‘Catching and Hatching’: Exploring Research Ideas with Brent Council

‘We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.’ 

…’Not known, because not looked for, but heard, half-heard, in the stillness between two waves of the sea’. T. S. Eliot Little Gidding

On Tuesday, 7 October, Kamila Quraishi, a dedicated Social Care Practitioner at Brent Council, hosted an engaging workshop titled “Catching and Hatching” as part of her ongoing project with our Social Care Research Capacity Building Programme.

The session, facilitated by Professor Fiona Verity (Brunel University), brought together over 20 participants from across Brent Council, including colleagues from Public Health and Social Work. The aim was to bring colleagues together to explore potential research ideas and questions that emerge from everyday practice experiences. 

What is ‘Catching and Hatching’?

The idea of ‘catching and hatching’ draws on Edward de Bono’s ideas about lateral thinking and creativity, together with reflective practice. The workshop was split into two parts:

• Catching: Participants worked in small groups to talk, reflect and explore current practice. Bringing the larger group back together helped surface similarities, sparking connections and insights, and highlighting common themes.

• Hatching: With themes in hand, the focus shifted to exploring opportunities to take ideas forward, including knowledge to support their journey, whether research knowledge, newly generated research, or drawn from other sources.

The workshop session was positively viewed, with some feedback from participants highlighting that they enjoyed ‘the interact(ion) and collaboration with new colleagues’, the opportunity for ‘open dialogue’ and that they liked ‘having a space to be reflective’. 

When asked about their most important takeaway from the sessions, comments from attendees included the need ‘to keep reflecting on processes, my work and set time to dig deeper into how we can improve our services’ as well as ‘that change is possible and there is hope in the future of adult social care’. Another reflection from the workshop focused on ‘the need for services to have honest conversations about the common challenges which could then stimulate discussions about how to realised changes needed’. 

The session is part of Kamila Quraishi’s project within the Social Care Research Capacity Building Programme, which focuses on expanding practitioner involvement in research, and embedding evidence-based practice.

Find out more about the ARC NWL Social Care Research Capacity Building Programme and join our social care mailing list to find out about upcoming events!