About Critical incident

The Critical Incident - History

The idea of reflecting upon critical incidents is not a new one. It has been refined from a technique developed by John Flanagan who was working with pilots in training in the American Air Force:

An incident is an observable type of human activity which is sufficiently complete in itself to permit inferences and predictions to be made about the person performing the act. To be critical it must be performed in a situation where the person or intent of the act seems fairly clear to the observer, and its consequences are sufficiently definite so there is little doubt concerning its effect.'

Flanagan 1954

It has been used to collect data concerning knowledge-in-action, (Rowland 1993, Jacobs 1973) and excellence in practice (Benner 1984), for research (Winter 1991), as well as to enable reflective learning (Landgrebe and Winter 1994, Bolton 1993, 4, and 5).

Writing a Reflective Splurge

Forget about grammar, syntax, spelling - for now. They block the inspirational flow. Correct them later.

This is writing about a time when... , and follows straight on from the above. Focusing on a particular occasion is particularly facilitative, for reflective writing. Continue to write in just the same way as for the six minutes free-flow writing: that is allowing the words to arrive on the page without you planning or questioning them in any way first. But write now with a focus in your mind; the writing will come out like a story. You will find yourself writing the story of an occasion which was vital to you. Try not to ask questions. Just write it and ask the questions afterwards. The most common blocking query people make is: why have I chosen this to write about; it's not nearly important enough?!

Choose the first event which comes into your mind. Try not to reject it, for whatever reason. The more you anxiously cast around and around in your mind for the right account to be written, the more the really right one, which was the one you thought of first, will slide away from view. Choose the first one which comes to mind.

One of the best ways of preventing this anxious casting around for the best time when..., is only to allow yourself twenty minutes altogether in which to write. The more time you waste thinking, the less time you have to write it! I have known students set an alarm clock, and stop when the bell rings.

Recreate the situation, as far as possible, rather than an idealised what you would rather have happened.

Consider it fiction! Unlike case-history, fiction can be dramatic, leap over the boring bits, tackle issues head on; convey ambiguities, complexities and ironic relationships that exist between multiple viewpoints; and side-step the problems of confidentiality and fear of exposure. In short it heads straight for the heart of the matter. (For a study of the ethical problems of confidentiality see Hargreaves, 1997)

Spelling, grammar, syntax, usually flow very well, naturally, in this kind of vitally charged writing. If infelicities, or repetitions do occur, leave them until the end, they will be very easy to correct.

Try not to force the writing into a set good story form (or poem, if that's how it seems to be coming out). Stories have proper beginnings, middles and ends. Life doesn't (whatever the King in Alice hoped!). So let it come out with the same sort of glorious muddle format as it originally had. You may well find at this stage that musings on the event (what you should / should not have said, for example) will interrupt the narrative flow. None of this matters at this stage. Writing is endlessly plastic, and can be altered and tidied up later, before anyone else has to make sense of it, or embarrassingly read your innermost feelings.

Allow your pen(cil) to notice exactly what occurred - detail and feelings. As one replays the experience chronologically, details begin to emerge which were ignored at the time of the experience, or only noted in passing.

Try not to censor reactions, emotional responses, feelings.

Refrain from judgements at this stage.

Write A Time When I Learned something Really Vital

 

According to the above Reflective Splurge way of writing. Be as creative in your understanding of what constituted vital in your choice of time when... , and in your understanding of learned - there are many many ways to learn. Remember this writing is for you. You need not share it with anyone.... 

Newman- Tensioin of Teaching-----

I wanted to shift the teachers' gaze from "teaching" to "learning"--both their students' and their own.

We invented a vehicle for ourselves--critical incidents--to help us explore what was happening in our classrooms. I started out by asking the teachers to make note of whatever was going on that made them uncomfortable, moments when they weren't sure what decision to make, or where they were unhappy with the consequences of some judgement they'd made. We recorded very brief accounts of these moments on small index cards and then discussed these incidents in class. These stories became the basis of our inquiry into curriculum.

 

Types of Writing and Topics

You might write straight autobiographical or fictional narratives, stories with plots; poetry or songs; dramas; or descriptive passages.

Detailed accounts of experience are among the most interesting ways to write for Reflective Writing. You may follow such a passage with some general interpretative thoughts; or you may, on the other hand, leave these unwritten and wait to see what the group think.

Subjects for writing may well be suggested by the group. Each piece of writing will also generate fresh ideas.

The kinds of titles we have used in the past have been:

·        Changes

·        A Conflict

·        In Control

·        Taking Care

·        A Dilemma

·        A Moment of Joy

·        A Sensitive Subject

·        A Clash of Interests

·        A Conflict of Loyalty

·        A Misunderstanding

·        A Frustrated Episode

·        A Misunderstanding

·        A Missed Opportunity

·        A Parting or a Beginning

·        A Case for Compassion

·        An Evocative Occasion

·        An Extremity of Emotion

·        The Most Dangerous Time

·        A Breach of Confidentiality

·        A time when I was incapacitated

·        The blowing of the pressure valve

Why Fiction?

Unlike case history, fiction can be dramatic, leap over the boring bits, tackle issues had on; convey ambiguities, complexities and ironic relationships that exist between multiple viewpoints; and side-step the problems of confidentiality and fear of exposure. In short it heads straight for the heart of the matter.

Throughout the course we will maintain the fiction that each piece of writing is fiction.

This preserves confidentiality and confidence.

Further Writing:

·        Read, Extend, Vivify

·        Trust the process; have faith in yourself

When you have finished your first draft, reread all (including the six minutes scribble) you have written with attention: for content rather than form. Be open to perceiving divergent connections - things previously perceived as separate, or inappropriate together. Be open to such underlying links and to fresh understandings and awarenesses. Jot notes in the margins etc..

Fill out the narrative. Check the observation is sufficiently detailed - remember you have five senses - smells and sounds as well as what things looked like can give vital clues. You may want to tell about time of year, discomforts, intuitions, exactly what people said... . Everything that occurs to you is significant.

Ask yourself some of these questions:

·        I. Have you pinpointed the nub of the situation? Is it important enough to you, or are you skirting round the real issue? The most vital issue might be located or clarified by looking down the wrong end of the telescope at a seemingly mundane trivial matter. As with fractals, the tiny recapitulates the great; and it is a great deal easier to concentrate on the small than the unwieldy.

·        II. Notice contrasts within the story.

·        III. Note the way officialese/jargon can be used to conceal.

·        IV. Try not to come to an answer, or even a question - yet.

Reread to yourself with an open, non-judgemental mind.

Note down anything that occurs to you as you read: additions, alterations, deletions, deepening of the narrative, connections between the time when... and the six minute mind-clearing exercise. Then decide how much of this you wish to share... .

 Sharing your Writing with a Peer

Your writing has the power to influence another, and them you.

A peer's thoughts on your reflective writing can open up fresh avenues of thought. They will be able to help you see aspects, which even the illuminating process of writing hadn't highlighted. They will also support you towards deeper levels of reflection, as well as to see your account in a wider context. (Your marriage partner might be the wrong person.)

You may like to share writings with a reader before you email them to all of us , thoughthe Wisdom group is your primary audience, Here are some guidelines:

·        I. Be kind and supportive! Not negative!

·        II. Read and comment on the writing, rather than the person who has written it. You are not reading the work to offer therapy or support for the writer, but to engage with their writing in order to suggest useful and developmental avenues of thought. The safest way of containing the discussion to the writing is to consider the story to be a fiction. If the characters and their actions are fictional, then the reader has as much right to suggest ways of thinking and of developing the writing, as the writer.

·        III. Any written or oral discussion should be confidential to the parties involved, unless they specifically decide otherwise. This will offer sufficient safety for participants to say what they feel and think.

·        IV. The writer should make it clear to the reader/commenter, any particular kind of parameters they have for the discussion.

·        V. Don't apologise for your writing - you are all in the same position - it can become like a competition - who can apologise the most convincingly!

Email us your writing, or share it with a friend/colleague first (with the above guidelines) - this process of exposure does get easier. Enjoy deepening the reflective process - verbally or in writing.

 

 

Developing the Writing

Thinking inhibits creativity: believe it or not! Let it flow.

Rewriting your story, or writing an additional one which reflects upon it, deepens and widens the scope of the understanding this kind of process can offer you. There are a great many reflective questions you can ask of your writing, considered in other units. This section concerns further reflective writing which is in the same mode as the original piece: in story (a time when... .)form. This may well take you excitingly and illuminatingly into the realm of real fiction: playing with what if... . You will be creating a web of related stories, all elucidating the original account.

Here is a list of developmental ideas for you to explore. You may pick an idea from this list, invent a similar one, or wait for the group to make appropriate ones.

·        I. Give your story a title.

·        II. Have protagonists other than the main character aired their opinions and standpoints? Try writing from a different or opposing point of view:

Write a similar story from the point of view of one of the other characters (either someone like, for example, your patient, or an observer to the main events).

·        III. Rewrite the story with the gender of the main character(s) switched.

·        IV. Write the next chapter.

·        V. Write a commentary on your own or another's text, either as yourself or as one of the characters. VI. Retell the story with a different ending / focus, eg happy for sad.

·        VII. Write what a particular character is thinking at any one moment.

·        VIII. Write about a (some) missing character(s). Like a photograph, a story is always an unreal and slim slice of reality - think of the area beyond the frame.

·        IX. Rewrite the story in a different style/genre - a newspaper article / fairy story / narrative poem / children's story....

·        X. Write thought bubbles for vital (or puzzling) characters at significant points in the narrative.

·        XI. Rewrite the story with the focus of control/power altered.

·        XII. You are a reporter: interview a character from the story.

·        XIII. Take a character who's just left the action; what might they be doing/ thinking?

·        XIV. Write a letter from yourself to one of the characters, expressing your puzzlement / anger / sympathy. Write their reply.

·        XV. Write a letter / transcribe a phone conversation between two characters.

·        XVI. List the objects/colours in the story. Are they significant?

·        XVII. Write the story in a range of different genres (eg romance, detective, sci-fi, adventure... .)

·        XVIII. Write a film / dustjacket blurb for the story.

XIX. Explore the area which puzzles you.

·        XX. Continue the story six months / a year later.

·        XXI. Consider asking someone who was involved in the real situation to write their own version; or interview them. 

--
Rakesh Patel
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