014228 RESEARCH PRACTICES

  1. Subject Learning Goals
    1. I’m keen to learn beyond the more traditional approaches to research – the experimental method, the statistical method, case study methods, and the comparative method. I am particularly interested in adopting a more agile approach that engages participants every step of the way. Research that is immersive and continuous also appeals to me. I have been involved in projects where research has being finite and it never is – it is always ongoing – for continuous improvement, to manage change, to support succession planning. To use research as a springboard to further research appeals to me. I know this is how academia works but to embed the research in BAU, so staff understand the benefits, and contribute to the objectives of the research, would be interesting to explore.
    2. There are so many areas to be researched:
      – Ageism in an ageing population;
      – Why are students taught the same way I was taught at school – with no consideration for different ways of learning and learning barriers?
      – Why is fresh food so hard to come by in aged care facilities?
      – Why do young women brought up by strong, strident, passionate feminists wear fake tan, fake eye-lashes, fake hair?
      – Why is change management taught the same way it was 20 years ago, without positive results?
      – Why are senior managers so resistant to change but happy to talk about issues requiring change ad-nauseam?
      – Why do female leaders not support other women?
      The list goes on – I am a curious person and would love to understand more to help facilitate productive and meaningful change in workforce education within the Health sector.
    3. I would like to use this subject to test my ability to focus and do deeper work. I can be quite scatty in my approach – lurching from HDs to Credits based on not giving myself adequate time to really engage with my learning. I’m looking forward to critically analysing relevant research to provide deeper understanding of my chosen practice.
    4. I’m keen to explore research about ageism towards women of 50+ in middle-management. Research that explores the feminist perspective regarding women not supporting women and why. Creating environments like communities of practice to allow older employees to contribute at a strategic level and adopting a yarning circle approach – where there is genuine respect of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders who share stories and knowledge.
    5. I plan to put in the hours as I really want to understand topics more deeply – and I believe applying different approaches to my research will achieve this. I’ll be fascinated to see how much I have learnt in my final reflective piece.
  • A linking statement:  I think I would have benefited from studying Research Practices early in my course studies, to develop a more disciplined approach to acquiring knowledge and applying it to an issue in my work practice. Or maybe not. Maybe I only now fully appreciate the importance of research and want to apply my full focus to support innovation, and lead innovation, developing sustainable learning trajectories, and understanding the importance of data ethics in all our digital developments in education.
  • I have always ‘poked the bear’ and agitated for change but I am only now, at the wonderful age of 54, providing a more evidence-based approach to my ideas to innovate and bring about change. I thoroughly enjoyed the work I did on Leading Innovation where I explored the concept of using yarning circles as part of agile practices – so to support robust, respectful retrospectives to improve communications as part of our work practices. I will explore this further in this subject and will be curious to understand what, if any research has been done about this subject area.
  • Understanding traditional research techniques and exploring newer and more contemporary ways of researching to support change will be interesting. I’m hoping to share some of my research with my current work team, as they are a bright, small and curious project team who has an appetite for change and an interest in understanding more deeply subject-matter and ways of working. We practice design thinking and are providing some engaging and innovative workforce training that has the learner at the centre of our design and bring stakeholders to together in a common mission to achieve productively and positively together.
  • I now know that I want to work in a large organisation supporting positive learning and innovating wherever possible. I will always ‘poke the bear’ (politely) but my learning over the past year and half has taught me to pause and take time to research topics, apply evidence and engage with our learners in the process of change. I’m excited about the influence I can provide a workplace and know this further learning about research practices will enhance what I know vocationally, and what I’ve learnt during this course.