Page 17 - Exploring Interprofessional Collaboration and Ethical Leadership

COLLEGE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS & ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS
Processes
Description
Reflecting on lived experiences and professional knowledge
Guided imagery was used to encourage a deeper reflective exploration regarding their own lived experience and understanding of ethical dimensions of interprofessional collaboration.
Participants were then invited to individually reflect and list key thoughts or ideas emanating from their reflections.
Dialogue and sharing the individual lists
Participants were invited to enter into pairs to share, compare and discuss their lists. There was an opportunity to clarify ideas, to identify where there were similarities or duplication of ideas and to generate more ideas emerging from the resulting dialogue. Ultimately, the pairs arrived at a combined list of ideas.
Ideas were then transferred to cards, one idea per card, using 3-5 words in large block letters.
Selection and random posting of dyad cards on the wall as directed by the facilitator
Each pair was then asked to post two cards randomly on the wall. The facilitator invited the pair to determine which cards they would like to post first but with a reminder that all cards/ideas eventually would be posted. (No idea is abandoned.)
Clustering of posted concept cards on the wall by the collective group
Once all pairs had posted two cards each, the facilitator then invited the large group
to consider how cards might be paired into clusters. The point of pairing is not simply
to connect ideas that seem similar. More fundamentally, the pairing of ideas seeks
to explore how two ideas combine to shape and inform a deeper concept. The conversation that ensues during the pairing process is essential for the large group to co- create a collective understanding of concepts that emerge from the pairing of ideas.
When all cards had been paired, the facilitator then invited dyads to randomly post two more cards. These new cards then either formed new cluster pairings or were connected to previous pairing clusters. The framework on page 16 indicates how this process resulted in nine cluster columns of ideas in the exploration of interprofessional collaboration and its ethical dimensions.
Naming of the clusters
The final step in the consensus workshop process is to name clusters. Up to this point the clusters had remained nameless and were identified only by neutral symbols (i.e., a circle, square, triangle, etc...). Not naming the clusters as they are emerging is essential to enable deeper concepts to form freely without the constraint of a defining label. But once all cards have been clustered, it is time to ask, “What is this cluster really about?”
The process of naming clusters is usually the most difficult step in the consensus workshop method but it is also where the richest, deepest conversations and co-creation of shared understandings occur. In the dialogic process of naming the essential ethical dimensions of interprofessional collaboration, clusters are analyzed, reconfigured and synthesized in a dynamic interplay of card movement and emerging shared understandings.
In the end, the participants named nine essential ethical dimensions of interprofessional collaboration in the conceptual framework they had co-created: Open-Mindedness, Forward Thinking, Team-Building, Support for Growth and Change, Professional Collegial Relationships, Professional Growth, Professional Accountability, Constructive Partnership, Reflective Practice (see page 16).
The conceptual framework that emerges through consensus can become an important reference point for professional teams. It becomes a ‘living document’ that can be further discussed and refined as colleagues explore their shared practice.
EXPLORING INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION AND ETHICAL LEADERSHIP 14