The guest of this episode is professor James McGuirk, Director of the Center for Diaconia and Professional Practice at VID Specialized University and professor II at Nord University, both in Norway. As a philosopher, James gives account of what he means by the notion of “the wise practitioner” and how students of professional studies can develop towards becoming wise practitioners. In order to do so, he explicates the three forms of knowledge of Aristotle and brings forth arguments why using one’s own experiences is as legitimate as using others’ in practice research.

00:00:44 – What are characteristics of a wise practitioner?

00:02:06 – What is the role of habit in practical wisdom?

00:04:59 – What is the role of reason in practical wisdom?

00:06:42 – On the three knowledge forms of Aristotle

00:10:38 – What is phronesis?

00:14:03 – On values in institutions

00:18:54 – How can students of professional studies become wise practitioners?

00:24:28 – On the role of stories and experiences in practice research and developing practical knowledge

00:28:04 – Are there any differences in researching narratives phenomenologically or hermeneutically?

00:30:46 – Is using one’s own experiences as legitimate as using others’ in practice research?

00:36:17 – Is developing phronesis, or responsAbility, rather a matter of research than of teaching?

Further literature:

McGuirk, J. (2021): Den kloke praktikeren. In: Fuglseth, K.S. & Halås, C.T. (eds.): Innføring i Praktisk Kunnskap. Anerkjennende, kritisk og konstruktiv praksisforskning. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.

McGuirk, J. 2017. Experience and the story. I: Catrine Thorbjørnsen Halås, Ingjerd Gåre Kymre and Kari Steinsvik: Humanistiske forskningstilnærminger til profesjonspraksis.

McGuirk, J. og Jan Selmer Methi. (2014); Praktisk kunnskap som profesjonsforskning: antologi over yrkeserfaringen som utgangspunkt for forståelse av kunnskapsutvikling i praksis. Fagbokforlaget.

McGuirk, J. 2016. Phenomenological considerations of habit: Reason, knowing and self-presence in habitual action. Phenomenology and Mind, (6), 112–121. https://doi.org/10.13128/Phe_Mi-19556

McGuirk, J. 2021. Embedded rationality and the contextualization of critical thinking. Journal of Philosophy of Education, (55), 606-20. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9752.12563

McGuirk, J. 2023. Paying attention alone and together: The role of attention in the formation and cultivation of habits. Knowing our ways about in the world: Philosophical perspectives on Practical knowledge, eds. B. Molander, M. Solli, & T. Netland. Oslo. Scandinavian University Press.https://www.idunn.no/doi/10.18261/9788215069135-23-06

McGuirk, J. 2023. On the role of the ‘Call’ in professional work and practical knowledge. Exploring Practical Knowledge, eds. K. Fuglseth, C. Cederberg & E. van der Zande. Leiden. Brill

McGuirk, J. 2022.Perspectives on democracy, citizenship, and value education in the Norwegian school. Education in Europe: Contemporary approaches across the continent. New York. Routledge.

The guest of this episode is Cheryl Hunt, Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Exeter/UK, Director and Trustee of the International Network for the Study of Spirituality (INSS) and the founding editor of the Journal for the Study of Spirituality. Cheryl gives an in-depth account of Reflective Practice and how it developed historically in professional practices. Furthermore, she elaborates the relationship between Reflective Practice, spirituality and meaning-making. Finally, she explicates how spirituality can be studied and researched.

00:01:17 – On Reflective Practice and its history

00:14:29 – On the role of the question “Who am I?” in Reflective Practice

00:17:55 – What does it mean to act authentically in professional practices?

00:20:03 – On the relation between authenticity and spirituality

00:23:14 – Is there a relation between spirituality and meaning-making?

00:26:26 – What is the role of spirituality in professional practices?

00:28:19 – Is there a lack of spirituality in today’s world?

00:31:26 – Is Reflective Practice an approach to promote responsibility in professional practices

00:34:33 – How can spirituality be researched and studied?

00:36:10 – How to facilitate spirituality in terms of a reflective practice

Further literature:

- Hunt, C. (2024): Discovering Spirituality through Critical Reflection and Autoethnography. In: Flanagan, B. & Clough, K. (eds.): The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Spirituality and Contemplative Studies. London & New York, NY: Routledge.

- Hunt, C. (2023): ‘Doing’ reflective practice and understanding spirituality as a way of being: Implications for professional and transformative practice, Journal for the Study of Spirituality, DOI: 10.1080/20440243.2023.2249823

- Hunt, C. (2021). Critical Reflection, Spirituality and Professional Practice 1st ed. 2021. Palgrave MacMillian

Hunt, C. (2016) ‘Why me? Reflections on using the self in and as research’ In J. McNiff (ed) Values and Virtues in Higher Education Research: Critical issues. (Abingdon: Routledge) pp.48-63

Hunt, C. (2016) 'Spiritual creatures? Exploring a possible interface between reflective practice and spirituality'. In Fook, J., Collington, V., Ross, F., Ruch, G. and West, L. (eds) Researching Critical Reflection: Multidisciplinary perspectives. (London: Routledge). pp.34-47

Hunt, C. (2010): A step too far? From a professional reflective practice to spirituality. In: Bradbury, H., Frost, N., Kilminster, S. & Zukas, M. (eds.): Beyond reflective practice. New approaches to professional lifelong learning. London & New York: Routledge.

Hunt, C. (2009) ‘Wyrdknowledge: towards an understanding of spirituality through reflective practice and mythopoesis’. In P.Willis, T.Leonard, A.Morrison and S.Hodge (eds), Spiritualty, Mythopoesis and Learning (Queensland: Post Pressed). pp.130-146.

Hunt, C. (2006) Travels with a turtle: metaphors and the making of a professional identity. Reflective Practice 7(3), 315-332.