Critical Incident Technique by Flanagan - Assignment Example

Critical Incident Technique In an article published in the month of July in 1954 in the Psychological Bulletin titled Critical Incident Technique, Flanagan describes an incident as ‘any observable human activity that is sufficiently complete in itself to permit inferences and predictions about the person performing the action.’ A critical incident reporting, therefore is a technique that involves putting together and writing down facts in a brief manner either by participants who took part in the action or qualified observers (Fivars & Fitzpatrick, 2001). A critical incident report should describe a situation as it occurred, and an important or significant action that was taken which was “critical” in deciding whether the outcome was effective or not. Below are two critical incidents, one from an interview with a football coach and the other a personal incident reflection. 1. A Critical Incident Reflection After an Interview Situation He was a football trainer of young high school students at a local district in my home area and though he had not been in any training on effective coaching, he could provide basic training skills to the youngsters. During lessons in the playground, usually his word was final and the trainees did not say much especially during the training. At one point after being disappointed in the poor output of the training, he confronted them about the matter and some students left the pitch and went home without seeking permission or completing his training for the day. As a coach such an episode was prone to punishment through a short ban from playing for a period of 3 days without play and in addition to his strictness would lead to a bad relationship with his students. Task Based on the then state of affairs, he set out to ask questions and inquire deeply why everyone feared him and did not say much about their personal feelings to him regarding the training. After a thorough investigation, he was given lots of attributes among them being too strict and goal oriented that he forgot all about the welfare of those children. Additionally, he did not ask for feedback from them to allow more improvement during training. Every encounter they had was a one-way process and there was inadequate student-coach interaction on a one-to-one basis. Action At the time of the incident, he was awakened to the fact that besides strict training sessions, there was more to training like frequent student-trainer chats, discussions about personal experiences, future expectations and many others rather than just playground work. As a result of such knowledge, he decided to attend a short football training course. He knew a little elementary concept pertaining to football, though he had not received any formal training about football coaching. Firstly, he was taken through the objectives of the program and trained on a few essential skills to impact young students. Secondly, leadership skills were taught and were linked to the improvement of the quality of coaching. Lastly, ensuring sustainable change for the better among the youth was emphasized to achieve positive behavioral transformation. Result Recalling on every new detail he had acquired about coaching he adopted the most effective kinds of engaging the students after training. He echoed on the incident that had occurred once before and the risk that more of the students would develop a negative attitude towards exercise. From his point of view, he could see the advantages that accompanied the art of being free with his students without causing bad heat between themselves. Firstly, his approach was exhaustive and little was left out and it identified rapidly the main ways that a student needs were handled and he needed to proceed by providing ideas showing how training would be conducted in a different way and how student improvement could be held. He concentrated on feedback and motivational strategies to promote cohesion among them all. After one month, for particular types of trainees, the approach had positive outcomes; a trainee lacking confidence became entirely motivated and a trainee in their comfort zone was encouraged to consider or reflect. Armed with such new insights the coach observed the right turn for his students and everyone was able to commit themselves and overall it changed his thinking and training. The entire result could be observed during friendly matches where they won most of the matches. 2. A Personal Critical Incident Reflection. At the very start of my college studies, I began teaching Mandarin to a nine-year-old girl. In preparation for the same, I used great deal of my time making observations on how my professors and senior instructors handled students as I had no prior tutoring experience. I deliberately attempted to understand how in particular, one of the most respected and revered professor would engage in communication with us in class. I believed by adopting such ‘skills’ I would be in a position to help the young girl understand, write and speak good Mandarin. Thus, I applied some leadership skills that I had noted. Since she was very playful and was easily distracted, I chose to adopt control as a way of managing her. I collectively used a firm and strict tone, which I thought would be more effective. I trained myself so that the aspect of control would come out naturally as it did with the professor from whom I had emulated. The reaction of the young learner was contrary to what I had hoped. Her pace of learning decreased by the day and as time went by I realized I had begun to lose her attention and friendship. She no longer had the enthusiasm she had at the beginning of the classes and in fact dreaded my classes. In one exact incident, I raised my voice and scolded her for poorly catching up with the language and insisted on exerting my authority. She was visibly hurt and left the room, tears welling down her cheeks. Consequently, the episode became a realization time for me as a facilitator, and I decided to change my teaching method. I softened my approach with her, lowered my tone and spoke softly whenever I talked to her and often encouraged her whenever she learnt something new. Additionally, I would clarify to her where she needed help, and provide an alternative of what she should have done when she got a concept wrong. Consequently, she understood concepts faster, lean to read and write basic mandarin and looked forward to her lessons. Reflection on Both Incidents In comparison, both the incidents explore the aspect of poor leadership and the resultant negative influence on the subjects. The coach from the interview had applied a one-way communication process during training and due to that his players lost touch with him and their playing was affected. As a teacher in the second incident had, I had to rectify and unlearn my teaching approach of applying full control to manage the mandarin student, a technique I had acquired from one of my professors which unfortunately did not bear the fruits I had expected. These two incident reflections are a clear indication of suggestions by Moon (2004). Both of them highlight the aspect of standing back from the episode and internal dialogue. Also, they touch on the need to learn from a situation, especially one that makes an individual feel remorseful. Overall, a two-way process leadership between the subject (students) and teacher or trainer is key in achieving set standards. References Moon, J. (2004). Learning journals: A handbook for academics, students and professional development. 2nd ed. RoutledgeFalmer, pp.203-204. Grace Fivars and Robert Fitzpatrick (2011). The Critical Incident Report Bibliography. Read More