Using time is an interesting way of thinking about practice.
Chris Argyris and Donald Schön did that in 1978, proposing a two stage process of reflection based on problem-solving in the present and in the future. Their model has strongly influenced the education, health and architecture professions.
There are two parts to Argyris and Schön's model: reflection-in-action, and reflection-on-action.
- Reflection-in-action is our ability to "think on [our] feet" or 'felt-knowing' (Argyris & Schön, 1974, p. 203). When we are faced with a professional issue, we usually connect with their feelings, emotions and prior experiences to attend, to be present in that situation.
- Reflection-on-action is the idea that AFTER the experience we analyse our reaction in that situation and we explore the reasons around, and the consequences of, our actions. The ‘normal’ way is through writing up our reflection afterwards, or by talking about it with a supervisor. However, this is not simply reviewing the experiences and poking at our reasoning for those actions.
As Sharpiro puts it, it is "responding to problematic situations, problem framing, problem solving, and the priority of practical knowledge over abstract theory” (2010, p. 311).
Argyris and Schön think that our professional growth really only begins when we start to use a critical lens, and to doubt our actions. That doubt means that we think there is something else we can learn and hone.
Doubt allows us to think in questions, and helps us to frame situations as "problems". If we plan carefully and systematically get rid of other possibilities, then our doubt is settled. If instead we can ask "what if?", then that opens us up to other possibilties. We can re-explore the landscape. We may well still find that, “OK, we did that pretty well” and affirm our knowledge of what happened was roughly right (because we always know that we can never get it perfectly correct). But if we go in with no doubts, then we are unable to learn from that experience.
Reflection LETS us think about other possibilities and their likely outcomes, and to really openly consider whether we carried out the right actions (Argyris & Schön, 1978).
It closes our learning loop (Kolb, 1984).
And feeds into a growth mindset (Dweck, 2006).
Sam
References:
- Argyris, Chris & Schön, Donald A. (1978). Organizational Learning: A theory of action perspective. USA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
- Argyris, Chris & Schön, Donald A. (1974). Theory in practice: increasing professional effectiveness. USA: Jossey-Bass Publishers
- Dweck, Carol (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. USA: Baltimore Books
- Kolb, David A (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. USA: Prentice Hall, Inc.
read more "Time to Reflect"
Reflection is a critical component of learning. It is our intentional attempt to synthesise, apply the abstract to the concrete, and to HONESTLY articulate the key lessons learned within our experience (Schön, 1983).
Reflection is critical to developing as a professional, because it helps us challenge our attitudes, beliefs and assumptions. Otherwise, they too become concrete, and possibly too rigid. Instead of being open, we become closed.
Purposeful reflections on one's own accumulated experiences leads to greater learning as we accumulate more experience. We get a boost in learning - and build our self-efficacy - because reflection builds our confidence in achieving a goal. In turn, that translates to higher levels of learning and retention.
Kolb proposed a model of adult learning in 1984 (which I have written about before here). Kolb's work looks at how adults transform information into useable knowledge. He proposed that all learners work on two axes: north to south is prehension, and east to west is transformation. Prehension is where we move from being fearful of new learning to understanding it. Transformation is where we move from just watching and thinking, to doing and being.
Kolb (1984) considered what happens at each of the four quadrants outlined by the intersection of the two axes, and determined four learning stages. Firstly, experience: the accommodator, where we make some cautious room for the new ideas. Secondly, reflection, or the diverger, where we put some skull-sweat into working out how this fits with our current world view, and what would happen if we adopted this new learning. Thirdly, abstraction, or the assimilator, which is where we start forming an idea of fit and use for our future work. Lastly, active testing, or the converger, which is where we apply our new learning in practice and build new muscles.
After a situation, we reflect on it. We then gain an understanding of what we have encountered during the experience, and we test what we think we have learned. Then repeat. And repeat.
This pattern that Kolb (1984) proposed appears to be necessary for adults learning to take place. So adults need to be good reflective learners, for learning to be sticky.
Career practitioners in particular need to help others to develop unique solutions, so we too need to build our reflective learning skills.
Sam
References:
- Kolb, David A (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. USA: Prentice Hall, Inc
- Kreber, Carolin (2001). Learning Experientially through Case Studies? A Conceptual Analysis. Teaching in Higher Education, 2001, Volume 6, Issue 2 (pp. 217-228)
- Schön, Donald A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books
We can apply a theory, and
break the theory down into components to test the problem against, to
see if the theory will help us solve the problem. We can simply think
and read widely until we come up with a way through this new situation. Or we can put
our problems into the hands of another and discuss the issues until we
have a result that works.
I have written about Schön before (here), but his reflective practice model is always worth another look (1983). His model is based on his watching of how practitioners came to him and how they together dealt with a problem: each one has a unique situation, each one requires a unique and tailored solution to get the best result - or the result that the individual who needed the intervention was comfortable with.
We can all get to a point where we get stuck. Schön says that there are situational parallels for unique problems where they "create the conditions for reflection-in-action. Because each practitioner treats [our] case as unique, [we] cannot deal with it by applying standard theories or techniques. In the [time we] spend with [our client], [we] must construct an understanding of the situation as [we] find it. And because [we] find the situation problematic, [we] must reframe it" (1983, p. 129).
What Schön noticed is that when we do this, we first componentise (or reframe) the situation at hand. Then we have gradual discovery, then we design an intervention. It is like tackling a jigsaw puzzle. First we sort the pieces, then we start to see a pattern, then we build a strategy to solve it.
Schön suggests five questions that we, as reflective practitioners, can ask about our particular issue in order to build a GOOD strategy. Those questions are:
- Can we solve the problem we have set?
- Do we like what we get when we solve this problem?
- Have we made the situation coherent?
- Have we made it congruent with our fundamental values and theories?
- Have we kept inquiry moving?
This is a useful set of questions to ask. I particularly like the congruence question (see my ethics post here).
Taken together, these help us to ensure that our solutions are an enduring fit.
Sam
- Reference: Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. Basic Books
In 1984, Kolb developed an experiential learning model to explain how adults learn. His model provides a process linking education, work, and personal development, which proposes that all learners move through four learning stages: firstly experience, secondly reflection, thirdly abstraction, and lastly active testing (Kolb, 1984; Marriott, 2002 as cited by Adler, Whiting, & Wynn-Williams, 2004, p. 215). We human animals learn by doing, then thinking about what we could have done better. If we don't go through all the stages, we don't learn well - we don't have sticky learning that stays with us for the long-term. And guess what stage most of us are not so good at? You guessed it: reflection.
Reflective practice has been defined as reflecting "on the phenomenon before [us], and on the prior understandings which have been implicit in [our] behaviour. [We carry] out an experiment which serves to generate both a new understanding of the phenomenon and a change in the situation" (Schön, 1983, p. 68), and then "interrogat[ing our] own method" (Bryant, Johnston & Usher, 1996, p. 145). So we do, we observe ourselves doing it, we think whether this was a good 'doing' and consider what we could do better next time. Consciously. Deliberately.
While formalised by Donald Schön in his 1983 book, The Reflective Practitioner, this concept is not new. In fact, Marcus Aurelius' Meditations from 167 AD have been described as the earliest recorded example of reflective practice.
If done honestly, reflection is a wonderful tool for deconstructing situations, processes and participants, so that we can clearly consider what went well or what could be improved.
Reflection is a very popular tool where learning needs to take place; so is used extensively in education, health, philosophy... all the social sciences. That includes career practice.
I have mentioned in a previous article the three aspects of a client session that I find useful to reflect upon; attending, empathising and responding. Using a simple structure such as this enables me to consider different aspects of how a session went, to see what learning there might be from it, and what improvements I can then make for the future.
I need to attend to myself as well as to my client. I need to be attentive to how I performed. How I felt. Whether I stayed in the moment with the client. Whether my body language was appropriate. How well I built rapport. How open the client was. How comfortable I feel that the client was.
This act of reflection, when combined with mentoring and independent third party verification - through surveys and observations - helps ensure that my take on reality is largely similar to the rest of the world. I ask for feedback from clients and students regularly using various models - and the best feedback is repeat business and referrals.
I get a wee bit formal with reflection. I have a regular reminder in Outlook to do it. I write it up. I keep a log - just a simple Word table - of the good, the bad and the ugly to re-read, examine and discuss. I detail some things around each event; the date, the place, the people involved and the purpose. I talk about how I felt, as well as the 'facts'. I include positive statements and feedback. I add post scripts after the event, and comments long after, on re-reading. It is amazing how much you can learn when you go back and re-read something you wrote ten years ago, and see how much more you can see in a particular situation now that you were blind to then.
Reflection enables us to see links and flaws in our own mental models that we wouldn't see without making the space to think and being deliberate about it. Without it we can't close Kolb's learning loop.
Gold.
References
- Adler, R, Whiting, R, & Wynn-Williams, K (2004). Student-led and teacher-led case presentations: empirical evidence about learning styles in an accounting course. Accounting Education, June 2004, Volume 13, Issue 2 (pp. 213-229)
- Aurelius, Marcus (167). Meditations. Retrieved 10 January 2014 from http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html
- Bryant, Ian; Johnston, Rennie & Usher, Robin; (1997). Adult Education and the Postmodern Challenge. UK: Routledge.
- Kolb, David A (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. USA: Prentice Hall, Inc
- Schön, Donald (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. How professionals think in action, UK: Temple Smith
Sam
