Challenge

Many of the students studying Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University are the first members of their family to attend university. This means that many of them lack professional role models and experience. The design of the Professional Practice course takes this significant characteristic of our students into account.

"I believe it is critical that we support students to explore and experience interacting with professional role models and experiences in their final year of study," said Dr Bates in explaining the design of the course. "I want them to move from being dependent learners, who are informed of what and how they need to learning by academics within a university environment to being independent learners who are able to identify what they need to know and how they can apply that in a professional context".

"The course enables students to develop their reflection skills. I start by teaching them to reflect on action and then support them, through strategic questioning to begin to move them towards reflecting in action (ie. as events are occurring)", explains Dr Bates.

Approach

Dr Lyndel Bates teaches within the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, in the Arts, Education and Law Group at Griffith University. The Professional Practice course, convened by Dr Bates, is designed to support students to develop from being dependent learners to independent novice professionals through the use of workplace-based learning opportunities and action learning processes. Through reflective workshops, students mature their critical reflection skills in order to consolidate and capitalise on their learning during their placements.

"A key element of the Professional Practice course is the workshops," says Dr Bates. "These compulsory workshops provide an opportunity for students to engage in reflection away from the workplace, as well as, engage in peer-to-peer learning. The entire workshop is discussion-based. Every student is expected to participate by talking about a critical learning incident from their placement experience and identify a relevant theory, such as Bandura's Social Learning Theory known as modelling. The group will then brainstorm practical strategies in support of one another".

The workshop approach is used to disrupt some of the usual physical space practices in a classroom. In each of the workshops, the seating is placed in a circle with the lecturer choosing their placement last, in order to create an environment where the lecturer is a facilitator, participants are on an equal footing and peer-to-peer learning is supported.

Next Steps

Use the following link to go to the full Faculty Story with reflective videos, readings and support resources: https://teaching-resources.griffith.edu.au/faculty-story/lyndel-bates

See the full faculty story here

Support Resources

• Reflection in and on professional practice: Active Learning in Criminology and Criminal Practice

  View and read Lyndel's Faculty Story here.

• Engaging and Empowering Pedagogies (P2). Getting Started with VLE tools and the Course Design Standards.

  Module

Contributed by

• Arts, Education and Law
  School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
  Dr Lyndel Bates
  l.bates@griffith.edu.au
  Griffith Experts profile
• Learning Futures
  Louise Maddock
  l.maddock@griffith.edu.au
  

Preferred Citation

Bates, L., & Learning Futures (2020). Reflection in and on professional practice: Active learning in Criminology and Criminal Justice (Lyndel's Story). Retrieved from https://app.secure.griffith.edu.au/exlnt/entry/7908/view