What then is time?: A case sample of teaching time and engaging temporal reflexivity using a reflective time journal activity

Abstract

The current article presents a three-stage approach to teaching time in an applied psychology setting. The approach focuses on nurturing temporal reflexivity by having students reflect on their time-use and draw attention to their subjective experiences of time. Activities, discussions, and practical demonstrations are used to guide students through personal, collective, theoretical, and practical lenses of engaging with time. This case sample is taught to postgraduate students and practitioners in coaching psychology and positive psychology. Teaching within this context is discussed, along with the pedagogical practices employed to create a reflective and interactive learning environment. One primary activity, a reflective time journal, is presented as a tool for other educators to consider in their teaching of temporal reflexivity. Further consideration is given to the general challenges of teaching time, including limited temporal resources, and acknowledgements of disciplinary, pedagogical, and personal positionalities. This case sample of teaching time may be of particular interest (1) for those looking to facilitate awareness of subjective experiences of time within the classroom (something we might refer to as temporal reflexivity), and (2) for those who teach in an applied setting where students are often practitioners or future practitioners looking for strategies that will practically inform their work.

Bolton (2010: 13) defines reflexivity as, “finding strategies to question our own attitudes, thought processes, values, assumptions, prejudices and habitual actions.” Temporal reflexivity, then, refers to strategies that bring awareness to one's attitudes, beliefs, values, and assumptions about time—put succinctly, understanding one's relationship with time. As Barbara Adam (2022) explained in her reflections on the last 30 years of time research, the field has expanded to investigate time as lived experience, and this has become an area of considerable inquiry. For example, in a non-exhaustive list, psychological research has begun to investigate how one's relationship with time is impacted by societal and cultural norms (Levine, 1997), perspectives of the past, present, and future (Zimbardo & Boyd, 2008), experiences of time as a finite resource (Whillans, 2020), and how experiences of time impact health, wellbeing, and happiness (Holmes, 2022). Subjective experiences of time have widespread influences on a range of health behaviors, decision-making processes, daily habits, and general experiences of wellbeing and satisfaction in life (e.g. van Beek et al., 2017). Most of these influences are assumed to be subconscious, shaping one's decisions and life trajectory without one's conscious awareness of their hand (Zimbardo & Boyd, 2008). Time awareness, and subsequently, time awareness coaching, are emerging areas of time studies that investigate how awareness of these temporal influences can be fostered (temporal reflexivity), and how this awareness can positively contribute to healthier and happier individuals, communities, and workplaces.

Context

Founded in 2013, the master's in Positive and Coaching Psychology is an innovative program that integrates research, theory, and practice in these fields. It is one of few programs worldwide that facilitates this integration and is housed in the School of Applied Psychology at University College Cork in Cork, Ireland. The program facilitates an interactive and experiential learning environment where students participate in regular interventional case studies, self-case studies, in-class activities, and peer coaching. This provides first-hand experiences applying theories, interventions, and coaching approaches, and further lends to students’ development as informed practitioners. These pedagogical practices are intentionally replicated in the time lecture, which is a 2-h lecture occurring in the second semester of the program. The lecture is guided by two main objectives. First, to engage students to investigate their own subjective experiences of time through engagement with time literature and practical activities. Second, to introduce students to the integration of time research and practical activities within their professional approaches as coaching psychology and positive psychology practitioners. To this end, the lecture is informed by the following guiding questions: (1) How does our relationship with time impact our ability to be well and thrive? and (2) How can positive and coaching psychologists take a time-oriented approach to support client growth and development?

Reflective Time Journal

Originally informed by the time tracking practices of time use research (TUR), reflective time journals can be used to facilitate temporal reflexivity. TUR uses time diaries to collect data on how individuals spend their time. These time diaries gather information on what a person is doing during specified time periods each day, along with various other factors such as location, affective states, and whether they were with anyone else (Chenu & Lesnard, 2006; Gershuny, 2011). This data can then be used to understand time-use trends across time periods, communities, and nations, and how this relates to public health and economic prosperity (Bauman et al., 2019; Gershuny, 2011). On the individual level, time tracking can bring focus and awareness to subjective experiences of time (Young et al., 2023). Holmes (2022), for example, presents how she has her students complete time diaries as a reflective activity. Going a step further, recent studies have modified the time diary design into a reflective time journal (see Appendices for examples) to emphasize the reflexive nature of the tool. Initial studies suggest this approach can foster more awareness of time through a recognition of time habits and an understanding of what makes time feel well-spent and valuable (e.g. Young et al., 2023). A time journaler uses the time journal to track how they spend their time throughout the day while also recording thoughts and insights that occur while tracking their time. This can be integrated into research interviews, coaching sessions, or classroom discussions to further expand the reflective element of the practice. In the current example of teaching time, two time journal templates, the interval-based and event-based time journals (IBTJ and EBTJ), are presented to students and used as a pedagogical tool to nurture temporal reflexivity.

Interval-Based Time Journal

Closely reflecting the time diary designs used in TUR, the IBTJ (see Appendix A) is structured using pre-specified intervals of clock time (Bauman et al., 2019). The journal is divided into at least three columns: time, activity/activities, and notes (additional columns might be included as relevant to the reflective activity). The time column breaks the 24-h day into 30-min intervals (e.g. 07:00, 07:30, 08:00). Using these intervals, someone using the IBTJ will record the activities that occur during each period throughout their day. Novel from time diary designs, the notes section aims to deepen a user's reflexive experience by providing a place to record any reflections, thoughts, or feelings that arise as they track their time. The IBTJ is recommended as most appropriate if students plan to track all their time (as opposed to a specific category of time).

Event-Based Time Journal

The EBTJ (see Appendix B) is more loosely structured and is recommended if students plan to track a specific category of time (e.g. leisure time). While the activity and notes sections remain the same as the IBTJ, the time column serves a slightly different function. Rather than presenting intervals of time, the EBTJ presents a blank time column, in which a user can record their own intervals of time. Young et al. (2023) found that this lack of predetermined time intervals allows a user to reflect on and further define what constitutes a specific type of time (e.g. considering what they count as leisure time and thus need to record in the time journal). This serves as a further reflexive device.

Case Sample of Teaching Time

This example of teaching time consists of three stages of personal, collective and theoretical, and application. Though distinct and intentionally presented in this order, these stages are strongly integrated and thus occur somewhat nonlinearly throughout the learning process. Guided by pedagogical practices founded in constructivism and social constructivism (for a review, see Amineh & Asl, 2015), learning is considered a process of constructing meaning which is informed by both internal processes (personal constructivism; Piaget & Inhelder, 1969) and external influences (social constructivism; Vygotsky, 1978). Rather than lecturing at students, the lecturer aims to be in interactive dialogue with them (Rhodes & Bellamy, 1999) by facilitating students’ reflections on their temporal experiences and how these experiences relate to each other and the time literature.

Stage One: Personal

This first stage of teaching occurs before class time. The aim of this stage is to prompt students to start reflecting on their personal experiences and relationship with time prior to the introduction of theory and literature. A week prior to the lecture, students are provided with instructions and materials to complete a time journaling activity. Students are asked to consider what area of their time they want to focus on during the activity. This could be time generally, or, for example, a specific category of time, such as work or leisure time. They are presented with the IBTJ and EBTJ templates and asked to select one to use for three or four days before the lecture. Students are asked to bring their completed time journal to class to use as a personal reference during class discussion. They are told they will not need to submit the journal or share it with anyone.

Stage Two: Collective and Theoretical

Stage two moves the personal pre-activity into the shared class time of the lecture, beginning with a discussion of the reflective time journal activity. This discussion aims to draw the personal into the collective, as students begin to notice similarities and differences across their experiences. The lecturer approaches this initial discussion as a quiet facilitator by offering the following discussion prompts and then largely leaving the conversation to be driven by student contribution.

Discussion Prompts

• What was your experience of tracking your time?

• What did you notice about how you (1) spend, (2) think about, and (3) value your time?

In time, the lecturer begins to integrate the theoretical into the discussion of personal and collective. Time research (largely psychological and sociological) is introduced. As students’ comments relate to various theories and studies, the lecturer aims to incorporate these connections into the conversation to provide further nuance. As a result, this initial discussion works to integrate students’ personal experiences of keeping the time journal, a collective experience of discussing their reflections, and an introduction of time research.

When met with theories or others’ experiences that parallel or contrast their own, students are challenged to broaden their awareness of the time attitudes, values, and habits they hold. Often, some students find the reflective time journaling activity more burdensome than others. For those who already organize many of their experiences around clock time, the act of tracking and reflecting on their time-use can feel like a natural extension of their clock time orientation. Meanwhile, some students report struggling to maintain a consistent documentation of time through clock intervals, feeling their perceptions of time rely less on the clock face and more on emotional and social experiences. Most students report that the reflective element of the time journal allows them to capture greater nuance in their experiences of time opposed to simply using a calendar or planner to keep track of their time. Further, many appreciate the flexibility of using the time journal in a way that suits them (regarding which template they use, what areas of time they track, and how they fill out the journal throughout the days).

The discussion commonly extends into conversation around environmental and situational factors that influence students’ subjective experiences of time. International students speak of temporal norms they are accustomed to in their home countries, how these norms are either maintained or challenged through living and studying in a different country, and how experiencing these similarities and differences in their daily lives has made them more aware of what Sharma (2022) might refer to as dominant temporal orders and what Levine (1997) might call social time (including rhythms, sequences, synchronies, and tempos). We discuss how various factors such as work culture, family dynamics, social expectations, and the COVID-19 pandemic have influenced experiences of time. These current experiences can be compared to past experiences: students discuss time in the context of pre-parenthood to parenthood, undergraduate to postgraduate to employment, different decades or seasons of life, employment across different companies, for example. Valuation of time use is examined, namely, what students have learned to perceive as time well-spent versus time wasted, and how these valuations have been influenced by larger social factors at play in their lives. These discussions of students’ personal experiences, interwoven with time research, begin a critical engagement with time as a social construct.

Stage Three: Application

As this example of teaching time is situated in a positive psychology and coaching psychology postgraduate program, stage three of teaching examines how the reflective time journal and its facilitation of temporal reflexivity can be used by a trained coaching practitioner to support clients (coachees) with time-related challenges, goals, and self-awareness. Positive psychology investigates factors that promote wellness and thriving in individuals, communities, and societies (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Leading coaching psychologist, Anthony Grant (2001:13), defined coaching as a solution-focused and systematic process that “fosters the self-directed learning and personal growth of the coachee.” At its core, coaching psychology is a client-centered helping relationship that draws on practices founded in psychological research and theories of change (Passmore & Lai, 2019). A systematic review found that some of the key elements of an effective coaching relationship include the facilitation of a coachee's learning and development along with the creation of collaboration, trust, and transparency within the coach–coachee relationship (Lai & McDowall, 2014). Time awareness coaching thus aims to enhance a coachee's temporal reflexivity and provide a safe, non-judgmental, and motivating space in which a coachee can use that time awareness to direct intentional and positive change in their life.

Coaching Demonstration

A person-centered coaching psychology approach is used, meaning, “the individual coachee is viewed as the expert in understanding themselves and to finding a way forward” (Whybrow, 2021: 53). This means that the coaching relationship is guided by the coachee's agenda and their subjective experiences of time. Initially, a coach and coachee might discuss the reflective time journaling activity and determine which template is best suited to the coachee's focuses in the coaching relationship. In subsequent sessions after time journaling, the coach and coachee can use the reflective time journal as a source of personal data and insight and use the coaching context to further explore the coachee's reflections, deepen self-awareness, and discuss and evaluate desired time-related changes the coachee would like to pursue. For example, daily time-use patterns captured in the time journal might identify certain time habits the coachee wants to further explore. Setting temporal boundaries regarding worktime habits that often creep into leisure time, or shifting a mindset that the coachee never has time to exercise are a few such examples.

The coaching demonstration aims to model this to initiate further learning. The lecturer, a trained and practicing coaching psychologist, asks for a student to volunteer as coachee for the demonstration. Agreements are established within the classroom to make clear that this is a learning opportunity, and anything said within the coaching session is to be maintained as confidential. The session typically commences with a simple question: What was your experience of keeping the time journal? From there, the coach uses coaching skills (e.g. active and deep listening) to engage in a thoughtful dialogue that moves at the coachee's pace, stays focused on their experiences, and supports the coachee to explore desired changes as appropriate. Different coaches may rely on different techniques and skills in their professional practices. Time awareness coaching is adaptive to complement different approaches, and this is discussed after the demonstration.

Depending on the coachee's agenda, the session may serve as a reflective space that does not lead to specific goal setting or may conclude with the coachee and coach negotiating a tangible goal the coachee aims to implement after the session. Subsequent sessions then serve as accountability checkpoints as coachee and coach continue to create a space of reflection and goal setting and evaluation.

The class debriefs after the coaching demonstration. This involves discussion of what has occurred, approaches the coach used, and any questions students have regarding the application of the time journal in a coaching context.

Peer Coaching Activity

Next, students are guided through an experiential learning activity where they engage as both coach and coachee to gain first-hand experience of the practical setting. Students are paired up and take turns as coach and coachee, using the coachee's time journaling reflections to guide the coaching conversation. Students are encouraged to use the initial coaching question as presented in the coaching demonstration. They are provided with additional time awareness coaching questions to use if relevant to the coachee's agenda. When switching coach–coachee roles, students take a few minutes to reflect on the following questions:

What was your experience of implementing time awareness coaching as the coach?

How might time awareness coaching inform your coaching approach moving forward?

What was your experience of time awareness coaching as the coachee?

After students have been both coach and coachee, the class discusses their experiences and addresses any questions that arise.

Concluding the Lecture

The lecture concludes with a list of suggested resources for students to further investigate time literature. A final reflective prompt asks students one thing (e.g. question, insight, theory) that stands out to them from the learning experience. Provided there is enough time, students are asked to share their reflections, or are otherwise given a few minutes to personally reflect before leaving the classroom.

Implications for Teaching Time

Ironically, the greatest challenge of teaching time might be time itself. Over the last 30 years, time studies has been established as an exciting transdisciplinary field (Adam, 2022). While this has fostered a rich array of inquiry and opened new ways of conceptualizing, studying, and understanding time, it has also created a complex and sometimes fragmented network of research, theory, and practice isolated in specific disciplinary practices and interests. To teach time studies in its transdisciplinary wholeness would be a feat requiring substantial temporal resources. As Ballard (2022: 15) explained, “transdisciplinarity requires time: Time to study, digest, and engage across disciplines.” To teach time in a transdisciplinary way would require an intentional preparation, alongside a careful guidance into disciplinary languages and practices that extend beyond the discipline in which students are being trained. Addressing this challenge requires a reflexivity that demands an acknowledgement of the positionalities informing what does and does not get addressed when teaching time.

A fully transdisciplinary agenda is perhaps not always feasible in teaching time. Further, it may not serve the learning objectives of each context in which time is taught. While there is merit in teaching time with a specific disciplinary focus, the challenge here is a potential misrepresentation of what time studies is, what it can be, what contributions it can make, and a further siloing of thinking that limits the next generation of time studies scholars. It is important, then, to recognize the positionality shaping each instance of teaching time. To not recognize and acknowledge this positionality in the classroom is to disregard decades of effort to establish time studies’ transdisciplinary nature.

While not exhaustive, creating awareness of disciplinary, pedagogical, and personal positionalities can make teaching and learning experiences more intentional and transparent. The following are several considerations that educators might use to reflect on how these positions influence their teaching practices.

Disciplinary Positionality

Disciplinary and departmental learning objectives and expectations may be considered in their role of shaping how time is addressed in the classroom. Within a community of practice, methodological standards can be assessed to understand their impact on how time is investigated. Questions of prerequisites may be asked: What is the necessary prerequisite knowledge needed to address time in this way and not another? What would be needed to extend the teaching of time beyond these disciplinary prerequisites? Larger departmental and institutional standards can be reflected on in their facilitation of the types of activities, assignments, and assessments used to teach time.

Pedagogical Positionality

What is assumed about time when a particular pedagogical approach is taken to teaching it? Educators can consider how modes of delivery influence the ways time is addressed in the classroom. Are these ways of teaching being selected intentionally based on the content of the lesson and the objectives for teaching time? Are there other pedagogical practices that could be incorporated to expand how time is taught?

Educator Positionality

Teaching temporal reflexivity is itself a challenge in teaching time. An educator needs their own time awareness to understand how their personal relationship with time may allow for or otherwise stifle certain discussion points and insights in the classroom. An ongoing reflection on one's own relationship with time and its impact on teaching practices may be useful.

Current Case Sample

Each of the three stages of teaching time outlined in the current case sample is largely influenced by the context of the postgraduate program in which the lecture is taught. The theoretical stage, which is perhaps most likely to mirror other samples of teaching time, is predominantly guided by a disciplinary focus in time studies in psychology and sociology. Pedagogically, constructivist and social constructivist approaches emphasize the reflective and interactive practices seen in the personal and collective stages of teaching and learning. Perhaps most distinct, the application stage is unique to the context of teaching coaching psychology and positive psychology practitioners.

This instance of teaching time attempts to cover an ambitious amount of content. While a pre-lecture activity extends the temporal investment involved in the learning process, classroom time is limited to a 2-h lecture. Therefore, the lecture is presented as a brief introduction to the field meant to stimulate students’ curiosity and temporal reflexivity. The reflective time journal is a tool that students can use beyond the classroom to continue to nurture their temporal reflexivity. As they may also apply it to their coaching practices, so too may other educators choose to use the time journal in their own spaces of teaching time.