Shaping professionalism through reflexivity in the writing classroom

1. THE UNBORN WORLD
Shaping Professionalism through Reflexivity in the
Writing Classroom
April 2018
© Jeanette Novakovich

2. Methodology: Design-based research
Phase 1
Analysis of
practical
problems
•Justification of the problem
•Preparing the experiment in collaboration with educators and researchers
•Placing the experiment in a theoretical context
Phase 2
Development
of solutions
•Informed by existing design principles and technological innovations
•Data collection takes the form of a literature review
•A form of needs assessment that leads to the development of first prototype
Phase 3
Iterative
testing cycles
•Testing of solutions in practice
•Refine guiding design principles and research questions
•Data collection: course artifacts, surveys, and interviews.
Phase 4
Reflection
•Conduct retrospective analyses
•Produce design principles
•Enhance solution implementation
•Establish trust in the findings

3. The flexibilization of the workforce relies on individualization,
“the process by which the identity of human beings is made an
object of reflexivity and intervention” (Jensen & Prieur, 2015:
3).
Under this form of professionalism, individuals must take
responsibility for professional identity, as they are no longer
collectively categorized.
Neoliberalism has had a far-reaching impact on professional
identity as older forms of knowledge-enabled professionalism
are replaced by less stable professional identity formation.
One of the implications of this neoliberal model is that
education has taken the responsibility of preparing students to
participate in the professional world, helping them navigate
between the personal identity, the here-and-now one, and the
“in-the-make” professional (Patsarika, 2014: 527).

4. Questions addressed by 1st iteration:
• What problems might educators face when
integrating social media practices into a
professional writing course for multi-majors?
• How can social media technologies facilitate
professional identity formation to bridge the
transition from the everyday practices of
learners to professional practices?

5. 1st Iteration findings examined barriers
to performance
Fears
Ruining
reputation
The
unknown
Lacking
relevance
Criticism
Not being
original
Over-
exposure
Exposure

6. Analytics measured the success of
student writers’ online publications

9. Results 1st iteration
• lacked agency on social networks and required guidance
when articulating modes of online authenticity
• A number of negative emotions were also expressed
• The consequences of an emotional event can instigate a
process of reflection and ultimately a commitment to
practices
• Research interviews functioned as a means to promote
reflexivity on the part of the learners and contributed to their
professional growth.
• Combining a reflexive activity with social media projects
might mitigate the psychological barrier to performance.
• Through reflective exercises, students should be asked to
explore agency and professional identity, particularly in the
context of social network platforms.

10. Theoretical Framework: Archer (2007)
• Reflexivity can make the difference between social mobility
and social paralysis.
• Reflexivity consists of the “internal conversation that takes
place in silence without conventions or rules or manners
(73)
• Archer claims, “We talk to ourselves about society in
relation to ourselves and about ourselves in relation to
society” (88).
• In times of crisis, when there is discontinuity or incongruity,
individuals often shift into a mode where reflexivity
becomes the guiding principle of practice (Archer, 2012:17).
• Educators can play a crucial role helping learners create a
strong sense of agency and internal conversations might be
a key element:

11. Questions addressed by study:
• What forms of agency do learners’
exert in the classroom and how does it
facilitate or hinder professionalism?
• How can educators address these
forms of agency to shape professional
competencies effectively and foster
agency?

12. Participants:
• A convenience sample: 27 students, Montreal CA
• Upper level undergraduate professional writing course
• Participants of the study were third and fourth year male
and female students
• Between the ages of 20 and 55
• Enrolled in a professional writing program, inclusive of both
full-time and part-time students
• Taking the course as a mandatory requirement
• Majors included: Business Administration, Mass
Communication, Education, ESL, Translation, English
Literature, Creative Writing, Geography, History, Political
Science, and Journalism

13. Narrative inquiry
Provided a series of open-ended qualitative
questionnaires.
Narrative inquiry is based on the belief that storytelling
about oneself pivots around choice and action, both of
which have moral and ethical dimensions .
Bamberg’s (2012) realms of narrative inquiry formulate a
pathway toward identity formation and transformation
The overall goal of narrative inquiry is not to report a
generalizable truth (Byrne-Armstrong, 2001: 112), but to
retell the many narratives of our learners.

14. Reflexive prompts: based on Baumberg’s
realms of narrative inquiry
Sameness ⇔ Difference
Passivity ⇔ Agency
Constancy ⇔ Change

16. Communicative reflexivity
Internal conversations require confirmation by others before a course of
action is determined. Communicative reflexivity occurs under conditions of
contextual continuity and is “associated with a situational logic of
protection or correction that fosters morphostasis” (Herepath, 2014:873).
Autonomous reflexivity
Self-contained internal conversations lead to direct action without
validation from others. Autonomous reflexivity occurs under conditions of
“contextual discontinuity and is associated with a situational logic of
competition that drives instrumental rationality to generate a brittle
morphostasis open to transformation” (Herepath, 2014:873).
Meta-reflexivity
Internal conversations critique their own internal conversations and leads to
effective action. This form of meta-reflexivity emerges in situations of
“contextual incongruity” and is associated with a situational logic of
opportunity fostering morphogenesis” (Herepath, 2014: 873).
Fractured reflexivity
Internal conversations disrupt and disorient and lead to inaction or
morphostasis; thus this learner fails to engage in reflexivity as the number
of possibilities render them passive (Archer, 2003)

17. Sameness ⇔ Difference:
• I didn’t take this class to become a
professional writer, but to learn to write
professionally
• Are you good enough? I am.
• So, here I am uncool and virtuously brainy.
• What’s going on here?

18. Passivity ⇔ Agency
• What I was forced to do and what I liked to do
were different.
• But who are we to blame? We, as individuals
must make things happen for ourselves.
• I do believe that I will be successful, but the
passivity comes in with the fact that I’m a
student and a lack of professional experience
creates a feeling of unworthiness, of not being
ready for the “real world”.

19. Constancy ⇔ Change
Student: Late last year, I was becoming extremely anxious in regards to where my
future was heading, career-wise. I was currently working towards graduation. It
was my second year working at T---- full-time as a technical support representative
and I also held a part-time job at the P--- Lounge and W----. Many would probably
think that I had enough on my plate to keep myself busy and satisfied but it
became harder to shake the feelings of anxiousness that sparked up within me
sporadically day after day. The reason I believed I was becoming anxious was
because I wanted to pursue a career in communications/social media relations and
ultimately in a sports-related field. …I felt as though I was secure in my current job
but sacrificing bit by bit what I wanted to transition into. When I introduced my
feelings to a close friend or my manager at work, I was always countered with "you
are still in school T--- you have plenty of time" and "Be patient T---, you are still
young." Even with these reassurances, I still felt anxious!
Fast forwarding to 2014, I find myself in a much more reassuring position. ..I have
taken on additional projects to build on my experience in internal communications
and social media. … I also applied for an internship at the Social Media Agency ----
- and got it! … the moment I heard they were searching for interns, I jumped at
the chance and sent in my cover letter and resume. I feel great …… I am ready to
work hard for what I want and I just know I can achieve it if I remain focused!

20. Student reflection:
I am happy with the way I have lived my life until
now. However, sometimes I feel that my life has
yet to begin. I used to think that life would
begin when I graduate high school then I
believed it would be when I turned eighteen.
Now I feel that my life will really begin when I
graduate university or when I move out…

21. Instructor reflection:
How can I design course activities and
consequential evaluations that encourage
students to be reflective about their individual
agency, ones that ensure that my beliefs and
practices do not take control in terms of shaping
their thoughts and behavior so that growth is
self-driven and authentic? Because life is
present now and learners need to perceive a
degree of control to find empowerment in the
present.

22. Research:
Despite fate, social structures and other external
forces, human agency and individual motivation
are vital components in the learning process
(Martin, 2000). Reflexivity allows educators to
become “a sounding board for students’
individual and collective stories” (Martin, 2000:
6).

23. What you can do with two dollars in
your pocket?
Student: I come from a family where education is not
necessarily a priority. Both my parents did not go further then
the CEGEP level and yet still managed to become successful. My
father in particular went from arriving in Canada with just a few
dollars in his pocket to today, owning two successful and
established restaurants. I surprisingly differ from my parents
greatly in that I put a lot of emphasis in furthering my education
and finding a career that I am passionate for. …luckily I have
found a topic for this course that I enjoy when put into practice
in the real world, I excel at. However, at the back of my mind I
always think about the family business that my father has
created. This is where the conflict in my mind begins. I work so
hard to excel at school and I really do love what I am learning,
and yet there is the pressure of going on a different path and
taking over the family business. Which path will I chose? I really
wish I knew.

24. Instructor:
Young adult learners face choices that are
overwhelming and require them to peer far into
the future. Perhaps, learning can be an end to
itself and whichever career they choose, they
will benefit from having learned; however, I
don’t know how I can convince them.

25. Researcher:
Decoteau (2015) observed, “Critical realism posits
that reality is so layered, complex and conjunctural
that, at best, we can only theorize about some of
the possible mechanisms at work” (9). This learning
is confronting a multi-layered world and its
complexity. Furthermore, Greenbank (2014)
observed “that making erroneous career choices or
ending up ‘under-employed’ (i.e., in non-graduate
jobs) is often an inevitable part of the learning
process for graduates” (188). Ryan (2014) affirms
that learning needs to incorporate students’
reflexivities to shape future selves.

26. Paralysis by analysis
Although I intend to follow my dreams, and am certain that I
can successfully do so if I never let up, my insecurities often
cause me to ponder my mission and my existence. These
thoughts have become increasingly intense as of late.
Although I have no regrets, the past sometimes causes me to
stagnate. Overthinking has rusted my inner mental
machinations. This has led to paralysis by analysis. This
stagnation has made it hard for me to create. I am lost if I
cannot create. I am reminded of the things I’ve done and the
people I’ve hurt …I have a firm grasp on how my future could
manifest itself….I have damaged some of my closest
relationships and have to an extent, alienated myself. But its
cool, I’m totally fine shit is just crazy in my head right now.

27. Fractured reflexivity
Analysis: A fractured reflexivity carries out
internal conversations that disrupt and disorient
and lead to inaction, rendering the learner
passive (Archer, 2003).

29. • Reflexivity involves deliberating about possible courses
of action, deciding what might be feasible at this time
• This form of reflexivity leads to a “form of self-
assessment for learning” and subsequently shapes
decision-making.
• Thus, the course design should encourage students to
engage in reflexivity in such a way that it effectively
shapes their decision-making.
• The results of the study demonstrated that students
portrayed various levels and varying degrees of
Archer’s (2007) typologies.
• Archer’s social theory on reflexivity and agency can be
applied to guide and frame research on student
learning in higher education and turn the focus of
education to “being and becoming”, rather than solely
on the tools, knowledge and skills (Case, 2015).

30. Changes to course design:
Findings Principle Rationale Intervention
Meta-reflexives
appreciate and
benefit from peer
feedback.
Formalizing a
response to the
activity by asking
students to consider
the activity meta-
cognitively, might
provide them with
the corporate agency
to not only help
communicatives who
appreciate checking
in, but also to
promote
morphogenesis for
fractured reflexives
to help shape and
formulate more
Reflexivity
practices benefit
students during
the revision stage
of the writing
process and will
help foster
agency when
writing (Ryan,
2014).
According to Ryan
(2014), “Reflexivity
involves deliberating
about possible
courses of action,
deciding what might
be feasible at this
time in this writing
situation and then
choosing a way
forward” (62). Ryan
emphasized the
importance of
reflexivity to make
the process of self
assessment more
visible.
Ask students to fill out
reflexivity forms after
each draft workshop,
evaluating the success
of the workshop and
possible courses of
action to take in the
revision process.

31. All modes of
agency,
appreciate and
will benefit
from a
framework to
self assess their
work and its
importance
towards
shaping and
informing their
future
professional
lives.
Writers benefit from
deeper reflection of
their work as an
artifact.
Ryan (2014)
discovered that
deep reflection of
one’s work and
identity “facilitated
through ‘stepping
back’ strategies,
which use one’s
own work in a new
context as an
artefact to prompt
reflection” (70).
• Require students to
complete a meta-
cognitive memo,
introducing the final
draft.
• Require students to
complete a reflection
exercise on
professionalism and
course goals and
progress, articulating
learning goals and
achievements after
each course project.
Findings Principle Rationale Intervention

32. The self is often
framed through
interaction or
understanding
of the other.
Framing a more
dialogic rather
than responsive
peer feedback
session will
foster this
understanding
and help
learners
position
themselves for
change.
Dialogic reflections
foster writers’
ability to reflect on
their own work.
Ryan (2014) noted,
“Dialogic reflections
can be carefully
facilitated so that the
work itself and the
responses of others
to the work can
provide the raw
material upon which
to reflect. Blogs or
‘Conversations with
the writer’ are two
ways to open written
work to multiple
responses, however it
may be pertinent to
limit access to a
particular audience
or group for
response” (70).
Have students engage in
dialogic discussions
between writer and
reviewers to produce
peer feedback on blogs
through the commenting
function.
Findings Principle Rationale Intervention

33. Takeaways
• The data revealed how students perceive their
individual agency and provided significant
insights to assist teachers to effectively foster
professional agency.
• The results also demonstrated that in order to
better understand what is happening inside the
classroom, educators’ need a view of what is
taking place on the outside
• Learners’ beliefs and differential experiences not
only impact agency, but also educational
motivation and commitment

34. piscem natare docem