Critical Reflection in the Workplace

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Critical Reflection in the Workplace

• Jan Fook
• South West London Academic Network

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Why critical reflection?
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A sceptical voice..

• Does anyone not reflect?
• Do we really know what it means (in practical
  terms)?
• Is it possible to pinpoint in concrete terms how
  it changes your actions?
• How do you do it when most workplaces are too
  busy, and bureaucracy and outcome led?

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What is critical reflection?

• Learning from/making (positive) meaning of
  experience (eg. Boud, Mezirow) (we all do it but
  may not be aware of it, but there are better and
  worse ways of doing it)
• Process of unearthing deeper assumptions (eg.
  Schon) (not as easy to do as it looks)
• What makes it critical unearthing fundamental
  (dominant) assumptions about power ideology
  critique (eg. Brookfield) (good PC analysis but
  not always where people are at?)

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My version

• Involves both theory and practice
• a clear rationale and analysis
• and..
• A clear and structured process for conducting it

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• Aims to improve practice by learning directly
  from experience
• By engaging in a process of examining the
  fundamental assumptions implicit in practice
  experience
• And devising changed thinking and practices from
  this new awareness

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Related theories

• Reflective practice the gap between theory and
  practice (eg. Schon)
• Postmodernism/deconstruction/the linguistic turn
  how our language/discourse constructs our
  knowledge
• Reflexivity how who we are (socially and
  personally) constructs our knowledge (eg. Taylor
  and White)
• Critical perspectives how personal experience
  is linked with social arrangements, and how
  social awareness leads links with social change
  (eg. Brookfield)

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Basic method/process

• Focuses on
• Specific instances of practice (critical
  incidents)
• To unsettle (dominant) implicit assumptions
  (stage 1)
• In order to discover and change relevant thinking
  and practices (stage 2)
• Uses critical reflective questions derived from
  theories
• May be used in a number of ways (eg. Small
  groups, self-reflection)
• In an ethical learning climate

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Critical reflective questions

• Reflective what does my practice imply about my
  fundamental values? What am I assuming about the
  nature of human beings? Society? power and
  conflict?
• Reflexive where do my assumptions come from?
  How does who I am affect what I see? How do my
  emotions affect my knowledge?
• Postmodern/deconstructive what language
  patterns do I use? What binaries exist? What
  other perspectives am I leaving out?

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Questionscont

• Critical perspectives how does my social
  context influence my personal experience? What
  has this got to do with power? How does my
  changed awareness contribute to my changed
  practices?

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Critical incident

• An event which is significant in some way to the
  learner/participant
• Used as raw material for reflection

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The ethical learning climate of critical
reflection

• Trust respect
• Acceptance not affirmation
• Focus on professional learning
• Right to draw limits
• Focus on story or construction
• Openness to multiple and contradictory
  perspectives
• Responsibility (agency) not blame

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An example of critical reflection

• Barbara..
• A social worker/manager in a large government
  bureaucracy
• Incident from personal life she intervenes
  between 2 men in angry argument
• Didnt want to be a control freak
• Assumptions about control, someone needing to be
  in control, and equated with the need for action
• Reflected on her own needs to be in control and
  assumptions about good professional practice
  equated with need to take action

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Barbaracont.

• Fear of uncertainty?
• Emotions and assumptions come together in the
  experience
• Caught herself telling a staff member that he
  needed to stay with the uncertainty.

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The reconstruction..

• Therefore a need to reconstruct her desired
  practice as being powerful in uncertainty or
  structured uncertainty
• She spoke of creating her own emotional
  scaffolding to help her in new situations

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Benefits and outcomes of critical reflection

• Rational
• Emotional
• Values
• Practice

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Rationality

• Better able to abstractify and understand theory
• More considered and evidence-based
• Better decision-making and more choice
• Better able to work with uncertainty and multiple
  perspectives

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Self and emotions

• Increased self awareness
• Overcome personal blocks
• Resolve dilemmas
• Recognise and use power of emotion

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Value-based practice

• More inclusive (less judgemental)
• Able to recognise different perspectives
• more awareness of personal agency ie. empowerment

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Direct links with practice

• Enhanced sense of professionalism
• Better connected with colleagues
• Practice not entirely solution-focused leads to
  better sense of having skills
• Better integration of personal/professional
• Better ability to learn from practice

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Issues in conducting critical reflection in
organisations

• Current models of critical reflection learning
  are individual
• Finding space and time
• Current organisational culture is inhibiting (eg.
  blame culture)

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Using critical reflection in the organisation

• First,
• we need to remember that
• organisations and individuals are intertwined
  each shapes the other.
• Critical reflection can help us learn about how
  individuals make sense of their organisations and
  their place within them.

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• Second,
• The organisation is more than the sum of its
  parts
• BUT
• individual change can spark a change in
  organisational culture.
• Critical reflection can help individuals find
  ways to enact different cultures

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• Third,
• Finding spaces doesnt have to be hard.
• Opportunities may exist for critical reflection
  in spaces which already exist
• Supervision
• Team meetings
• Staff development
• Critical friends and mentoring

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The challenge

• Fourth,
• Cultural changes need to be supported by
  structural changes.
• What new structures and practices need to be
  developed to support a critically reflective
  culture in my organisation?
• What do I need to think and do differently?