I need help with an assignment on critical incidence analysis

PART 1

Outline a specific incident that has happened in your field work practice /preparation for work(e.g. a conversation with a young person, a member of staff about a CYP (or group of CYP) with SEND, observation of or attendance at a meeting, participation in an activity, an incident you have observed between a young person and another individual who could be a member of staff or a pupil)

Be factual! What actually happened? Avoid adding thoughts or a rationale but describe the facts and the context. This may include the setting/room/number of people around/time of day/particular lesson or subject/the weather. If you are exploring a case study then you may want to add details that you think may help to ‘paint your picture’ OR include questions about details you would like to know more about.

• What happened?

• When and where did it happen?

• Who was present?

• What did you and the other people do?

Post incident consider the following points. Again, be factual.

• What was the outcome of the situation?

• Why were you there?

• What did you want to happen?

PART 2

Reflection of the specific incident (what are your feelings and thoughts about the incident at the time)

Be honest. You are not being judged or marked on this. The more honest you are the more insightful and useful the rest of this form will be.

• What were you feeling during the situation?

• What were you thinking about others in the situation?

• What were you feeling before and after the situation?

• What do you think other people were feeling about the situation?

• What do you think other people feel about the situation now?

• What were you thinking during the situation?

• What do you think about the situation now?

PART 3

Describe the incident from the point of view and perspective from each individual involved. Ie alternative truths about the situation.

You may be able to speak to each individual and ask them what happened. If so; ask them to describe without rationale or including any interpretation. If you cannot speak with someone then please consider how it may have looked from their perspective. Again; not why but how might they describe the incident?

You may start to link to theory about the areas you discuss. (you will need this for your final chosen incident)

PART 4

Reflection of the specific incident (how may the other participants feel and think about the incident at the time it actually happened)

At this point aim to reflect yourself on how the other participants may feel about the incident. Consider why and how this may have influenced the development or the progress of the situation? Consider also how previous feelings may influence this.

You may start to link to theory about the areas you discuss. . (you will need this for your final chosen incident).

PART 5

Remember you only complete this section for the incident you have agreed with your tutor.

Further reflections – consider which cycle of reflection you are using and use theory to explain why.

Here you have a chance to evaluate what worked and what did not work in the situation. Try to be as objective and honest as possible. To get the most out of your reflection focus on both the positive and the negative aspects of the situation, even if it was primarily one or the other. What would you want to know more about as a new member of staff?

You will start to link to theory about the areas you discuss.

Helpful questions:

• What was good and bad about the experience?

• What went well?

• What did not go so well?

• What did you and other people contribute to the situation (positively or negatively)?

PART 6

Analysis of the incident

Why did the incident happen and what are your thoughts and feelings about the incident when looking back on it?.

You will start to link to theory about the areas you discuss.

The analysis step is where you have a chance to make sense of what happened. Up until now you have focused on details around what happened in the situation. Now you have a chance to extract meaning from it. You want to target the different aspects that went well or poorly and ask yourself why. You will include academic literature regarding specifics of the area you are investigating so include it here. You will be thinking here about what you as new member of staff/volunteer may need to understand.

Helpful questions:

• Why did things go well?

• Why did it not go well?

• What sense can I make of the situation?

• What knowledge – my own or others (for example academic literature) can help me understand the situation?

• What would your responsibility be?

• What support is available to you to help you learn?

PART 7

Generalised analysis and learning - moving away from the specific example, what did this raise about how practice and theory relate to each other more generally. (e.g. did the conversation with a young person raise any issues about information and advice or professional boundaries or did the meeting or activity raise issues about relationships/power balances/policy/staff CPD?.)

Using your chosen CIA reflective cycle make notes here about the relationships between theory and practice; how does this support your understanding of the incident? People’s behaviour and choices?

You will need to also consider your choice of reflective cycle…….which one did you choose? Why? Tell us a little about another one and the pros and cons but base most of your reflections on the one you chose.

PART 8

Conclusions or ‘my current understanding/reasoning’

In this section you can make conclusions about what happened. This is where you summarise your learning and highlight what changes to your actions could improve the outcome in the future. It should be a natural response to the previous sections.

Again, you MUST link to the theoretical perspectives here. And start to make notes on differing perspectives

Helpful questions:

• What did I learn from this situation?

• How could this have been a more positive situation for everyone involved?

• What skills do I need to develop for me to handle a situation like this better and who would support me with this?

• What else could have been done?

PART 9

Specific professional development and what you learnt (you should refer to your learning contract and the specific learning outcomes that you have set yourself and ask have you met any of these and how).

At this step you plan for what you would do differently in a similar or related situation in the future. It can also be extremely helpful to think about how you will help yourself to act differently – such that you don’t only plan what you will do differently, but also how you will make sure it happens. Sometimes just the realisation is enough, but other times reminders might be helpful.

Helpful questions:

• If I had to do the same thing again, what would I do differently?

• How will I develop the required skills I need?

• How can I make sure that I can act differently next time?

Again, you MUST link to the theoretical perspectives here. Link to CIA theory and areas of learning from across the course. Link to the cycle you have chosen.

PART 10

Further action this section should outline the further action that you need to take

1. relating to the specific example of practice (e.g. do you need to follow up the conversation or meeting)

1. relating generally to your learning and development (what do you need to do to be more effective in the future)

Again, you MUST link to the theoretical perspectives here. You may be thinking about CPD for example and what would make it effective. You may be thinking of a mentor or a coach maybe. What would be the most effective for you and why? Who would you ask and why? Is there a particular person who makes a good critical friend – why? All examples of areas you may want to explore.