The use of poetry in form of haikus as a tool for critical reflection.

Abstract

Critical reflection is an integral part of social work education and practice, yet it is widely understood to be hard to learn, teach and assess. We introduced the use of poetry in the form of haikus to three different qualifying social work student groups to trial a creative way of getting students to engage in critical reflection. 96 students took part in the reflection activity and twenty-three of the students agreed to take part in the research element, which used a mixed-methods approach to explore the value of haikus in critical reflection. Following the thematic networks analysis process, we identified one global theme: that haikus were a useful tool for developing critical reflection. There were three organising themes identified: the need to create a safe learning environment to support engagement; that taking part provoked reactions; and the activity held important elements that aided the development of critical reflection.