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ATTACHMENT- DETAILS OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION STUDIES EXPERIENCE AND INTERESTS: 1 Peer Student Critique ......................................................................................................... 2 1.1 Time for Practice........................................................................................................ 2 1.2 Learning from Practice............................................................................................... 2 1.3 Time for Discussion of Theory: ................................................................................. 3 2 my own experiences with the course, my own emphasis in undertaking the course, the impact of the experiential elements and the implications of these for practice ......................... 4 2.1 Coming into the Course: ............................................................................................ 4 2.2 First Experiences:....................................................................................................... 5 2.3 Intentional Elements of Decision: .............................................................................. 5 2.4 Impact of Workshop Component of Course Work: ................................................... 6 2.5 Simulation/ Role Play & Debriefing .......................................................................... 7 2.6 Experience of "Assignments" Component of Course Work ...................................... 7 2.7 Experience of "Presentation" Element of Course Work ............................................ 8 2.8 Experience with "Research Project" Element of Course Work ................................. 8 3 My own "frame" - that of a vocation to teach .................................................................... 8 3.1 Application in "Presentation" Component of Course................................................. 8 3.2 Dispute Resolution Core Compulsory Unit Assignment ......................................... 10 3.3 Focus on Training in Other Assignment Work ........................................................ 10 4. My desire to work through material over the course in a way that was practical - related in some way or another to practice; and to have some sense of "rounding off" - bringing together what might have been the parts.................................................................................. 10 5. Inklings in the Literature .................................................................................................. 14 ENDNOTES:............................................................................................................................ 15

Dianne Allen, 2000 Attachment associated with Assignment FRAME RESEARCH CHOICES AROUND A PARTICULAR TOPIC How to Introduce the Use of Reflective Techniques to Enhance Learning from Role Plays, Simulations and other Experiential Components of the Dispute Resolution Coursework. For Bibliographical details see main assignment (http://www.scribd.com/doc/63437022) and Total Bibliography 2005 (http://www.scribd.com/doc/63600550)

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Peer Student Critique

So far as my peer student critique is concerned, it had three basic thrusts: Time for Practice; Learning from Practice; Time for Discussion of Theory

1.1

Time for Practice

This criticism indicates that there was some perception/ expectation raised that "practice" and "practicing" skills would be a significant component of the course. Indeed, one of the factors instructing my decision to elect to do the "Negotiation" and "Advanced Mediation" units, was my own perception that these were the "basic" "skill" areas, and I was aware of lack in this area Compared to other course material and course presentations, and other "expectations" of "Master" studies, there is a significant level of time, within the content presentation aspects of the course, devoted to "practice" and "practicing skills", by way of simulations and role plays. i The MDR course structure material of 1995, which instructed my decision to commence the course, provided an indication that practice was a significant component. ii During the workshops, especially in the Dispute Resolution core unit, presenters referred to criteria for "accreditation" for practitioners, within certain mediation models. Sometimes I noted course presenters were clearer than at other times that the question of what the simulations/ role plays were designed to do was limited to "building awareness" rather than practicing skills. For the "mediation" model/s, there was practice with the model. However, depending on where students were coming from, this practice was often "first experience" with "a new model". As such, cognitive effort clearly lay with processing the "newness" aspect of the simulation, rather than focussing on any "awareness" of more or less effective strategies. Seven exposures to interactions in mediations, with two of those where the individual concerned had the role of the mediator, and the second one of which involved some coaching by an experienced practitioner, is surely limited to "raising awareness"; and to some extent, even then limited.

1.2

Learning from Practice

One of the frustrations of learning from the simulations/ role plays was that because so much cognitive effort was being placed in "novel" information, and the necessity, sometimes, of maintaining an argumentative stance, there was less cognitive capacity available to focus on specific aspects of trying to assist resolve disputes. The simulation can also suffer from the criticism of being "unreal", and therefore any learning from it is "irrelevant", especially when that learning challenges a person's perception of their competence in dealing with these sorts of situations.
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When role players move outside the brief of the simulation data they can create "unrealistic" elements, and the relevance of the learning experience is then diminished. Another of the critiques raised was the adequacy, etc, of the debriefing of the simulations/ role plays. There were very brief (if at all) instructions on what the objective was; what to try and get out of them; what was the time frame for the activity; and when we were due back to a plenary session to do some further "debriefing" work on the learning experience. For some, some simulations pushed "hot" buttons, and there may have been need for careful debriefing there: so far as I could discern it was not available. For students with teaching and/or counselling background in this area, the criticism of this lack was more trenchant.

1.3

Time for Discussion of Theory:

An outcome of the emphasis on the practice is, with each instance of a simulation or role play, especially in the "mediation" context, requiring of the order of two hours, time for discussion of theory is then limited. Secondly, the level of diversity of student backgrounds, and student expectations which arise from the older teaching/ lecturing paradigm for tertiary studies (the attention to the lecturer as the source of authoritative information), means that in the workshop course structure, basic material, and basic common ground for the "experiential" component, and the raising of issues which might act as a stimulus to further student explorations via the presentation and assignment preparations, is about as far as it goes - there isn't time for any indepth discussion. There is a second deliberate opportunity for indepth discussion - after student work on content. It is by way of providing an opportunity to other students to respond to, and/or question the presentation of a student's assignment material. Though that is the intention, the vehicle, it falls by the wayside of two factors - time constraints, and the level of "involvement" of a student in the logistics of their own presentation. Both of these factors mean that there is limited capacity to engage in critical thinking and discussion on material presented by themselves or another. Within the present course structure, there is a reliance on the student, in the study/ assignment preparation to undertake whatever work they consider appropriate, or necessary, on the theoretical aspect of the studies. How much feedback a student gets about the theoretical content in the assignment is then dependent on the enthusiasm, or the bent of the marker to provide notations, give a challenge, indicate another/ other sources of theory critique, etc. There is, in the assignment presentation process, the opportunity, but not the necessity, to expose one's theorising, to the critique of other students, and the course presenter (presentation evaluator). What the course structure does not allow for, (and for some, not enough of) is verbal interaction/ discourse about theory and implications and experience and discussion of
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dilemmas, to any great extent, to an extent that some students find comfortable/ essential/ challenging/ fruitful. The three day workshop structure, with its informal times: morning & afternoon tea, lunch, and before and after the day occasions, does contain some time for this kind of interaction, and by and large this time is well used on this task. And this poses a dilemma: sometimes we hone our understanding of a theory, of our own thinking, in the context of verbal dialogues available in a "workshop" context, or in the "full time student" "tutorial" context, and the greater "spare" times for full-time students to avail themselves of this mechanism of learning. The part-time context, the different entry levels, the limited time together in class, other business of additional responsibilities (of work and/or family life, etc) all militate against the kind of leisurely discussion/ debate that could produce useful learning outcomes in this area. These same pressures of diverse demands on scarce time for the part-time student also tend to make them impatient of "slower" activities that are not yielding immediate outcomes. My experience of the student presentations was to find them, in the majority of cases, a rich source of additional information and/or insights. Where they ranged, in terms of application of principles to areas of practice different to mine, the input was invariably stimulating. Where they applied thinking to application of principles in areas of practice the same as, or closely related to, mine, the variety of viewpoints was instructive, broadening my own perceptive frame, challenging some of my shibboleths.

my own experiences with the course, my own emphasis in undertaking the course, the impact of the experiential elements and the implications of these for practice

2.1

Coming into the Course:

My introduction to ADR arose from my response to a flier for registration to a course called "Combating Disputes in Organisations" - November 1995. This was one of many fliers that come to me of "continuing education" material for organisational activity, and it was the only one that captured my attention for "taking the next step" and registering, that year. The internal stimulus came from an awareness that I was not necessarily effectively equipped to deal with disputes (in organisations) in and for Shellharbour Council, should they arise; and especially if they arose as a result of the implementation of an EEO Management Plan - a recently established obligation on Local Government from the revision of legislation governing local government: Local Government Act, 1993. Because the course was opened to "all comers", there was a preliminary session which gave an overview of the field of ADR. This was then followed up by the presentation of material from the visiting speaker, Frank Carr, from the US, and the conduct of the course, with its group work exercises. It became apparent to me that the workshop was a part of a formal course of studies, and on gathering information on the whole course, and the logistics of its conduct, I was then interested to explore taking up the course in full. I then sought permission to get credit for the workshop already attended, and material generated in the course of my work responsibilities, on the issue of handling complaints. My request was
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favourably considered providing that I generated a 5000 word essay, in accordance with course criteria, by a set date. I set down to do this over Christmas and New Year, 1995-6. The return to "academic" studies (albeit related to work application) after a break of 30 years proved to be somewhat of a culture shock. I struggled with the essay. I felt the lack of external input to establish direction. As I reviewed my awareness of disputes in a local government setting, and the nature of the course expectations, I decided not to proceed with this claim for credit for a unit done by attendance and participation in the workshop, when I hadn't "attended" with that objective in mind.

2.2

First Experiences:

I then enrolled for the MDR studies - primarily to get access to the Industrial Dispute Resolution elective, and attended the February 1996 Dispute Resolution course and sought to settle to the first research paper and presentation section paper. Again, there were elements of culture shock, of resistance to the change: the discipline of study; the liberty of selecting the "topic" for the research paper (and not wanting to "loose" all my raw data (from the work context) on the first unit if it could be reserved for the larger research project to end the studies); the content - while the experience of negotiation simulations and mediation role plays, etc was "new/raw" experience, the remainder of the content was "fuzzy" and repetitive - compared to my previous academic studies in science and majoring in chemistry; the content - the use of anecdote, stories the content - and issues and resonance with Christian concepts

2.3

Intentional Elements of Decision:

In determining to undertake these studies, I was looking for the basic tools for "doing it better". I was wanting what I needed for "practical" reasons. My exposure to previous undergraduate studies, and the short course/ seminars of the continuing education market place, meant that I wasn't convinced that what I needed could be achieved by additional short courses. What was needed was something more systematic, more comprehensive. I thought that the longer, more extensive course would deal with the "inadequacies" of the short course format. While observing Library Staff undertaking TAFE studies in Library Practice, I had been alerted to the adult "impatience" with course work: wanting to get on with the practical; not being aware that for the building of basic skills time and practice were required how much time had been spent in our youth learning multiplication tables, repeatedly solving congruent triangle problems: exposure to problem, multiple

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practice of problem to give sufficient proficiency to achieve a result in a time frame - time limited exams.

2.4

Impact of Workshop Component of Course Work:

The intensive workshop structure: with the logistics of three consecutive days was a manageable format for me. Travelling (from Kiama) for two- to three- hour session mid week would have ruled the course out for me. What also came out of the three consecutive days was a building of intensity, with the "practice" component. There was physical/ emotional exhaustion. There was cognitive effort demanded for the role play activities. I was looking for the following from the workshop session: 1. impetus for the assignment work 1.1 something to whet my curiosity - a new idea to "get me going" 1.2 failing that, some "issue" definition or clarification where I recognised a need to do further work to help clarify my own understanding of the issue/s 1.3 failing that, something that I recognised as relevant to my own practice, where additional work, required for the assignment component would have value for me 1.4 the "motivation" that comes from the social element of a class: interaction/s, obligations to the teacher/ presenter, to other students 2. the delivery of external inputs to broaden my own knowledge base, not necessarily complete content, but at least an indication of where I could go to get the information I needed Then the impact of course work was that it raised an entirely new and unexpected question for me: that of the role of the simulation/ the role play: 1. what was the "educational" objective of the Simulation/ Role Play experience? 2. How important was that to these studies? 3. What was the nature of the dissatisfaction with that: of my peers, of myself? 4. What alternatives were there to the simulation/ role play route? The Course content also confirmed my previous experience with the issues related to personal behavioural change necessary for operational competence: there might well be alternative strategies "out there" that were effective, but could I follow them, or did they "offend" something fundamental in me. ? This was the question of "congruence" with one's own style. There was then the question/task of making that style explicit - open to analysis, to continue with the good; to identify the bad, not as effective, to be able to pick from the alternatives what would be better, and still congruent What, individually, did I rely on for competence? I personally dislike the telephone; prefer face-to-face communications I personally put a lot of effort into preparation - knowing/ understanding the ground/ context

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I personally put a lot of effort into building trust/ reliability/ predictability I personally place a lot of importance on the quality of relationships

This led to a deeper exploration of issues of congruence, and framebreaking, and training which involved framebreaking and new frame forming, in the Negotiation assignment Further, my management experience and my reading of a couple of management text/ research material for management training (Whetten & Cameron, 1995; Robbins, 1994; Robbins, 1989) confirmed the need for integrity in management behaviour.

2.5

Simulation/ Role Play & Debriefing

The simulation/ role plays were a significant educational experience for me. There was the "affective" emotional impact of being in dispute - something I either avoid, or have other mechanisms to circumvent (pre-empt). In the playing of the "disputant" role, the task of trying to maintain the dispute/ continue some element of disagreeableness (with its incongruence with my normal behaviour), to sustain a context for a mediator to be able to seek to intervene to contribute, was tiring and cognitively demanding. As a result there were, for me, very few resources available for learning about "effective" and/or "ineffective" interventions/ strategies. My initial experience was one of great pressure, great confusion. I was never quite sure of what was expected of the simulation. There was little or no preparatory indication of the learning context of the simulation or role play. There were no initial guidelines for those playing the role of disputants about how the playing of their role might help the mediator learning process. The debriefing later was generally "cursory", or, at least, it "felt" that way to me. I might well have been "suffering" from cognitive overload. If there was a rationale, an intentional attempt to graduate the experience, this did not come across to me.

2.6

Experience of "Assignments" Component of Course Work

In hindsight, from this frame, I now see that I exercised a reflective research process throughout my course work, in developing and exploring the issues for the substantive assignments iii 1. 2. 3. Whole intentional approach (see remarks in 2.3 above) Mining the workplace experience/ context/ issues for working at the unit assignments Seeking further information from the literature/ prior research/ other's theoretical insights to make "sense" of the experience

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In 5 of the 7 assignment I was able to develop specific recommendations for application in the workplace, in the area of training for staff in the workplace. In the other two, the application was slightly more tangential, relating to "broader" societal issues. There was some consideration of the current impact of these wider on the local government workplace. There was also some indication of what preparations, and what understandings might be necessary to equip staff in local government to deal with some of these changes and their implications, since the greatest fear in change is that of the unknown. Especially informative for me, was an increased awareness of the way that a developed understanding of conflict, and its manifestations, and strategies to resolve and/or manage these conflicts would be helpful, and in a generic sense, having interdisciplinary and broad life issue applications. The feedback, in terms of marks for assignments, was that I was on track in these areas. What was missing was any real interaction, by way of challenge, which might help me uncover some of my tacit knowledge.

2.7

Experience of "Presentation" Element of Course Work

See section 1.3 under Time for Discussion of Theory for a preliminary comment on this, and section 3.1, following, for a more detailed indication of the role of this part of the course work in developing and refining my interest in this kind of a project. One of the objectives that I developed, and took into the preparation of the "presentation" work was that of wanting to somehow contribute to other students' insight; to give them some sort of additional learning experience; to find and share a tool that might assist them in their practice of dispute resolution. (There were some students younger than I and looking to make a career change. Something else that might help them be more effective in that area would be, for me, something worthwhile to contribute. There is a sense in which I am probably nearing the end of a professional career.)

2.8

Experience with "Research Project" Element of Course Work

See section 4, following, for detail

My own "frame" - that of a vocation to teach

As noted previously, one of the aspects of my personal frame is that of "teacher". While I have not been able to continue the expression of that, as a full time profession, nevertheless, it has been an ongoing part of my activity while in the position of manager of a library service, and in my most recent role with personnel policy, etc. I have an interest in curriculum, its content, its development.

3.1

Application in "Presentation" Component of Course

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In the course work, this interest expressed itself in guiding my emphases in the "presentation" sections of the course. In searching for a topic for the presentation aspect for the Dispute Resolution compulsory unit: my teaching/ training vocational approach came to the fore my "resourcing" [librarian - SDI role] role: to gather together information for use by people involved in mediation, to assist them, also appealed, and material that might especially be useful for those "new" to the area, like myself the question of culturally appropriate allusions, to expedite the conveying of concepts in the course of a mediation, arose: stories, illustrations: "old knowledge"/ cultural allusions - Aesop's; biblical; proverbs &/or parables; others? there was a challenge to "be creative" in our presentations - to demonstrate effective communication there was a similar challenge to work on presenting ideas by way of "visuals" that led me to: was there any potential, by visual, in humour, in the "abbreviation"/ "simplification" of issues required in cartooning that could be used? there was the task of "working" on scripts for the "interventional" aspects of mediation/s, to be able to do that as efficiently as possible there was a need to demonstrate some backing of research/ literature to the work presented I nearly despaired of meeting my own criteria for the first presentation. I had the "idea". It looked like "a good idea at the time" - they mostly do. But getting it together posed another challenge. Firstly, the cultural allusions, of Aesop's fables, for instance, and then the current newspaper cartoons, when I delved, were far too cutting, and likely to be confrontational. Biblical allusions are less and less useful in an increasingly secular and pluralist community. Then I stumbled on Wade's article on Strategic Interventions in the Australian Dispute Resolution Journal: Wade, J, "Strategic Interventions Used by Mediators, Facilitators & Conciliators", Australian Dispute Resolution Journal, 1994, Vol 5, p292-304 Building on previous work of Carnevale & Pegnetter (1985) Wade had developed a checklist and some sample "scripts" for mediators. A Mediator's Checklist - for preparations - for developing own series of relevant anecdotes - for reflective analysis of approach in mediation - for reflective analysis of effectiveness of strategies/ interventions

I was able to use the list and the scripts to undertake some analysis of the interventions, using the Fisher and Ury (1991) "principles", the David (1995) steps of the mediation process and

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the Charlton and Dewdney (1995) stages and some additions to the list of interventions. I was able to match some anecdotes and allusions and visuals for particular interventions/ concepts. I had my presentation. This pedagogic element has been the dominant approach throughout the presentations I have undertaken during the course. iv

3.2

Dispute Resolution Core Compulsory Unit Assignment

For the first Dispute Resolution core compulsory paper I struggled with settling, as mentioned earlier. I expected that my workplace application material would give me enough for the major research project to wrap the course work up, and I didn't want to use all my resources on my first paper. In the end, I had to "dump" that material, get rid of it, to be free to learn in new areas. The thrust of that paper, as a review of disputes in the local government context, led, almost inevitably, as I sought to draw organisational implications and lessons from it, to the consideration of what training, etc, would equip staff to handle the disputes that arise in the local government workplace. I "circumvented" the need to do "original research", conduct some questionnaire, by taking the position that what would be "original" about my work would be the gathering of information from disparate sources, to apply to the issue. I also sprinkled what amounted to an overview of the local government context of disputes, with evaluative asides - questions that arose in the course of the commentary; and whether there was any indication of research in that area; and what sort of data would provide answers to the questions posed by the overview. The gathering of the literature on developing mediator skills, etc, brought me into contact with Mary Power's (1992) contribution, with its comments and critiques about the use of simulations and role plays. : Power, Mary R "Educating Mediators Metacognitively" (1992) 3 Australian Dispute Resolution Journal, 1992, Vol 3, 214-226 I guess the die was cast for my focus on these issues. But that was not evident in the first instance.

3.3

Focus on Training in Other Assignment Work

As noted in section 2.6 there were five other assignments where the focus and the work delivered specific recommendations for the improvement of practice in my workplace by identifying training needs and training issues:

4.

My desire to work through material over the course in a way that was practical related in some way or another to practice; and to have some sense of "rounding off" - bringing together what might have been the parts

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I have made some mention of these motivations in my work, in previous sections. I wanted my studies work to have a "practical" bent/ usefulness. I wanted, in the larger Research Project task, to have a sense of building on work already in place, and of rounding it off, in some way. When I first set to form a "research topic", my choice developed in the following way: My intellectual curiosity was sparked by coming back to studies after 30 years break and the impact of technology over the time - computer; and nature of study - time factor, loss of knowledge .. . My earlier studies included: undertaking literature searches (chemistry 3 studies, 1965 - the prerequisite for undertaking research - clearing the ground by finding out what has already been done and reported) reading in anthropology (1966) reading in philosophy and ideas (loosely) associated with Dip Ed (1967) curriculum. These readings, together with "knowledge" gathered informally over the past thirty years (some theological studies [circa 1975] and town planning studies [1972-76]) gave me a store of concepts. Then, when I needed to launch into new fields - group behaviour (for the Advanced Mediation studies) and general current psychological theory (for the Psychology & DR studies), I found myself: trying to save time by working from the latest research backwards; and therefore, needing to be aware of where a particular comment/ concept came, in the order of things "reacting" to the "newness" claim of the ADR and related material, in the face of my "store of knowledge" and the challenge of the possibility of it actually being "old lost" knowledge, rather than a "new" field of endeavour the claim for "newness" meant that if I wasn't careful about the chronology of my sources, in a reasonably scant field, discredited/ challenged concepts could creep into my frame then I found that some key concepts which "resonated" with me were ignored by others ... this made me ask questions about US scholarship, and schools of views/ the "charismatic" element So I began trying to chase some of the history of concepts by building a chronology, firstly of the bibliographic references for group behaviour studies, and then for key concepts in the broader "social studies". I have then been interested to cross chronologise elements of the development of law/ ADR societal responses, etc. When considering what to undertake for developing a research paper I was interested to explore the history of the ideas, and to "get around" having to undertake "original research", eg by way of survey, etc and then analysis, by undertaking a bibliographically based review process.
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Hence, my first topic: (April 1997, for the 6 credit point unit): "The Origins of the Concepts Currently Applied to the Practices of Alternative Dispute Resolution." The projected content (and, in the papers I have done so far, there is sometimes quite some shift between what I start out thinking I am doing, and what ends up the finished project handed in!) was: an endeavour to seek the answer/s to the question/s of: 1. what are the origins of the processes of ADR? and 2. what are the origins of the concepts being sought to be applied in ADR? or another way of expressing it might be: 3. what have been the "conceptual" contributions to the development of ADR? (in Australia, in NSW, in 1997) And in considering that, is there evidence that ADR is simply an example of knowledge/ wisdom that has been, and has been lost, and has now had to be refound, in a "scientific model" paradigm? My results in the various units of the MDR (averaging D level) gave me some incentive to consider something more than that - the research project, but now the issue was to return to my non-preferred approach of having to do some "original research". I have always had & still have a fairly strong desire to do something that might have some use; not just be an intellectual curiosity exercise. (Correspondence with Jennifer David; remarks in Attachment on Framework in undertaking studies in Dispute Resolution) So, against my better judgement, I set to, to expand the analysis of that topic by doing the "typical" questionnaire survey, exploring the "experience" of other students, of leaders in the ADR field, to see if there were commonalities of experience/ background that pre-disposed them to responding to the ADR field. The survey was developed, over a short period of July-August 1997, under the pressure of time (for getting the form out to a group of students in mid spring semester in 1997), in order to see what information a survey might provide towards the proposed project of dealing with the question of the origin of concepts informing ADR, and practitioners' (and prospective practitioners') awareness of any element of "changing paradigm" in community aspirations for justice, and the source of stimulus for their "frame". (See August Draft) There was a bit of an attempt, at that time, to enunciate what hypothesis/ es were/ might be tested by such a survey. (See xx in the August Draft) However, given the time constraint, and my personal "intellectual" reservations noted next, there wasn't any serious attempt to do too tight an analysis of the questionnaire to direct its enquiries to test specific hypotheses; nor a more sufficient testing/ pilot to indicate to what extent the results provided relevant information to that end. My personal "intellectual" reservations about this technique/ process of research are as follows:

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1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

This is not the only way to develop knowledge. It does have its power, its virtues, and when constructed well (ie probably by a specialist/ team with developed skills in this area) it has the potential to deliver useful information. Without the appropriate expertise in design, this process is likely to be "flawed" by the tendency to prove the obvious; to be so constructed that the designer (me) can no longer "see" its inadequacies - "leading questions" designed to prove thesis being tested, etc This process is particularly dominant/ powerful in our current scientifictechnological- oriented paradigms, however, it has mechanistic overtones; and the present dominant paradigms are not necessarily delivering the goods, with regard to providing effective direction in guiding our practices to deal with our present "social uncertainties" (See remarks in Bush & Folger) My awareness (from studies in ecology) of the limitations of determining (absolutely) cause and effect in complex system interrelations; and the need in this area of studies (Frey, Kramer, et al) to recognise "human complexity", and the "contextual" reality and complexity accompanying human interactions. I have spent much time (in undergraduate science studies, 1963-66) reproducing "reproducable" results (some of it can be described as following the "recipe") and having no real sense of exploring the unknown. Then at the end of my studies, when preparing to teach science, and "scientific method", I was obliged to explore (Dip Ed major assignment, 1967) the nature of "scientific method", "scientific discovery", "creativity" and the related issue of "locked mind sets". My basic sources in those studies were Arthur Koestler (The Act of Creation, 1964) & JB Conant (cited as a stimulus to Kuhn xxxx). Without developing these themes in any detail (and they are usually dealt with in any introductory text on psychology and sociology when discussing research and research methods and limitations) I would have to say that if I am to take this approach I far prefer to structure it in as open a way as possible to allow for the so-called "serendipitous" "discovery".

The questionnaire was sent out. By December 1997 there were 14 responses from NSW students, 10 responses from Australian Academics/ leaders, and 0 responses from international leaders, out of an attempt to reach a sample of 60 in each area. The response sample was likely to be too small to deliver any useful results. However, in the Christmas New Year break, in deference to course requirements, I set to to do some analysis of these results, to see what was there, to see what I could/ should do with my research project, to see whether the information gathered could serve some useful purpose. Early in December I had collected the current "articles of interest" from the hard copy collection of Negotiation Journal from the UTS library, as back up resource for off-site studies in the areas of my interest. When I started the survey analysis, and the research topic review, it included a further review of "what was at hand". Kressel's article caught my attention. Perhaps he had something to say to my present dilemma. And he did. All at once my reservations about traditional research, my interests in "practical" application and in training all came together.
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Now I had a another light, experienced in the field, saying the same sort of things. It was then a matter of settling to "get some of it down", to "formulate" another proposal. Some evidence of what I had done with the original proposal, what were my real problems with proceeding with that, what was a real alternative proposal needed to be gathered together and my supervisor approached for permission to change the thrust, to undertake the pilot, to put this approach in hand. I would note that in these conversations the supervisor expressed the view that similar difficulties had been faced by other students, especially those actively engaged in the mediation field as practitioners. This lent further support to the approach. It was all systems go.

5.

Inklings in the Literature

The literature support for reflective research of practice is not voluminous. It is there, but as "inklings". I wondered if my frame [where I had some fundamental dissatisfaction with the traditional "scientific" paradigm (as noted in section 4 before); where there was some unease about the efficacy of the traditional "scientific" paradigm in the social studies arena] had primed me to be alert to what critiques were there It does, in effect, "triangulate" the identification of a problem. There is support there for: my deliberate intention to seek to remain "practice"-focussed with my studies; my experience of the course work and its challenges to my self-perception of competency/ effectiveness in interpersonal interactions; other peer student dissatisfactions with the content/ approach of the course work; some of the external/ independent world of practitioners/ academics/ scholars/ researchers/ teachers were likewise experiencing similar concerns, reservations and frustrations. This became a source of validation of proceeding with this as a study.

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ENDNOTES:
In the Dispute Resolution core compulsory workshop and lectures, delivered over some 45 hours, of the order of 25 hours was spent in preparations for, undertaking, and debriefing from simulations, or role plays. In the Negotiation and Advanced Mediation electives, the theory was presented in the context of preparations for, or debriefings from, the undertaking of the simulations, or role plays which represented 70-80% of the time of the three day workshop. For the other electives, practicing with people interactions, especially in simulations or role plays of/in the context relevant to the elective emphasis, generally extended to at least one third of the time of the three-day workshop. Further, with the Negotiation elective, recent changes to the "presentation" component, require students to engage in collaborative negotiations to develop a team presentation, which, compared to the simulations, has the merits of: 1. endeavouring to negotiate "within personal congruences" - individuals are "playing" themselves, not some "putative" other for the sake of establishing or maintaining some sense of dispute, 1.1 individuals have to negotiate work that is within their competence to deliver on, within the time frame, to gain the kind of score they are interested in achieving, within a group where these factors may well operate at different levels of interest negotiating for a real outcome - the effective delivery of the team presentation, on which marks towards the unit depend negotiating in a group context, a collaborative team
i

2. 3.
ii

"The Master of Dispute Resolution is cross-disciplinary and is particularly aimed at providing the theory, skills and practice of dispute resolution to professionals, executives and administrators. This degree will promote understanding and research in this developing area of legal, commercial, organisational and community practice." "Subjects within this Masters degree concentrate on dispute resolution processes that are non-adversarial. A co-operative, problem-solving approach is promoted and encouraged. The core (compulsory) subject of Dispute Resolution introduces the processes and approach whilst the optional subjects explore their application within discrete subject areas." "The Master of Dispute Resolution program also aims to foster skills in the use of Dispute Resolution at the international level, particularly in the Pacific Rim region, and to critique the evolution of the private, governmental and court use of Dispute Resolution processes in Australia." Assessment "Candidates undertaking Dispute Resolution subjects are required to submit a research paper or work equivalent to 12,000 words for the core unit, Dispute Resolution, and 6,000 words for the optional units. These papers should be of a high academic standard and the 12,000 word paper must demonstrate original research. Participation in skills programs will also form a significant percentage of assessment." 1997 Material The Graduate Certificate ... provides practical experience and skills-based tuition, with scope for students to concentrate on areas of special interest." The Course Evaluation sheet specifically identifies: 1. Was there sufficient practical information? 2. Was there sufficient theoretical input? 3. Was there sufficient skills development?

iii

The assignment topics I developed over the two years were:

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Equipping Staff to Handle Disputes Effectively in Local Government. [Unpublished] Research Assignment for course work on Dispute Resolution for the UTS MDR, May, 1996. Recommendations dealt with policy, systems, practice, and training implications Issues in Training in Negotiation Skills for an Organisational Setting. [Unpublished] Assignment for course work on Negotiation for the UTS MDR, June, 1996 Recommendations dealt with experiential training elements and issues raised by experiential training, and implications for delivering training in the workplace Facilitation: The Use of Mediation techniques & Processes in Resolving Differences in Group Decision-Making. [Unpublished] Assignment for course work on Advanced Mediation for the UTS MDR, November, 1996. Recommendations dealt with group theory, implications for training for the workplace exercise of group facilitation (group facilitation being particularly important for local government and its responsibilities in public issues debates and community development, etc) Learning from the Experience of Disputes at Shellharbour City Council. [Unpublished] Assignment for course work on Dispute Resolution in Commerce for the UTS MDR, November, 1996 Recommendations dealt with the past organisational experience of disputes as case study material for training/ organisational learning Lessons to be Learned from the Experience of Disputes in the Construction Industry. [Unpublished] Assignment for course work on Construction Industry Dispute Resolution for the UTS MDR, March, 1997 There were no specific recommendations. The thesis exploring Cooperation and Competition concepts, considering likely implications for the current debate in local government on competition policy and strategic planning. Nature of Conflict & Its Role in Society. [Unpublished] Assignment for course work on Psychology & Dispute Resolution for the UTS MDR, May, 1997 Recommendation dealt with need/ possible mechanisms for delivering training in current basic psychological understandings for people in the workplace. The thrust was on current psychological insights into mental effectiveness, nature of conflict, and application for metacognitive approach for myself, and training implications for others. Industrial Dispute Resolution: Issues, Trends and Implications. [Unpublished] Assignment for course work on Industrial Dispute Resolution for the UTS MDR, October, 1997 There were no specific recommendations. The recommendations for training, etc, for the local government context had been essentially delivered in previous assignments. This dealt with current research and analysis of implications for organisational preparedness for changing paradigm(?) of of workplace relations regulation.
iv

Negotiation - The King & I - an accessible case study; and a table for analytic review

Advanced Mediation - a facilitated discussion - an article giving details of a process for large group facilitation; an attempt to conduct such a process, to demonstrate its merits; applying the process to the task of evaluating students' perceptions of the course work - responding to the peer critique element. Dispute Resolution in Commerce - a "war" story from local government: how to use organisational experience of disputes and different ways of resolving them, as a source of learning/ teaching about dispute resolution. Construction Dispute Resolution - cartoons overviewing issues raised in the assignment & an article on public sector interactions; debating lessons to be learned from the experience of structural aspects of the construction industry that are source of disputes. Psychology & Dispute Resolution - starting from Power's metacognitive challenge and right brain activity: poetry, sculpture, music

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Industrial Dispute Resolution - Senge's system analysis diagram for Accidental Adversaries and how that might be used as a tool to engage discussion between the parties to an industrial dispute (especially at the enterprise level) to help enunciate the nature of the interdependence of the relationship, in an organisation, between employer and employee, and to help both parties see the consequences of their interdependence, the common ground, and the necessity for collaborative interest based negotiations in any ongoing enterprise bargaining proposed.

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