other than just to do one for the experience. I ask mainly questions based on public speaking. Although this information was very interesting it is inevitably less useful than had there been a clear objective and one about coaching. I know now that if I were to be using a survey for other future enquiries I will ensure that it has a very clear objective which I will summarise at the top and have very clearly written, unambiguous questions with plenty of instructions in brackets. The order of the questions will also be more carefully considered to ensure an easy to follow train of though for the respondent. I suspect that many of my new questions will be informed from the responses that I have gathered from other BAPP students through our discussions and comments. One such insight came from a discussion with Sarah Pearson on qualifications/ ethics (Phil’s Blog - Task 5A) in which she picked up on my point of a lack of formal qualifications required in Life Coaching to which she asked would people not expect to see ‘Proof of qualifications’. I would like to investigate this further, the publics qualifying process for someone’s ability to be a good coach. I am likely to want to use it to find peoples thoughts on coaches, what would make you choose one over another, how and where would you look for one etc. This however is for another future enquiry.

My pilot observation was non intrusive and I notified the subject afterwards to ensure that they were comfortable with me using the data I gathered. This did afford me the opportunity to clearly compare his actual behavioral patterns to those he had identified two days earlier in my interview with him. His coaching style in a group seminar setting, as we discussed in his interview [Appendice], was very energetic and polished and to be able to draw any discerning reflections I would need to observe him a few more times and in a one to one setting. The insights, observations potentially yield, despite their inherent power to unearth ‘real behavior’ are, however not relevant for my enquiry.

Two pilot interviews were carried out. Both interviewees are coaches although Paul Preston does so primarily through group public speaking, whilst Susan Alexander, operates more on an individual basis.

Useful qualitative results were gathered and have inspired areas of research.

The first interview was with Susan Alexander (transcription notes can be viewed if requested and permission by the interviewee is granted) and was conducted face to face in her offices and was a great learning experience.

An audio recording was used rather than a video as I felt it would be less intrusive allowing her to relax more and feel comfortable enough to give truthful answers.

Many valuable lessons were learned this first interview experience.

How the placement of one incorrect word, can throw off the entire response to that question (page 6).

On a couple of occasions Susan got off topic (page 11/12) and after the first time this happened I began re-asking the question more precisely (page 14) as well as asking her to expand on her last answer (page 15).

It was important to design my questions to lead very naturally into each other, whilst still fascilatating me the flexability to easily adapt or reposition them. Both of these aspects were vital to maintain the natural flow and elicit the most comprehensive responses. I tried to structure it so that the earlier questions were geared more towards something they are certain of, easy to answer (page 1) and not too controversial until such time as I could build up a rapport and help them relax and gain their trust. As the interview progressed I began with the more probing and challenging questions where they are required to offer their feelings/reactions about certain subjects (page 17).

It was clearly demonstrated in one of Susan’s answers that my question was not clear enough. I asked too many questions within the same question leading to her answering only the last of them and forgetting/not hearing the others, although they were related (page 16). At another point it was clear that she no longer wanted to talk about that topic any longer (page 20) so to keep the momentum going I carefully phrased my next question to be “Moving more onto…” subconsciously this I think reassured her that we were moving away from that previous point.

I also began re-iterating back to the interviewee what they had just said and found that it had the desired affect which was to reassure them that they were both making sense and were making interesting and valid points (page 22).

Conscious of the great length of my previous interview with Susan, I wanted to keep my second interview with Paul Preston (transcription notes can be viewed if requested and permission by the interviewee is granted), which, due to convenience for the interviewee, was held over the phone, short and to the point. The quality of the recording was greatly reduced making the transcription much more difficult.

My expectations were that it would take a more structured tone, due in part to the difficulty in creating the ambiance that is more easily created in a face to face situation, however in reality, I found the interview much more difficult to manage, in terms of it’s length and staying on point as I was unable to utilise normal non verbal cues. Despite, this time, qualifying pre interview what the focus and objectives were (Page 1), combined with Paul’s talkative nature resulting in the interview taking more of an informal structure. It was certainly more convenient for the both of us and, despite my preference of interview style being semi structured, may need to utilize this interview method again due to the busy nature of my intended interviewees. If this were the case I would ensure that, before beginning, I discuss my objectives for this interview with them so they are clear on my desired outcome.

I built on my learning from my first interview kept the questions simple, open and purposeful to optimize the information gathered whilst maintaining the freedom of structure to role with the answers and explore unprecedented avenues of thought/responses (page 8).

Firstly I noticed a much easier, and so less intrusive to the loose natural flow of our conversation, transition when I introduced the change of topic as well as framing the importance or sensitivity of the next section (page 8/9).

All in all these were incredibly interesting and beneficial to carry out.

For the purposes of this enquiry I intend to use primarily a face to face, Semi structured Interview technique. After considering the different styles of interview techniques, from Non directive through to fully structured, I feel that this format strikes the best balance between keeping an informal enough nature to elicit real and honest responses with just enough direction to ensure the desired areas are comprehensively managed whilst minimising deviation from topic.

Through this approach I hope that the natural conversational flow will draw out a deeper/fuller answer through the rapport built and easy flowing approach I intend to take. I will get a more rounded answer to my questioning and more depth as well as having an opportunity to meet these professionals and speak to them on a more personal level, making contacts and possibly increasing my Network at the same time.  To ensure that I have the best chance to capture the exact phrasings used, as well as the interviewee’s full depth of experience, I will be making a clear recording of the interview, which will be much more accurately than note taking.

The obvious potential down sides of gathering data through interview is the volume of material produced to transcribe and analyse, as well as the reliability of results when comparing across the respondents. However as I have at this time little intention of direct comparison of these interviews and am hopeful of gathering lots of material to improve the chance of drawing out some real meaningful points, neither of these are, to me, real down sides. Although I wish them to relax and speak freely, I will be guiding the interview to optimize the quality of data gathered whilst keeping to a minimum digression or getting side tracked with superfluous information.

To add further depth and colour to the information I gather from my interviews I intend to use a range of various solid Literary pieces, such as Biographies, Auto Biographies of Life Coaches as well as other inspirational people in the field of motivational speaking and coaching. My hope would be that though the examination and study of these individuals, who have made the transition from other fields, I will be able to triangulate the information and explore any correlation between the literary stories and those I’ve captured through interview.

Stay safe - Phil

Literature reviews

Literature reviews

1/

Tales of the Field – On Writing Ethnography by John Van Maanen.

The main body of the book covers John Van Maanen’s views on the three main ways of presenting your cultural findings in print; realist, confessional or impressionist tales. As well as discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each of these styles he makes the point that as much thought, care and skill is required to be employed in the method of presenting your findings as to the facts them selves. Awareness of your angle/biases, overall tone/style, bearing in mind your audience, as well as the authenticity of the facts gathered during your research is of equal importance. His aim is not to enforce one way of recording cultural stories, avoiding putting down the various sociological and anthropological methods of recording cultural data, merely to encourage the writer to make the decisions over their choice of voice to portray their work in a conscious one. The book is quite humerous at times and, although it discusses in depth topics, is written in a conversational way making it more accessible and enjoyable to consume his ideas. He refrains from rubbishing the various sociological and anthropological methods of recording cultures and merely presents his opinion that more of the writers feeling/personality should be used. 

This epiphany is of vital importance to my enquiry. If I am to succeed in approaching this enquiry from a sensitive angle, paying homage to my interviewee’s lives, then all of the above factors must be managed purposefully to ensure the correct end result is achieved.

I could not agree more with the views of this book, I personally feel that the importance of putting “self” into what ever you do, obviously at an appropriate level, is of paramount importance. I have no desire to produce merely a dry, factual document. For me it must be from my point of view and clearly express as such.

This book has been a great introduction for me into this field of recording cultural/biographical interviewing. It has provided me with a great grounding to explore this field of research in greater depth.

I did however take a short break from it to consult a more immediately accessible methodological book.

2/

Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology – Hugh Coolican. 

It’s written from the point of view of University Lecturer in Psychology and so this sets the general tone and angle from which all the information is presented. It is put forward in a highly accessible way and is obviously designed with students in mind as it has a self-test glossary, key terms and exercises at the end of each section. Despite this point of view each of the sections, in particular the one on research methods are written and concepts discussed in a well balanced way presenting both the experimental and non-experimental designs. For instance the subject of qualitative over quantitative results is covered fully.

Although this book was immediately useable and very useful for the technical aspects and methodology of gathering and analysing data, the personal and subtle premise of Tales of the field will, I think, prove to be of much greater value and importance to the soul of this enquiry.

3/

wendy-buckingham - all about becoming a life coach 

A fantastic website that I have just found. It does not seem to have an obvious angle, selling something etc, that I have discovered yet and appears to be a great wealth of unbiased information. Wendy is an established Life Coach who is openly discussing and sharing her experience with those who wish to become Life Coaches. Her main aim appears to be just to share her knowledge and experience. The site consists of 5 sub headings: How to Become a Life Coach, Building your practice, Working with clients, Goal setting and Important information. Contained within each of these main headings are sub headings such as: coaching articles, becoming a life coach, expert interviews a well as a whole section dedicated to her coaching tips and goal setting ideas. It is very unusual that someone, without wanting something in return, willingly gives so freely of their time, energy and hard earned wisdom. For me this is a wonderful beacon of hope that there could be coaches out there who truly are interested in merely helping people. This sites information will be a great source to layer on top of my interview data, adding much warmth and colour.

4/

dailymail - The life coach Con. Can you really trust someone to solve your problems?

An article written by Tom Mitchelson, a journalist who seems to have a decidedly negative/skeptical view of the LC industry, “it seems that all he's done is announce his intention of riding it.” he commented in response to a persons decision to begin cycling more on his bike.

His main premise of the article is that there is currently no supervisory body regulating the quality/qualifications of Life Coaches. “When you see a doctor, you can be pretty sure he's got a medical degree or two. But if you see a life coach, they may have 'qualified' in just a few hours and have less ability to assist you than your next door neighbour or the woman from the Post Office.”

He embarks on a 6 day Life Coaching course and explains that “On day one we learn what a life coach is - someone who helps people help themselves. The tutors define what a coach does, or rather, doesn't do.

We are not mentors, counsellors or consultants. We don't direct, advise, analyse, judge or look into the past. All our questions should be open- ended and not leading or suggestive…The client should provide all the answers to their problems themselves.”

He goes on to explain that the type of person that is attracted to becoming a LC:

“Most of the fellow students I talk to are dissatisfied in their jobs. They all have something in common: they want to change their lives and are attracted to the idea of being their own boss, helping others and qualifying for a professional career within a week.”

He felt that it didn’t matter how bad or even if you attended all the days of the course you would still get the qualification.

The topic of the piece was about being qualified/job capable. He is definitely of the opinion that many who claim to be LC’s are neither.

It’s a great thought provoking article and it’s good to view other peoples opinions. Especially those who are not currently very impressed by the LC role. Only by understanding both sides can you better understand the topic as a whole. I agree with the article, there are currently no formal qualifications/qualifying process for becoming a LC. This damages the credibility of the job role, one, because its not seen as difficult or skilled and two, it is bound to attract less than able people to it, doing a terrible job for people leading to many other LC’s being tarred with the same brush. However it does pose an opportunity for those who are good, and find a niche they can excel in, to stand head and shoulders above the rest.

SIG Resources list

Heres link to my SIG document on Google Docs containing a large number of the sources of information i have discovered so far through internet searches, recommendations from my network as well as from the references sited in the back of similar books.

SIG Resources list

Hope you are all well and on top of your enquiries.
Stay safe - Phil

Pilot Survey

Hey guys

Here's the link to my first ever pilot survey entitled People's experiences of Public Speaking/Life Coaches. So much easier than i thought it was going to be. Survey Monkey is such an amazing tool.
It's objective is to help me investigate people's experiences and views of public speakers/life coaches.

Phil's Pilot Survey for BAPP

It should take no more than 4-5mins and i would really appreciate any feedback.
Thank you in advance for your help and time.

Stay safe - Phil

Hey guys

Here's the link to my first ever pilot survey entitled People's experiences of Public Speaking/Life Coaches.

Phil's Pilot Survey for BAPP

Task 5B

Below are two codes of Practice/Ethics. One for a life coach, chosen as it clearly demonstrates the more personal approach adopted by most professional in this field, and one public speaking which conversely illustrates the slightly more regulated/corporate view.

 

Ethics in Life Coaching

Your life coach will:

•  Always conduct herself to the highest levels of ethics, integrity, accountability and responsibility. 

•  Treat all clients and potential clients with absolute dignity, confidentiality and respect as free and equal individuals. 

•  Uphold and maintain the good representation of the profession of life coaching. 

•  Comply with both the spirit and the letter of any agreements made with her clients, potential clients and other professional colleagues. 

•  Make any commercial agreements with clients and potential clients that are fair and respect all parties to such agreements. 

•  Clearly state to clients and potential clients, the terms of any commercial agreement.

•  Represent true levels of status, title, competence and experience in order not to mislead, misrepresent or defraud.

•  Make no un-realistic claims or implications of the services provided.

•  Obtain written permission from any client or potential client before releasing their names as referees.

•  Respect the absolute rights of clients' confidentiality except as expressly permitted by the client or potential client in writing or as required by law.

•  Recommend different coaching, professional advice or resources when these will be more appropriate to the client's needs.

•  Not offer professional information or advice that is known to be confidential, misleading or where accuracy is beyond her competence to assess.

•  Not knowingly coach anyone below the age of 18 years without the express written consent of parent, guardian or teacher as appropriate.

•  Comply with all laws and bye-laws of the UK and the country of residence where the client is based if that is not within the UK. 

•  Ensure that all advertisements and promotional materials, whether verbal or written, are legal, decent, honest, truthful and in compliance with the UK Advertising Standards Authority. 

Make a copy of this Code freely available to all clients and potential clients, and if requested to any other interested parties.

Ethics for Public Speakers:

The National Speakers Association Code of Professional Ethics

The purpose of this Code of Professional Ethics is to establish and maintain our brand, reputation and public confidence in the professionalism, dedication, and integrity of not only the individual member of NSA, but also of the Association itself.

The characteristics of honesty, leadership and stewardship are integral to the success of both NSA and the individual professional speaker.

Therefore, all members of NSA subscribe to this Code of Professional Ethics as a condition of membership, with the firm belief that each member will strive to uphold the values, reputation and legacy of NSA. By doing so, members recognize the necessity to preserve and encourage fair and equitable practices among all who are engaged in professional speaking.

Violations of this Code are determined in accordance with the bylaws, policies and procedures of NSA. Any disciplinary action instituted by NSA shall be binding and final upon the NSA member and without recourse to the Association, its officers, members or staff.

Article 1 – Representation
The NSA member has an obligation to oneself and to NSA to represent oneself truthfully, professionally and in a non-misleading manner. The NSA member shall be honest and accurate in presenting qualifications and experience in the member’s communication with others.

Article 2 – Professionalism 
The NSA member shall act, operate his/her business, and speak in a most professional and ethical manner so as neither to offend nor bring discredit to oneself, the speaking profession or one’s fellow NSA members.

Article 3 – Research 
The NSA member shall exert efforts to understand each client’s organization, approaches, goals and culture in advance of a presentation, in order to professionally apply one’s expertise to meet each client’s needs.

Article 4 – Intellectual Property
The NSA member shall avoid using – either orally or in writing – materials, titles or thematic creations originated by others unless approved in writing by the originator.

Article 5 – Respect & Collegiality 
The NSA member shall maintain a collegial relationship with fellow members that is based on respect, professional courtesy, dignity and the highest ethical standards.

Article 6 – Confidentiality
The NSA member shall maintain and respect the confidentiality of business or personal affairs of clients, agents and other speakers.

Article 7 – Business Practices
The NSA member is obligated to maintain a high level of ethical standards and practices in order to assist in protecting the public against fraud or any unfair practice in the speaking profession and shall attempt to eliminate from the profession all practices that could bring discredit to the speaking profession.

Article 8 – Diversity 
The NSA member shall not participate in any agreement or activity that would limit or deny access to the marketplace to any other speaker, to a client, or to the public. This includes, but not limited to, economic factors, race, ethnicity, creed, color, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or country of national origin of any party.

The two terms, Code of Practice and Code of Ethics, seem to be used quite interchangeably by most. I’m assuming because to most of the general public, as I too demonstrated in my statement at the end of Task 5A, “at the moment, they mean the same”.

However, on further investigation, I began to uncover distinct differences.

As far as I can gather, most people are of the opinion that a code of Practice/Regulations/Conduct relates to your actions/behaviour where as the code of Ethics embodies more the concepts of right and wrong, your beliefs.

They are very strongly linked as your Practices are generally lead by your Ethics. Most people understand that sexual harassment, bulling is not acceptable behavior whether set out in the Codes of Practice of not. However if a company decides that employees should not make personal calls at work and they do, the act of making a phone call, which is not normally considered an immoral act, becomes one, as it conflicts the set out terms of practice.

The Codes of Practice seem also to be something that sets out clearly and plainly the moral expectations of the individual. Your own personal Codes of Ethics could be something that you default back to in situations unclearly governed by the terms stipulated in the codes of practice. This could also work just as easily in reverse. Leading me to believe that they are both a guide and back up for individuals in times of decision.

These findings are not a million miles away, although infinitely more comprehensive, from my initial thoughts in Task 5A. The main differences as far as I can see are the definite difference between Practice and Ethics. Before they seemed the same to me and, as I’ve discussed above, although they are very strongly linked, they are too, very different.

My initial ideas on the fields not being too heavily weighed down by restrictive legislation still hold true but I can see that a clearly defined list of do’s and don’ts (all be mostly common sense for most people) can be used as a back up to aid and support in times of need.

Stay safe - Phil