How seriously have you taken the act of reflective practice in your role?
Is it something you’ve dedicated much time towards? I recommend you investigate reflective practice further. Dedicate some time to it and seek to improve, regardless of what role you may have, or what industry you work in.
I recently had the pleasure of studying reflective practice through University and gained a lot of knowledge about myself, my industry and felt empowered around my growth as an education designer and developer as a result. I see reflection as a holistic practice and one whereby you can learn a lot about yourself not only as a practitioner but also around how you operate as a person.
I want to introduce you to three people whose theories stood out for me. I encourage anyone interested in improving their reflective practice to learn more about these guys and their work.
Dewey
Hands up, who remembers learning about the Dewey Decimal System to navigate your way around the library in primary school? I remember index cards in old wooden filing drawers that would extend out for what seemed miles. I remember little, boxy computers with rounded edges (like Edgar from ‘Electric Dreams’). Stark black screens and fluro green text. That index system was created by a chap called Melvil Dewey in 1876. That’s who I instantly think of when I see the name Dewey. However, another chap called John Dewey would come along in 1933 with a theory of how we think, and through the course of his life, make waves in the education sector.
Dewey’s model around reflective practice and thought is one based upon the occurrence of an event (or issue). For example, a teacher may have a challenging session with a class where the students don’t seem to understand what they need to learn. The teacher would then reflect after the event on what happened and formulate a series of possible solutions they would go on to trial over time until a successful outcome was gained. At the time, the approach was ground-breaking, but over time it has been expanded upon and fine-tuned.
Dewey and Schön – building upon firm foundations.
Donald Schön built upon Dewey’s theory by making the focus more experiential. He identified that reflection can occur DURING the event. He acknowledged that educators build ‘toolkits’ through experience and the knowledge and skills gained over time and through the act of reflective practice. That these ‘toolkits’ help to form an almost ‘intuitive’ response to particular problems or situations that may occur in the classroom. If you look at this approach regarding all job roles, it makes sense.
Schön
- Reflection in action – during an event
- Reflection on action – after the event
In his book, The Reflective Practitioner Schön looks at the design professions; as a designer and developer of education, this intrigued me. He identifies how professionals working in design encounter so many variables. The designer, Schön argues, “shapes the situation in accordance with his initial appreciation of it, the situation’ talks back’ and he responds to the situation’s back-talk.” (2008, p.93).
Working in the design and development of education is complicated enough, but working in the VET sector adds multiple levels of compliance-related complexities. In our field, as education designers and developers, we get feedback at different intervals as a part of the process. We sometimes get unexpected feedback much later into builds than we factor for, and sometimes this can lead to significant edit issues or re-writes. As a business, we do our best to manage risk around this, but we need to maintain degrees of flexibility. When this feedback comes through, we need to reflect on what stage of the build we are in and have processes in place strictly guiding us. This reflection is vital, as it can sometimes cause a literal wrench to be jammed into our gears, holding us up.
This type of reflective practice (in and on action) can support a ‘post mortem’ stage of the design process. This is where problems, barriers and issues that have been identified during design and development can be raised and supports brainstormed to prevent such problems occurring again. This is how we have set up such strong risk management supports through our processes. Reflection can help the development of a set of approaches and strategies in place to be ready for if and when they happen again. Not everything is within our control all of the time on every project. How much easier it would be if it was!
Stephen Brookfield
When I first started learning about Stephen Brookfield, my neurones lit up. My first encounter with him was through the video below, which was included in my Uni resources. Within the first 10 minutes, he provides what is effectively his life story and the fact that he played in a band (a punk band) won me over. He was older than me and still raging against the system but in a way that would make it better, not just for the sake of it.
Brookfield’s theory of critical reflection is one that relies on the application of both critical and creative thinking. He asks the reflector to view their situation through a series of four lenses and to maintain awareness around a set of assumptions. Brookfield’s theory bases itself on the idea that critical thinking leads to more informed actions. More informed actions have a greater likelihood of positive outcomes for all involved.
- The first lens – autobiographical
- The second lens – the students’ perspective and experience
- The third lens – our colleagues’ experiences
- The fourth lens – theoretical literature
Being more aware of the assumptions that frame how we think and act (our decisions, actions, choices in life). Critical thinking is an attempt to identify those – according to Brookfield. The point of this is to allow us to take more informed actions, that in turn can lead to a higher likelihood of successful outcomes.
Assumption types can include:
- Causal (not casual)
- Prescriptive
- Paradigmatic
Watch Stephen Brookfield explain these assumption types and provide examples:
I recommend if and when you get time, watch the whole video!
The glory of Brookfield is his approach can polish what work you may have done with Dewey or Schon’s approaches. Combining all three is a power triad to be reckoned with.
Conclusion
No matter whose model or theory resonates with you the best, explore the techniques that work for you:
- Make the time to journal
- Have informal discussions with colleagues
- Set up a formal mentor relationship with someone you respect
Capture your thoughts, and details of what has happened and work through them. Go back and go over them and break them down. Look at them under a microscope and take into account they are occurring within a set of frameworks known as assumptions. Look at those assumptions and break those down. Are they helpful to the situation? Are they a hindrance? Challenge them and build your ‘toolkit’.
Learn about yourself as a human being, seek to grow and develop no matter how young or old you are and continue this journey across all aspects of your life. Whatever knowledge comes to you through this journey, share it. Share it with your colleagues because that is where the real value is. Whichever approaches you choose, it will lead to growth and development of a sector as a whole; and everyone, including practitioners, students, clients or customers, will benefit as a result.
Photo by Yeshi Kangrang on Unsplash
