Critical Incident Analysis: the Beginnings

1
Critical Incident Analysis the Beginnings

• Pilot and clinical errors
• Mishap leading to error or failure
• Crisis or risk analysis

2
Critical Incident Analysis Developments in
Health and Education Professions

• Nursing (Parker et al 1995, Rich Parker 1995)
• Midwifery (Chesney 1996, Burgum Bridge 1997)
• Mental Health Nursing (Minghella Benson 1995)
• Higher Education Lecturers ( Kuit, Ray and
  Freeman 2001)

3
Critical Incidents

• Not dramatic or obvious
• Straightforward accounts of very commonplace
  events
• In routine professional practice
• Indicative of underlying trends, motives and
  structures
• Rendered critical through analysis
• (Tripp 1993)

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Features of Critical Incident Analyses

• Verbal or more usually written account
• Structured narrative
• Description of incident
• Reflections based on analysis of practice
• Re-examine- critical reflection of existing
  knowledge and development new knowledge
• Technical, practical and emancipatory reflection
  (Taylor 2000)

5
Critical Incident Technique

• The identification of an incident from the
  students experience which was critical to the
  student
• A detailed description of that incident
• Brief details of the social, organisational and
  personal context and background
• Written description of the incident from the
  students perspective

6
Critical Incident Technique

• A subsequent analysis of that incident
• What main themes or patterns emerge from my
  description
• Can I differentiate between thoughts, actions,
  feelings, intentions and interpretations? How
  were they interconnected?
• What interpretations or explanations were made,
  and whose were they? How did they influence the
  situation?

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Critical Incident Technique

• How might the situation have been interpreted
  differently?
• What knowledges or assumptions are there in my
  account
• Where do these originate from
• What holes, gaps or biases are there?
• What language did I use?

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Potential purposes

• Improvement of practice
• Debriefing
• Integration theory and practice
• Development of personal practice theories
• Articulation of implicit practice models
• Resolution of dilemmas or problems
• Identification of best practice models
• Making transitions between stages of learning
• Evaluation

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Critical Incident Analysis by Social Work
Practice Teachers

• Introductory Course for practice teachers
  workplace then supervisory
• Group discussion anti-oppressive practice
• Linking to competency framework
• demanding stimulating thought provoking
• Value of and need to provide empowering
  assessment experience for students (Thomas 2004
  Bristol UK)

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Social Work Students Intercultural understanding

• Culture shock of social workers
• Critical incident interview
• Analyse situations of intercultural
  misunderstanding
• Legault 1996 Quebec Canada

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Social Work Students and Service Users
Ethnoracial Identity

• Critical Incident Interviews
• Assessment of service users ethnic 7 racial
  identity
• Interpersonal event lasting influence
• Narrative report and classroom discussion values
  knowledge and social policy
• Assists service user- narrative coherence
• Submission of own C.I cultural awareness
• Improve intellectual grasp of identity formation
• (Montalvo 1999 University of Texas, USA)

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Social Work Students Study of Knowledge

• Critical incident narratives of social work
  students
• Describe and analyse the complexity of the
  processes where people interact or work with
  others
• Used as pedagogical tool in classroom
• Development of qualitative analysis of narrative
  accounts
• Search for knowledge content in critical and
  problematic events occurring in social work
• Nygren and Blom (2001) Umea University Sweden

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Supervision of Social Work Students

• CI 1Primary tool for taking inexperienced/
  unreflective students into reflective analysis
• C I 2Tool for in depth reflection and analysis-
  unpack significant factors
• (Davies, H. Kinloch, H. 2000 Barnados Scotland)

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Critical Incident Analysis as Assessment of
Practice

• Incident which crucial to or significant effect
  on learning
• Reflection relating to impact of beliefs and
  values on action
• Development of professional judgement
• (Monash University Australia)

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Critical incidents as deconstruction

• Use of critical incidents as part of a critical
  reflective process
• The incident and its telling become a story of
  the person which is deconstructed
• Narrative becomes a piece of text for
  deconstruction
• (Fook 2002)

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Some concerns

• Ethical issues
• Distressing, exposing
• Assessment of practice or reflection?
• Whistleblowing

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Critical Incident Analysis Demonstration Project

• Critical incident analysis in practicum and in
  the classroom
• 10 students in a Practice Learning Centre
• Undertake series of critical incident analyses
• Used in Individual and Group Supervision
• Evaluated at mid and end point in practicum

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Critical Incident Analysis Framework

• Account of the incident
• Initial responses to the incident
• Issues and dilemmas
• Learning
• Outcomes

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Student Evaluation

• Structured reflection critical analysis
• Assists integration of theory practice
• using theory not just personal opinion
• Aids reflection
• it clarified what is meant by reflection and
  analysis
• Aids supervision
• It helped more in depth supervision and provided
  a springboard for discussion

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Student Evaluation

• Assists examination of value dilemmas
• It was useful to address values. You could use
  the framework to explore and challenge and then
  it didnt appear too personal
• You have to examine the context- social
  theoretical as well as the personal. It does
  encourage anti-oppressive practice
• Racism
• Domestic violence
• Care and Control
• Personal safety

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Student Evaluation

• Reflection in action
• Getting feedback on the critical incident
  analysis definitely helped me think through the
  next situation, more as it was happening than
  after the event.
• Developing empowering practice
• I told the service user about it and she decided
  to do one herself

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Student Evaluation

• As an assessment method
• Formative and summative
• Useful to collate evidence
• It would work as part of a portfolio
• Handing your analyses to your practice teacher
  and other students and getting feedback is
  putting you through the scrutiny of others and
  being assessed

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Student Evaluation

• Time consuming
• Over-comprehensive
• Over-structured
• More appropriate to early stages of practicum
• Supervision focussed on incidents and less on
  cases
• If assessed would it be as authentic?

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Conclusion

• Range of professional training, variety of
  countries
• Supervisory tool, training exercise in academy
  and in field, development of practice, assessment
  method
• to reflect and analyse range of value dilemmas
• to empower students
• to empower service users
• to develop anti-oppressive practice