with Robyn Dean, Danny Maffia, Kathleen Holcombe
- Focus on development of decision-making for educational and professional development of community interpreters
- Using the word “practice” – intentionally meaning to show that we systematically practice over and over again to get better at something
- Repeated performance develops proficiency and a skill set
- Need to have reflective component to practice to ensure the improvement
Theoretical Frame
- Our social context inform what is important for a profession happens within the constraints of the relationship they are engaging with the people they are providing service to
- Different than technical professions
- Ethical codes are intended to be guidelines (spirit not the letter)
- What is ethical is negotiated by those who are engaged in the interaction
- Judgement is developed in through the process and reflection
- The ability to make good decisions in the moment takes time
Ethical Codes
….ethical codes cannot do our questioning, thinking, feeling, and responding for us. Such codes can never be a substitute for the active process by which the individual struggles with the sometimes bewildering, always unique constellation of questions, responsibilities, contexts, and competing demands of helping another person…” Pope & Vasquez, 1998
The Problem with Ethical Dilemmas
- Problem with ethical dilemmas
- It is pre-determining that it is “ethical troubling” (Hill, 2004) content
- Appear to focused on presenting what past practitioners have done wrong (Hill,2004)
- Imposes our understanding of what is ethically troubling instead of allowing them to develop their own understanding
- Ethical dilemma themes:
- Participants access to information and content
- Participants equality & self-determinancy for all involved
- Interpreters as ‘holders of information’ (e.g. interpreter directed questions)
- Concerns for confidentiality
- Questions of qualifications
- Donald Schon’s “Problem-setting” is more the issue that makes “problem-solving” difficult –
Case Study Scenario
- Decisions get made along the way in the case study;
- Case studies often make presumptions about the decision-points by where they leave off.
Reflective Learning Practices
- Looking at the actual decisions in one’s own work
Uses structured, guided practice
- Supervision
- Peer guidance
- Professional consultation
- Mentoring
- Preceptoring
- Case Conferencing
Talking about your work with others (case presenting) for the purposes of improvement (ethical mandate)
Super/vision
Superior vision – slowing down your decision-making with other people allows you to have a superior vision than you would have on your own
Structure – using the Demand-Control Schema
- Problem identification
- Defining goals
- Generating possible course of actions
- Considering possible consequences
- Implementation
- Evaluation (Resulting Demands)
Benefits –
- Does not pre-determine what is ethically troubling for the individual
- Highlights the importance of moment to moment decisions
- Provides opportunity to determine ethically troubling content
- It is like ‘action research” behavioral changes or interventions, immediately applicable
- Encourages in-the moment metacognitive abilities
- Helps determine “espoused theory” and “theory-in-use” (Argyris & Schon, 1974) Sees if what they do and what they say they do line up
Application of DC-S Supervision
- Have it in US, UK, Australia
- Delivered in a variety of formats
- In interpreter education programs, support in gap years
- Had had facilitator training (interpreter practitioner) in US, UK, Australia
- Also started conversation with RID’s ethical practices and how to use case conferencing or case presenting systems
Evaluation data
- Difference/similarities between facilitators
- Comparing this experience of work analysis and discussions with past discussions
- Change/impact in practice
- Confidence in decision-making
- Increase in empathy and empathetic responses
- Decrease in a sense of isolation and work stress
Blogger’s Note: At this point, I had to leave the workshop to catch my flight. So, was not able to include information from Danny Maffia or Kathleen Holcombe’s findings in this process.