Hi everyone. I am finally getting myself motivated to start the work I need to do for this module. I don't know about everyone else but I have found it so hard to start again this term. There seems to be so much more work to do and I think that has frightened me off rather than inspiring me. I went to the campus session yesterday though and that really helped me realise that the time has come to pull my finger out and get on with things so hopefully in the next few days I will be writing several posts.
I just wanted to start but writing a short account of one of the tasks we did in groups at the campus session yesterday. Rosemary asked one person from each group to write up our thoughts and I volunteered. The task was to identify opportunities and challenges that people face when they are carrying out an inquiry within the work place.
Opportunities:
You are in perfect position to understand problem areas that need to be fixed.
You would have hopefully a passion and interest for the inquiry.
You would be directly effected by the inquiry and therefore are in a position to reap the benefits.
Challenges:
You may be too involved and therefore overlook basic, obvious elements of the inquiry (unable to see the wood for the trees).
You may have preconceptions and may have a desired outcome which could lead you to manipulate the results to suite your needs or only focus your attention in the area that confirms your opinions. In the long run this benefits no one.
It may be difficult if you have too strong an emotional attachment to the inquiry or have to personal a relationship with people involved. This could lead to ethical problems with the information that is obtained.
Rosemary explains the whole campus session in more detail on her blog so if you (like me) have found it difficult to start you may find it helps. Looking forward to hearing everyone's opinions over the coming months.
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteGreat to finally meet you and everyone I have been following on Tuesday!
Im sat here thankful for your post and now wish id read it before i posted mine a couple of seconds ago! It seems my group and I got a little confused and when completing the task you are talking about quite possibly miss heard the question!! Oh well I will go back to the drawing board lol.... Take a look and let me know your thoughts
Thanks Nicole
Now we are up and running I think we will get back in to the swing of it! Thanks for writing up the opportunities and challenges that we discussed of being an insider in an inquiry.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same but on the ball people like you inspire me to also pull my finger out!
ReplyDeleteYour group obviously had a better understanding of the question put forward by Rosemary as your answers make alot of sense.
Thankyou
Reading this entry, it has become clear that our group misunderstood this task completely! Your answers make much more sense, like Nicole said! It has given me a lot more to think about.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same Mark, I am abroad for another 2 weeks and have tried to start some work, but am just not in an environment that I can work in... I need my desk at home! Thanks for the post, at least I can get some thoughts flowing around my head even if I don't actually post anything!!!
ReplyDeleteGood comments - it is helpful to see things clearly after reading someone else's blog but people should not be so hard on themselves in the process...learning from peers inside the BAPP network and outside the network are both on the cards and engagement the conducting medium. I think even seasoned professionals still need to review their own insider-inquiry techniques periodically. I went to a very eye-opening short course on research ethics at UCL while at Birkbeck and the issues surrounding professional ethics - a part of a Professional Practice inquiry - were fascinating. The only person I remember not showing up the second day was a geologist working with petroleum - so I think he thought he did not have to bother with research that had to do with humans- there - telling tales - but generally inquiry in the workplace is a tricky business that does need to be extensively thought through to be effective and ethical.
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