Review: Making the case for reflective practice

Dr Joanna North

Jessica Kingsley Publishers

ISBN 978-1-84905-446-1

£14.99

176pp

This book takes what is known about the value of reflective practice, drawing on the principles of mindfulness, and applies it directly to the world of residential childcare. The approach is strongly underpinned by relevant theory, including attachment, child development, trauma, social pedagogy, social learning theory, neuropsychology, neurobiology and, of course, mindfulness. North writes in a very authentic, honest and relatable style, bringing to life the essential elements required to "be mindful" in our work with vulnerable children, and the teams and systems around them.

Reflective practice can often seem like a vague, abstract process and something that does not receive the time that it badly needs in residential care, where often the focus is on getting through the tasks of the day, with lots of competing demands on time and attention. North addresses this by providing a clear, succinct, practical guide to "doing" reflective practice in this setting. With the aid of a "reflective practice pentagon", key questions are identified that practitioners and teams can ask themselves and deliberately think about, to open up the reflective process. The questions from the pentagon will help carers discover things about children that they did not know or had not thought about, and prompt them to fill the gaps where information is lacking. This is invaluable for developing understanding about what children are communicating through their behaviour and what they need in terms of responses from the adults around them. The reflective practice pentagon is intended to be a "tool box for the art of caring" (page 16) and it certainly fulfils this brief.

More in-depth case studies may have been helpful, though the book is peppered with useful illustrations from North's experience of supporting residential child care teams and young people. I believe that every children's home should have access to a copy of this book. The deeper reflection that will be prompted will be hugely valuable for frontline care staff providing a supporting role to teams via supervision, training or consultation.

This guide will help practitioners make a case for creating and protecting valuable reflection time, both individually and as a team, to carve out a dedicated space for thinking in the complex and at times chaotic environments of residential childcare. In summary, this book clearly sets out what reflective practice is and how to implement it in real terms, underpinned by information about why it is important and how it will help practitioners and the children they care for.

- Review by Dr Kerry Audin, consultant clinical psychologist, CPA (Manchester)

To purchase books reviewed in this section, go to cypnow.co.uk/bookstore.