Self-reflexive Student Research and its Implications for Social Work Education

Abstract

This paper presents a thematic analysis of postgraduate social work student research on refugee and migrant experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand, collected in the last decade from one university social work programme. The focus is on the ways in which students located themselves in relation to their research, which explored diverse facets of refugee and migrant experience and was invariably connected in some way to their own experiences. Students not only learnt to conduct qualitative research, but also found that having been drawn to locate themselves within it for ethical reasons, their self-reflexive stance had enabled greater personal learning and in some cases, healing. This added greatly to their professional development and through the collation of their research reports it can be shown that for students, locating themselves in relation to their research may be a worthwhile part of learning to be a professional social worker.An Indian man sits quietly in the Heathrow Airport terminal. He seems to look at something inside himself and his eyes are empty, inward-looking. After a couple of days, the terminal staff start to notice him and ask what he is doing, why does he not go out and leave the terminal like all the other passengers? He answers that he has flown all the way from Bombay to London, and is now waiting for his soul to arrive.

A Mixed Research Synthesis of Literature on Teaching Qualitative Research Methods

“…The findings from the empirical studies confirmed that, when students engaged in experiential and practice-based learning, they underwent a paradigm shift about qualitative research (Hein, 2004;Pratt & Dolbin-MacNab, 2003;Reisetter et al, 2003); they made personal connections with the stories shared by their interviewees (Cooper, Fleischer, & Cotton, 2012;Hein, 2004;Nash, 2011); and they also learnt to draw on their own knowledge and subjectivity to develop their identity as qualitative researchers (Barrett, 2007). Furthermore, many of the studies (see, e.g., Belcher & Hirvela, 2005;Harper et al, 2008;Hein, 2004;Henderson et al, 2008;Roulston et al, 2003) reported that the lives of students became apparent through the narratives they wrote about their learning experiences as well as the personal transformation they underwent as a result.…”

“…First, inquiry-based projects appear to have brought about a paradigm shift in the way students think about research (and qualitative research specifically) (Belcher & Hirvela, 2005;Benton, Androff, Barr, & Taylor, 2011;Cooper, Fleischer, & Cotton, 2012;DeLyser et al, 2013;Hein, 2004;Wang, 2013). Second, experiential learning encouraged students to make connections between their research and their professional development (Benton et al, 2011;Breidenstein, 2002;Harper et al, 2008;Nash, 2011;Roulston et al, 2008;Wang, 2013). Third, it elicited affective reflections, personal journeys of learning (Belcher & Hirvela, 2005;Breidenstein, 2002;Harper et al, 2008;Hein, 2004;Henderson et al, 2008;Nash, 2011;Roulston, deMarrais, & Lewis, 2003;Roulston et al, 2008;Wang, 2013), and intimate connections with research participants (Cooper, Fleischer, & Cotton, 2012;Nash, 2011).…”

“…Second, experiential learning encouraged students to make connections between their research and their professional development (Benton et al, 2011;Breidenstein, 2002;Harper et al, 2008;Nash, 2011;Roulston et al, 2008;Wang, 2013). Third, it elicited affective reflections, personal journeys of learning (Belcher & Hirvela, 2005;Breidenstein, 2002;Harper et al, 2008;Hein, 2004;Henderson et al, 2008;Nash, 2011;Roulston, deMarrais, & Lewis, 2003;Roulston et al, 2008;Wang, 2013), and intimate connections with research participants (Cooper, Fleischer, & Cotton, 2012;Nash, 2011). Furthermore, it was a vehicle for learning about qualitative research, developing skills (Benton et al, 2011;Cooper, Fleischer, & Cotton, 2012;Davidson, Dottin, Penna, & Robertson, 2009;DeLyser et al, 2013;Hein, 2004;Levitt et al, 2013;Mitchell et al, 2007;Nash, 2011;Roulston et al, 2003;Roulston et al, 2008;Schell, Ferguson, Hamoline, Shea, & Thomas-Maclean, 2009;Wang, 2013) and increasing self-efficacy (Belcher & Hirvela, 2005) as well as students' enjoyment of learning (McDermott & Dovey, 2013;Raddon et al, 2008;Roulston et al, 2008).…”

Towards a Scholarship of School-Based Teaching and Learning That Embraces Hope, Change, and Social Justice in a South African University

“…Reflexivity is the awareness of oneself, as well as the critical awareness of one's practice and its context (Nash, 2011). The reflexive researcher makes a critical connection between their own life experience, their professional learning, and what they are doing, with the intention to improve their practice (Nash, 2011).…”

Counselling Aboriginal peoples: A thematic study of counselling experiences.

“…Reflexivity is recognized as the awareness of oneself and critical awareness of one's practice and its context (Nash, 2011). In terms of social work, it is argued that,…”