Point Reflection
Example 1
Paul, a third year student of Information Science, has a work placement in a small software company and feels badly treated by his boss.
Example 2
Frank, a second-year student of Information Science, has a work placement in a software company and has difficulty in satisfactorily fulfilling the demands of both the company as well as the institute.
Example 1
Paul, a third year student of Information Science, has a work placement in a small software company where five programmers work as well as the boss. Paul feels badly treated: he gets new assignments when he's just started work on a previous assignment. He continually hears from the boss that he's 'so slow' and that the boss doubts whether 'Paul has right the level needed for this type of work'. Paul is shocked by what he experiences as rudeness on the part of the boss. (step 1)
After further clarification questions from other students, it appears that other employees also have problems with the boss. Programmers often leave, for example, because they can't stand it there. It is not possible for Paul to change placements. Paul sees no possibility of challenging his boss about his attitude. (step 2)
The other participants bring up the following concepts as points for reflection
Future
Choice
Persistence
Relationship
Learning aim
Strength (step 3)
Paul chooses the reflection point 'relationship'. He tells his story again, this time from the perspective of the different relationships which exist between the boss and his employees and internees. At first Paul typifies the relationships only as 'bad'. The participant who contributed this reflection point clarifies however that it is also about the nature of the relationships: what is Paul's relation to the other employees? Paul realises that he has not looked at it like this. He realises that he can get on well with them, but that they cannot stand up to the boss either. (step 4)
Paul has gained more insight into the situation. However he has still not undertaken any concrete action to improve the situation for himself or to mention his problem to the company. Because they have thought about a reflection point, the other participants have learnt that there are many different perspectives from which one can judge a situation. (step 5)
Example 2
Point Reflection with two people (reflector and facilitator)
Situation: Frank, a second-year student of Information Science, has a placement in a software company and feels like he's being treated like a 'work-slave'. He has to programme an application and according to the demands of the Information Engineering institute and his own understanding there should be accompanying documentation with it. However the employer from the software company has not given him any time to produce this documentation. Frank's dilemma is that he cannot meet the requirements of the institute if he only does the programming, without producing any documentation.
His question is: How can I satisfy my employer and gain my credits? (step 1)
In order to clarify the situation, the facilitator asks Frank if he has discussed this with his employer. Frank's answer is 'No, there was no time for that, because a lot of deadlines have to be met at the company.' (step 2)
The facilitator introduces the following abstract concepts: escalation, future, mutual interest. (step 3)
Frank chooses the reflection point 'future', precisely because he feels the least association with this concept. He tells his story again, this time from the perspective of the 'future'. Frank starts talking about the future of the company. The facilitator asks Frank to apply the term 'future' to his own situation and to tell the story again. Frank pauses a while in order to think. He realises that his future does not lie with the software company, and he realises that he is the only person who can change this. (step 4)
Frank has gained more insight into the situation. First the concept 'future' has made him think about his own future. Second he wants to make an appointment with his employer to discuss his dilemma.
Three weeks later Frank reports on this talk with his employer to the facilitator. It appears that the employer was not aware of the need for documentation. Frank has given the reasons why documentation is needed and also made known the requirements from the institute of Information Engineering. He now has sufficient time to work on the documentation. (step 5)