REFLEX-IONS ON SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION: DEVELOPING A SCALE TO MEASURE REFLEXIVITY IN USERS

Abstract

Since the 1990's, reflexivity as a concept has often been conflated with the notion of `reflection' in social work literature, leading to a dearth of scholarship on the subject. Moreover, no present measures to assess the construct exist. This study asserts the salience of reflexive awareness in social work practice and argues for its incorporation into social work pedagogy and practice in the form of a quantitative scale for measurement. Presently, levels of reflexive thinking among social work students and practitioners are largely unknown. This research aims to construct and validate a preliminary measure of levels of reflexive thinking among social work undergraduate students in Singapore. Scale items are based on Kondrat's (1999) "critical reflectivity", which pertains to an individual's ability to consider the discursive relationship between one's subjective awareness and objective social structures. The items are combined with Kember et al.'s (2000) Reflection Questionnaire and administered as an online survey. The total number of respondents for the survey was 79. EFA revealed an internally consistent and valid two-factor, 12-item structure for the construct of reflexivity. Findings are anticipated to inform further research as well as development of the social work curriculum. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are also discussed.