Circles of Connection: PhD Supervision through a critical-

creative companionship by the Rivers Colne and Windrush

August 9
th
-
th
!"#
On Friday evening soon after Lornas arrival, we agreed that we
would engage in a critical-creative inquiry over the weekend as
critical-creative companions and get to know each other better as
people as well as professionals.
Lornas inquiry focus is two-fold. he !rst is how could she embody
critical creativity "##$ within herself because her knowing of ## at
this point is con!ned to her head. %he knows she needs to do this
because she is having di&culty retaining the philosophical,
theoretical and methodological principles and key ideas cognitively
and that these have to go into her body to become part of her as
she begins her 'h(. he second focus is to e)plore further the
nature of human *ourishing as developed by +rendan and me.
his ties in beautifully with my inquiry focus that is to build on my
new insights working with another critical-creative companion and
further e)plore how , can help others to acquire the professional
craft knowledge "'#-$ "practical know-how derived through
e)perience$ of ## in a way that enabled both of us to *ourish. .y
feeling was that this would help Lorna to begin her /ourney towards
becoming a ## companion for the 'alliative #are teams that she will
be working with to review and develop their service. Lorna
enthusiastically agreed and we decided that our inquiry into the
companionship, ## and human *ourishing frameworks would begin
from an e)periential perspective and then we would
e)amine0challenge0make connections between them to see how well
they !tted with our primary e)perience. he frameworks can be
thought of as mandalas "an ancient form that shows the parts and
the whole and their relationships with each other$.
Critical companionship
frame$or% "itchen, 12234
5667$ which includes the
professional artistry
framework "itchen et al
56689 itchen 5662$ "see
:ppendi) :$
&heoretical frame$or%
of critical creativity
".c#ormack ; itchen
566<9 itchen ; .c#ormack
5663$ "see
www.criticalcreativity.org$
'ethodological frame$or% of critical creativity "itchen ;
.c#ormack, 5616$ "see www.criticalcreativity.org$
(uman )ourishing frame$or% $ithin critical creativity
".c#ormack ; itchen, in press$ "see :ppendi) : and
www.criticalcreativity.org$
,n this re*ection, the concepts are picked out in italic and in colour
as follows4
#ritical companionship and professional artistry in blue
heoretical ## framework in red
.ethodological ## framework in dark red
=uman *ourishing framework in green
Critical-Creative in*uiry methodology
>e used the critical creativity approach for devise our methodology.
>e worked with the methodological framework, "itchen ;
.c#ormack, 5616$, namely working with the pra)is spiral, with its
hermeneutic and emancipatory aspects enabled by professional
artistry, and with the principles for human *ourishing. hus we
were able to achieve our own human *ourishing as we engaged in
our inquiry together over the weekend and later by email and
%kype. >orking in this critical creativity way means that data
gathering, analysis, interpretation and writing were melded and
blended in successive layers during two walks by di?erent rivers on
one weekend in the #otswolds in O)fordshire, then written up and
e)pressed creatively in the full interpretation presented here.
@ot only did we design a critical creativity methodology, we also
created a critical-creative learning space for Lorna to e)perience
how new understandings and knowledge can be generated through
this methodological approach.
he methods we used were4
.editative walks in silence0opening up the body
senses0noticing thoughts but letting them *oat away
:ttunement to each other
#reative e)pression of insights emerging A framing in the
landscape, photos, symbols, ob/ects, painting, poetry
(ialogue with self in silent re*ective walking
%haring insights, e)perience and '#- of using, melding and
blending the ## frameworks "Bdancing the frameworksC$
through dialogue on walks, sitting by river0in !elds, driving in
the car, sharing meals0drinks at home and in the pub "audio-
recording and key insights in /ournals
Observing, listening and questioning to access '#-
.aking sense of new insights "interpretation$ through dialogue
and creative writing and creative arts media
+acilitating the ac*uisition of the PC, of critical creativity
.y intention during the weekend was to help Lorna to begin to draw
into her body the essence and spirit of the critical companionship
and critical creativity frameworks "intentionality$. , wanted to do
this in a way that would help both of us e)perience the elements of
human *ourishing. %o, , planned to make it as clear as , could to
Lorna how ,4
bounded and framed naturally co-e)isting energies
embraced the known and yet to be known
embodied contrasts
achieved stillness and harmony
gave and received loving kindness
o do this, , would role model and articulate my '#- "practical
strategies or know how$ to show how the frameworks dance with
each other and how working with these frameworks as embodied
underpinnings enables us *ourish within the turbulence and
comple)ity of transformational practice development
"intentionality$. , would articulate the '#- of the strategies as near
as possible to be doing them. hus, before we set o? from the car
and out of the village for our walk by the Diver #olne, , laid out the
landscape, not only the actual landscape of our walk together but
also the critical creativity landscape and e)plained that , would be
focussing on bridging or bounding and framing to enable transitions
or oscillations of background0foreground as well as focussing in or
funnelling into one energetic space and then to another. he
purpose is to help people to begin to understand the macro by
tunnelling in on part of it, i.e., the micro. Lorna has used
meditative0re*ective walks and creative e)pression with me before
in short workshops and a pre-'h( walk in the +otanical Eardens in
+elfast, but she had not done this kind of indepth work in this way
before "particularity$, that is, putting a frame around the vastness
of the macro, so that some signi!cant parts of it can come to
consciousness for our attention.
+y focussing on these parts we can make sense of the vastness
because the foreground "the parts$ and the background "the whole$
contain the same messages. hus, we are not overwhelmed by the
vastness of what we have to do or understand. his leads to
building energy to see what is possible and achievable and
ultimately to *ourishing. .oreover when we are attuned to the
*ourishing of the universe, we can tend our own *ourishing by
learning from the wisdom of the universe.
:lso regarding particularity, we already had an established
relationship and knew something of each other as people in our
professional, social and life conte)ts before Lorna had registered for
a 'h(, but we didnt know much about each others ways of
learning, inquiry and making sense of things. he previous evening,
we had negotiated a partnership relationship "mutuality$ in the form
of a critical creative companionship within which we would both
give and receive gifts of wisdom, learning and care to each other
"reciprocity0graceful care$.
Circles of connection
>ith these terms of engagement clear, , suggested that we begin
our silent, attuned walk by thinking through, re!ning and deciding
on the inqury question"s$ we would each work. , suggested that
when we reached the footpath o? the village lane, we would use
that point as a transition to moving from cognition to opening the
body senses and noticing what we noticed, however biFFare,
without rationalising or trying to make sense of it within the
meditative part of the walk.
=onouring this transition in a short moment of stillness and
attunement to each other, , made eye contact with Lorna in an
acknowledging or Gbeing with way "graceful care$. hen , set o? up
the footpath., *anked by a beautiful old orchard and a high grass
meadow. , noticed *ight and role-modelled my noticing by stopping
and watching the *ight of dandelion clocks, thistle *u?, swooping
martins, butter*ies. : thought passed brie*y through my mind that
*ight is metaphorically signifcant in some way to human *ourishing,
but , didnt know why "embracing the known and yet to be known$.
>anting to stay in my body, , didnt pursue it at that point.
Once in the !eld, , hung back so that Lorna could choose her own
path "mutuality, power$. :ttuned to Lorna in that , knew the
direction she was going and that she was walking in a calm and
contemplative way, , was drawn down to the sparkling water of the
Diver #olne.
, walked very slowly looking, feeling, hearing, smelling. #ontinuing
to notice *ight , picked up some swan feathers, dandelion clocks
and thistle *u?. :fter some time, , was aware that Lorna had come
down to the river a little further down. %tanding still, , gaFed in
wonderment at the waters edge "stillness and harmony$. (rinking
in the beauty of vibrant, back-lit yellow-*ag iris leaves, marsh
marigolds and two white butter*ies in a mating dance, , was
suddenly !lled with a *eeting moment of pure happiness.
Later when , thought about what it was that gave me that *ood of
happiness or *ourishing. , quickly knew with my head and gut in
accordance, that it was my being totally present in my body and
being still in that moment and also connecting with other moments
of radiance, authenticity and deep
connection with nature and the
universe "circles of connection$.
'erhaps the methodological principle
for human *ourishing of movement
in stillness was at work here too.
Later on, when sharing and
dialoguing with Lorna, she told me
that she had noticed my complete
engagement at that particular place
by the river. %he said she knew that
something signi!cant was happening
to me. , asked her how she knew
and she replied that it was my
engaged focus on something at the
waters edge. , told her what had
happened to me and that , had since
been making sense of what gave rise or *ight to my human
*ourishing "articulating and sharing '#-$. , gave her feedback too,
remarking on her sensitive attunement to me as her companion and
to her beginning herself to make connections between things when
we shared our e)periences by the river. For e)ample, she pointed
out to me the similarity between my *ight sculpture "made shortly
after the *ood of happiness$ and a painting , had created when
developing the ecology of human *ourishing with +rendan
"feedback on performance$.
From that point on, circles of connection became the key
methodological principle , articulated to Lorna when helping her to
embody critical creativity and to *ourish. , focussed mainly on this
principle so that Lorna would not be distracted cognitively by too
many new ideas. , knew that Lorna, like many of us, was almost
overwhelmed by so many concepts and principles in the frameworks
and , wanted to use this particular one to help her hold some of
them together "particularity, intentionality, saliency, temporality$.
Let me tell you how this came about.
&ramlines
:fter this sharing above, and during a second period of
contemplative walking, we traversed a wheat !eld. , noticed that, at
regular intervals, there were parallel lines of space created when the
wheat was sown mechanically. hey reminded me of tramlines and
that symbolised for me how our ways of being, knowing, doing and
becoming are often habituated. he ne)t day, , was able to use this
symbol to help Lorna. +ut , go ahead.
>e were actually engaged on this second period of silent walking
because of what Lorna had shared with me. %ome ideas had
emerged for her about working with her participants in the palliative
care programme review. :fter sharing, she concluded that the
insights coming from her engagement with her body senses and
then dialogue with self had given her some clarity, but that there
were other things that still were unclear and this was making her
an)ious "crisis$. %he started to discuss these other things and ,
gently stopped her. From what , already knew of Lorna , could see
her falling into the familiar tramlines of trying to talk her way to
understanding "false-consciousness0problematisation
particularity0saliency0$. >hilst using our cognition is often very
helpful to us in moving on, , felt in this case, with her inquiry foci,
this was too soon "temporality$ and that she could go deeper into
openess through her body before bringing in her head "openess to
all ways of being$. %o , suggested that she go back into her body
senses and continue in her meditative walk "intentionality$. G>alk a
while more and open up your senses again to let your new insights
settle into your body. Demember your body is always several steps
ahead of your cognition and there may be further insights
embedded there that you have not accessed yet. ,f you talk now,
you may be denying your bodys wisdom "problematisation$. ry
following the wisdom of your body "Hducation$. G, am going to say
yes to the adventure, :ngie, Lorna said, G/ust like you said yes to
the adventures that opened up for you on your world tripI
he ne)t morning in the car, without prompting, Lorna told me that
that moment had been very signi!cant for her because going back
to the body really Gshifted her subsequent thinking about how she
might start with the two palliative care teams "ransformative
action$. %he recognised "Jfor the !rst time$ a pattern in the way she
approaches things with her head only "enlightenment$. his often
results in her G/ust going round and round the circle and getting
nowhere. , took this Gsigni!cant moment as evidence that my use
of the rationality-intuitive domain of critical-creative companionship
"i.e., the process concepts of intentionality, saliency and
temporality$ had been e?ective in facilitating a shift. , e)plained
this to Lorna and pointed out that , had realised these processes by
stopping her in her tracks and suggesting going back into the body.
:fter this revelation, , pointed out to Lorna that her going round in
circles was like circular tramlines going nowhereI , didnt know at
that point if Lorna was getting this articulation of my '#- fully, so ,
will tell you shortly what , did about that. First , want to link the
tramlines with danger and vulnerability.
Danger - .ulnerability
Our walks took us through !elds that , know have cows and bullocks
in them year round. , know they are safe. +ut twice during the
weekend, Lorna spotted a bull in a !eld of cows and calves. %he
knew that :ugust is the time the bulls do their work and at this time
they can be very dangerous. >e were astonished to see this
because public footpaths cross these !elds. On both occasions, the
only route to our destination was across the !eld. %eeing the bull
"symbolising 'ower in the sense of Gpower over$ was aware of us,
we felt our fear and recognised our vulnerability so we stayed close
to the fence to ensure escape if necessary.
(anger and vulnerability, unknown for me on this walk before
surfaced again in the form of a monster combine harvester cropping
oilseed rape. he harvester was bearing down on us
"radition0'ower$. , knew we had right of way over the !eld and ,
wanted to maintain that right, but it felt scary as the harvester was
very big and , couldnt see the driver. ,t was heading straight for us.
,t re-surfaced a fear , had felt in a thriller , had seen some years ago
where a huge truck relentlessly Gstalked a car driver with disastrous
results. his visual image and fear of both bull and monster machine
symbolised for me, at that moment, the dangers of challenging
myself and others to move o? tramlines to open up to new ways of
being. :t more or less the last minute, the harvester turned and
went round us, leaving us with a safe passage "'ower in the sense of
power circulating$. his image felt relevant in terms of e)ploring
how to help others to recognise socialised stuckness through
working with the human *ourishing principles and with the need
sometimes to be courageous when doing this and to protect
ourselves if necessary. "embodying contrasts A in this case the
di?erent emotions of fear and happiness and 'ower over and 'ower
circulating$
Articulating my PC, of dancing the frame$or%s
+ack now to the ne)t morning in the car. +ecause , didnt know
whether Lorna was making connections between the things , was
pointing out to her, , decided to begin our critique and contestation
of the critical creativity frameworks. , e)plained that although the
frameworks were published separately because they were created
over a span of over 16 years, they are linked. , also said that the
critical-creative companion uses professional artistry to dance them
or improvise use of various aspects of them to inform speci!c
actions in particular situations, cultures and conte)ts. ,n this
re*ection, , have been hinting at this improvisation by showing the
di?erent processes, concepts, contructs and strategies , used above
and colour coding them according to the framework they come
from. , suggested to Lorna that novices to critical creativity tend to
focus on the frameworks separately or they do not link the critical
companionship and professional artistry frameworks with the critical
creativity frameworks. hus they tend to miss the dance of creative
e?ectiveness and transformative action, for e)ample. >hilst
working with one framework at a time "bounding and framing$ is a
good idea when learning the comple)ity of doing research and
practice development within a critical creativity worldview, it is very
important to be aware that they are connected.
'icking up on Lornas insight yesterday about going round in circles
and getting nowhere, , asked her how she tried to make sense of the
frameworks. %he responded by saying, G+y reading and re-reading
many times over. , said, G>ould it be appropriate to say that you
are trying to learn them by rote-learning, that is, trying to memorise
themJ Lorna nodded, so , suggested the following propositional
and professional craft knowledge that , have shared with other
students over the years.
G, suggest that as you read, you keep stopping, say every !ve
minutes and ask yourself how this connects with something you
already know or do in your practice. hen alternate reading and
connecting all the way through. :s you read, be playful and curious.
Kou might want to have a big sheet of paper and create a mind-map
of these connections or to draw visual symbols or develop
metaphors. Hven go for meditative and re*ective walks in nature
with yourselfII
>hen you have read the whole article or chapter, develop an action
plan about how you might test your deepened understanding in
your practice and how you will gather evidence to see if your
understanding results in more e?ective and the desired outcomes.
>hen you have carried out your action, go back and read the
paper0chapter again and keep repeating this process of reading,
playing and dancing with ideas through your creative imagination
and e)pression, trying them out, then reading again to see if what
you e)perienced !ts with what is written. :nd you might !nd that
you also what to constest what is written and we chan have a
critical-creative dialogue or artistic and cognitive critique about that.
Over time, , suggest that you widen the scope of the frameworks
you work with in this way and play with the connections between
them. G
GFinally, throughout this whole process, remember that these
frameworks are presented separately for the purpose of bounding
and framing so that critical creativity might not be so overwhelming.
+ut as you progress, remember that they are not god-given
separate entities. hey meld and blend with each other. :lso, they
should not be revered as god-given, but should be constantly
challenged and tested for suitability for your purpose and research
questions "critique$. Kou will have to work out how you are going to
use the processes, principles in the particulars of your research and
situation. hus you will create new new understandings about the
frameworks as you use them. %o dont accept them blindly which
novices tend to do of any framework they read in the literature.
#ontest them, by yourself and with others, see if they have legs for
you.
Lorna said that she had never done anything like this before and no-
one "not even in her .asters degree course$ had suggested this
way of learning to her. , replied that others had said much the
same to me before when , suggested this approach. G.aybe it is a
case of lecturers and supervisors failing to articulate their '#- of
learning and critiquing because it is so taken granted for them.
/ot completing the learning circle
>hen we arrived in %winbrook by the Diver >indrush, , asked Lorna
how she would like to use the time today "mutuality$. GLsing the
same approach as yesterday in order to go deeper. :nd so we did.
>hen we came to dialogue with each other, Lorna shared a startling
realisation she had had after our conversation in the car. G, realise
now that , have not been completing my learning circle. G>hat do
you mean by thatJ , asked. G, am not making sure , really
understand something before , try it out in practice, then it doesnt
work. , now realise that , must go right round the circle and keep
going round, but now it is a spiral and , will move forward.
Lorna asked me the following question to re-mind her what , had
said in the car.
(o you look at each framework in isolation and then try that
out in your practice and then go back to reading the
frameworkJ
he ne)t question was new
:s you develop e)pertise as a critical-creative companion, are
you conscious in action which process, principle and
framework you are using at the timeJ
:s you develop, you will !nd that the concepts, processes and
principles go into your body and you act !rst and then may become
conscious after a moment or two what you are using. hat is the
nature of the rationality-intuitive domain and embodying contrasts.
he rationality0consciousness is heightened when working with
novices and others who want to learn how to be critical-creative
companions. hat is e)actly what has been happening to me this
weekend with you. Kou will have noticed that , keep pointing them
out to you as we dialogue and informally over meals and drinksI
Concluding remar%s
,n this re*ection, , have had more
time to identify and articulate
many other processes, concepts,
critical theories and =F principles
than , shared with you at the time. ,f , had longer now, , would be
able to point out more. =owever, at this stage , think it is more
important for you to grasp the essence of what we e)perienced, in
terms of how to do transformational action-oriented research within
a critical creativity worldview, as well as what , have tried to show
you. , have !nished, in my beautiful garden, the painting , started in
the last !eld when the bull started approaching us and we scooted.
Kou may notice that , have used the grass and wheat heads that you
left behind. =ope that is O-. ,t felt good to me in terms of
connecting with youI he painting captures for me the essence of
how the frameworks dance with each other, sometimes being in the
foreground and sometimes in the background, supporting and giving
meaning and guidance for the foreground work. , have then laid the
painting in the centre of a mandala of mandalas "as already stated
the frameworks are in themselves mandalas$. Our Diver #olne
forms the overall background that has enabled us to foreground
these frameworks0mandalas in our inquiry together. 'erhaps this
might be useful to you, Lorna, as you go back to your reading,
knowing, doing, being and becoming and help you to trust yourself
more "to access your >arrior >oman "itchen ; =iggs, 5661$$. ,
hope this re*ection and collage inspire you to be playful and curious
as you dance between the frameworks and your e)perience and
maybe create your own mandala too.
&he critical creativity mandala of mandalas
,n terms of whether the de!nition of human *ourishing "see
:ppendi) :$ has been lived in our time together, , have been able to
see all the elements at work in our companionship "see green te)t
throughout this re*ection$. 'erhaps there is something of it too
e)pressed in the mandala of mandalas.
, know , have *ourished. , have been happy which many people
claim is at the heart of human *ourishing. , have really en/oyed
myself. , have also learned a lot more about how to e)press the
melding and blending of the frameworks and to reveal how the
critical-creative companion uses them through synthesis, *ow,
interplay, working with energy and ma)imising synchronicity,
attunement and balance "processes of professional artistry$. ,t is
these professional artistry processes that are so hard to show
others, but , think , have achieved that with you this weekend.
hank you, Lorna.
:ugust 561M
References
.c#ormack +. ; itchen :. "in press$ @o beginning, no end4 :n
ecology of human *ourishing.
itchen :. ; .c#ormack +. "5616$ (ancing with %tones4 #ritical
creativity as methodology for human *ourishing, Educational Action
Research: An International Journal, 13"7$, NM1-NN7.
itchen :. "5662$ (eveloping e)pertise through nurturing
professional artistry in the workplace. ,n %. =ardy, :. itchen, +.
.c#ormack ; -. .anley "eds.$, Revealing Nursing Expertise through
Practitioner Inquiry, >iley-+lackwell, O)ford, pp. 512-57M.
itchen :. ; .c#ormack +. "5663$ : methodological walk in the forest4
critical creativity and human *ourishing. ,n -. .anley, +..c#ormack ;
O. >ilson "eds$, International Practice Development in Nursing and
Healthcare. +lackwell, O)ford, pp. N2-3M.
itchen :., =iggs P. ; =orsfall (. "5668$ Desearch artistry4 (ancing
the pra)is spiral in critical-creative qualitative research, in eing
!ritical and !reative in "ualitative Research, P. =iggs, :. itchen, (.
=orsfall ; =. +. :rmstrong, =ampden 'ress, %ydney, pp535-528.
.c#ormack +. and itchen :. "566<$ #ritical creativity4 melding,
e)ploding, blending, Educational Action Research: an International
Journal, 17"5$, 5M2-5<<.
itchen :. "5667$ G=elping Delationships for 'ractice (evelopment4
#ritical #ompanionship, in Practice Development in Nursing, eds.
+..c#ormack, -. .anley ; D. Earbett, +lackwell 'ublishing, O)ford,
pp.173-187.
itchen, :. ; =iggs, P. "5661$, Qowards professional artistry and
creativity in practiceQ, in Pro#essional Practice in Health$ Education
and the !reative Arts, eds. P. =iggs ; :. itchen, +lackwell %cience,
O)ford, pp. 58M-526.
Appendi0 A
Process concepts and professional artistry of critical
companionship 1&itchen2 !""34 - a de5nition of human
)ourishing 1'cCormac% - &itchen2 in press4
Relationship domain
.utuality A working with
Deciprocity A reciprocal giving and receiving of wisdom, care,
concern
'articularity A getting to know the other as a whole person
Eraceful care A engaging the other as a whole person
authentically with the whole of oneself0being
kind0present0emotionally engaged but balanced0
Rationality-intuitive domain
,ntentionality A +eing deliberate, purposeful cognitively and
intuitively
%aliency A -nowing what matters0what is signi!cant0what
needs to be paid attention to
emporality A past, present future time, timing, timeliness,
pacing and anticipating
+acilitation domain
#onsciousness-raising A enabling conscious awareness of
taken-for-granted assumptions, embodied wisdom and the
carrying of culture in the body, discourse and language
'roblematisation A helping others to see problems that they
are not aware of or re-framing problems to help others see
things from di?erent perspectives
%elf-re*ection A helping people to re*ect on themselves and
their practices to develop self-knowledge and to be able to
evaluate their impact in interaction with others
#ritique A engaging in critical-creative dialogue with self and
others to co-create and contest new knowledge and
understanding.
Dimensions of Professional artistry 1&itchen2 !""96 !"!4
:rtistic qualities, such as connoisseurship, disposition to what
is good and audacity
(i?erent knowledges "local, '#-, personal and propositional
knowledges$
(i?erent ways of knowing
.ultiple intelligences "wisdom0capacity to grasp something
quickly and enable the use of multiple knowledges etc in the
moment$, i.e., embodied, aesthetic, emotional and spiritual
intelligences
.ultiple discourses
#reative imagination and e)pression
:rtistic and cognitive critique

Professional artistry processes 1&itchen2 !""96 !"!4
,mprovisation is enabled through processes4
:ttunement
,nteraction
%ynthesis "blending0melding$
+alance
Flowing
Hnergy
%yncronicity
(uman )ourishing de5nition
B=uman *ourishing occurs when we bound and frame naturally co-
e)isting energies, when we embrace the known and yet to be
known, when we embody contrasts and when we achieve stillness
and harmony. >hen we *ourish we give and receive loving
kindness.C ".c#ormack ; itchen, in press$