- Tell us a little about your current work and study, especially how you think and practice critically
I hold a position as an Associate Professor at Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet) and at VID Specialized University. I teach, supervise and lead different courses at the bachelor, master and PhD level. Currently, I am working on a new (international) course in Philosophy of Science and Research Methods Studyinfo subject MAVIT4050 2021 HØST – minside (oslomet.no) and a course in Rehabilitation as Knowledge and Practice Studyinfo subject MAHAB4200 2021 HØST – minside (oslomet.no). I have recently being awarded the position as Merited Teacher at OsloMet. My work with CPN was part of my application and also the work that I and CPN member Michael Rowe (together with other colleagues in CPN) developed on internationalisation (for which we also have been approved external founding by DIKU). Physiotherapy Education in Norway, South Africa and Brazil: A Joint Online Learning Project in Rehabilitation. https://physio.uwc.ac.za/pov/
My research interests are quite broad, and I am currently involved in different rehabilitation projects. An interest of mine is Evidence-Based Practice (or Knowledge-Based Practice as we say in Norway). Recently I published an article on this, together with members from the CPN Elizabeth Anne Kinsella and Karen Synne Groven.
In short, I think and practice critically by paying attention to the taken-for-granted knowledge and practices and for the “effect” of the “doings” in a practice; “What are you doing when you are doing what you are doing”?
2. What is it about critical physiotherapy that appeals to you?
The CPNs slogan reads: A positive force for an otherwise physiotherapy. This slogan clearly expresses what appeals to me about CPN and includes challenging physiotherapy practice and thinking, critically reflecting on the profession’s past, present and future, and nurturing a community of critical thinkers.
I also find the strong theoretical level of many scholars, teachers and clinicians in CPN to be appealing.
3. What do you bring to the CPN?
I have been a member of CPN since the beginning and I bring my questions and reflections on physiotherapy and health care to CPN – especially to meetings at conferences and online courses. These are often questions that I have found hard to address anywhere else in physiotherapy. I must say that I feel that I have received much more than I have brought in – which I find that many other CPN members also say. I am also member of the CPN Executive.
4. How would you like to see the critical physiotherapy community develop over the next few years?
CPN has offered me a lot – and I am not sure if I still would have been part of a physiotherapy community if I had not found a space for critical thinking at the time when CPN was established. I hope that the development of CPN over the next few years entrench the position of being a positive force enhancing the unique possibilities that I believe physiotherapy can offer.
5. How would you like to see the broader physiotherapy profession develop?
In my opinion, most mainstream physiotherapy holds high quality. Educations worldwide recruit high standard students and often staff in physiotherapy are among the most qualified within healthcare. However, the focus is often narrow and I would like to see the broader physiotherapy profession as a more “open-minded” profession. Today curricula focus mostly on knowledge from natural science and ideas from humanism and social science are either missing or positioned as appendices. I would like to see natural sciences, humanism, and social science equally positioned in education and clinical practice, and I think the CPN can contribute to this development.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.