Critical Incident Analysis

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What is CIA?

A critical incident is something which we interpret as a problem or a challenge in a particular context, rather than a routine occurrence. For example, students may constantly arrive late for a class, or talk when other students are presenting their ideas.

Critical Incident Analysis is an approach to dealing with challenges in everyday practice. As reflective practitioners we need to pose problems about our practice, refusing to accept 'what is'. We need to explore incidents which occur in day-to-day work in order to understand them better and find alternative ways of reacting and responding to them.

Often a critical incident is personal to an individual. Incidents only become critical, that is problematic, if the individual sees them in this way. It is after the event that it is defined as critical.