The Implementation of a Model of Person-Centred Practice In Older ...

The implementation of a model of person-centred practice in older person settings
Reflection
Practice development emphasises the centrality of learning. Reflection has been
widely used to enable practitioners to critically reflect on their experiences in their
work in the belief that this would evolve into informed action or praxis. Burns and
Bulman (2000) for example consider praxis is an important concept to critical theories
developed through the reciprocal relationship between action and critical reflection.
In addition, Johns (2000) drawing on Fay (1987) considers reflection is a critical
social process that enables practitioners to overcome forces that prevent them from
evolving through enlightenment, empowerment and emancipation. Reflection is
therefore a process that is concerned with the growth of a more emotionally
intelligent and powerful person. This person comes to better understand complex
situations and is willing to take action to reconstitute taken for granted patterns
relating to more powerful others in ways that enable them to realise a desirable and
effective practice. However, many practice development initiatives, including the pilot
project to this programme, report on the difficulties many practitioners have in
learning how to critically reflect and especially in acquiring the discipline of regular
and structured critical reflection.
Active Learning
Active Learning (Dewing 2008a; McCormack et al 2009) is an approach for in-depth
learning that draws on, creatively synthesizes and integrates numerous learning
methods. It is based in and from personal emotionally connected experience of
practitioners and patients/residents in the workplace. Being open to, engaging with
personal experience through critical reflection and learning from experience (seeing
and doing) with others are central activities in this approach. Active learning draws
on multiple intelligences; critical reflection; learning from self; from dialogue and
shared experiences with others, enabling facilitation and action and primarily takes
place in the workplace. Central to active learning is both the translation of learning
into practice, so that the practitioners own practice is experienced differently and
secondly, the enabling or facilitating of active learning with others. Active Learning
takes knowledge, in its many forms, and looks at how it can become (emotionally)
meaningful for individuals and teams. Thus it expands on what is known about
knowledge translation activity. Everyday doing and often taken for granted aspects
and patterns of practice are critical markers for Active Learning. For example: active
learning methods can be used to explore language and discourse; values and
beliefs; the environment and who it privileges; signage; routines and rituals; team
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