Learning Critical Reflection

Experiences of the Transformative Learning Process

Laura Béres, Jan Fook, Laura Béres, Jan Fook

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781351033282
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Work
• Index: Social Sciences

Learning Critical Reflection documents the actual learning experiences of social work students and practitioners. It explores how a more in-depth understanding of the process of learning, combined with an analysis of how to critically reflect, will help improve the learning process.

The contributors are all professionals who have learnt, in a formalised way, how to critically reflect on their practice. They speak in depth, and with feeling, about their experiences, how downsides and upsides worked together to transform the way they understood themselves, their professional identity, and their practice. Existing literature about critical reflection is reviewed, identifying the details of learning, and pulling no punches in recognising the difficulty and complexity of becoming transformed through this learning process. The editors of this book also contribute their own reflections on learning how to teach critical reflection and include the findings of a research study conducted on students' learning.

Edited by two experienced educators, this book showcases the process of learning, from the perspective of the learners, in order that educators and students, managers, supervisors, and frontline practitioners alike, may make the most of opportunities to critically reflect in both educational and workplace settings. It should be considered essential reading for social work students, practitioners, and educators.

Chapter 1

Learning critical reflection

Laura Béres and Jan Fook

Why this book?

Both of us are experienced educators who have worked with critical reflection for several decades, with students at different levels, with practising social workers, and in different countries and fields of practice. We have witnessed people coming to new understandings, transforming old ways of thinking, and being able to develop meaningful insights directly from their own experiences. From our perspective, being part of this learning experience can be very moving, sometimes exhilarating, and can make us feel imbued, as colleagues, with a sense of compassion and empathy, with those who are critically reflecting on their, sometimes fraught, experiences. Yet whilst transformative learning of this type is generally regarded as overwhelmingly desirable, we have also observed first hand some of the anxiety and resistance, and indeed loss, involved in making the often fundamental changes called for in transformative learning. Exactly what are the emotional and cognitive experiences which take place for learners in becoming more critically reflective? Although we have discussed many aspects of these experiences with our own learners, we became curious about documenting these in a more systematic and holistic way, from their own perspectives. Laura embarked on teaching a whole semester module (13-week academic term) on critical reflection in a newly refocused graduate programme, and her students produced some very thoughtful and insightful thinking on their personal learning experiences. This inspired us to contact other learners who had learned to become critically reflective through a range of other programmes. The result is this book.

Many professions now require a reflective, reflexive, or critically reflective ability (Stedmon & Dallos, 2009). There is a plethora of literature which argues for the value of reflection (e.g. Gardner, 2014) and indeed outlines and describes many different models and strategies for teaching it (e.g. Watson & Kenny, 2014). However, there is less literature which questions its value and/or attempts to research its efficacy (Fook, Collington, Ross, Ruch, & West, 2016). In this book, we do not argue for the value of critical reflection, suggest models for its practice, or provide evidence for its value. Rather, in a reflective manner, we seek to provide illustrations of the experience of learning to be critically reflective from different perspectives and to allow readers to make up their own minds as to the upsides and downsides of the experience. In some ways, however, trying to assess the contribution to learning of critical reflection through a simple binary polarisation of upsides and downsides does not seem to do the experience justice. How all aspects of the learning experience integrate to create new meaning and ways of thinking and acting is something which can perhaps best be illustrated through the narratives of learners themselves. We are, therefore, interested in presenting experiences rather than outcomes.

A third reason we wanted to produce this book was to showcase the experience of people for whom critical reflection is ‘done to’. Most of the literature is written by educators or researchers, i.e. people who are usually in a position of authority in attempting to make others reflective, usually, because it is a requirement of the educational programme they are providing. Given that reflection is in some ways something which can best be undertaken on a voluntary basis (Finlay, 2008, p. 15) it is a great irony that its learning is required on a nonvoluntary basis. We were, therefore, interested not so much in the perspectives of educators and authorities but of those being subjected to the learning. For example, what is the influence of power dynamics in these scenarios?

In this chapter, we will give a brief overview of different approaches to critical reflection and a brief description of the model of critical reflection being learnt by the contributors in this volume. We will also review some major learning and teaching issues covered in the literature on critical reflection and discuss our own approach to teaching and learning. We also include a brief overview of the way critical reflection was taught in the programme in which the majority of contributors participated. For those who did not participate in this programme, we have asked that they include a brief description of how the model was learnt in their respective chapters. This will hopefully provide enough background context.

Issues involved in learning and teaching critical reflection

Defining critical reflection?

There seems to be general agreement that there are a number of different terms associated with the concept of critical reflection and that this can also lead to confusion and lack of clarity about what is meant by the term. (Saric & Steh, 2017). Indeed, this is a common criticism of the idea of critical reflection (Ixer, 1999). This, of course, does not mean that critical reflection is a meaningless term, but it does mean that it is important to clarify what it means in both theory and practice. Some of the associated ideas include reflection, reflexivity, and reflective practice (Fook, White, & Gardner, 2006; Ixer, 2011). We will discuss briefly our understanding of these in this chapter. There is also popular usage of the term ‘reflection’ to denote simply ‘thinking about’ something, and it is important to note at the outset that we regard reflecting as a particular form of thinking. In addition, there are many different suggestions for how critical reflection should be practised and, indeed, many different theoretical frameworks underpinning these. Moreover, meanings and definitions and, indeed, even how the purpose of critical reflection is perceived differ according to different academic disciplines (van Beveren, Roets, Buysse, & Rutten, 2018).

It is important to acknowledge the contribution of early philosophers as far back as even Socrates who spoke of ‘the examined life for ethical and compassionate engagement with the world and its dilemmas’ (Nussbaum, 1997), while Laura has examined what more recent philosophers Heidegger and Gadamer might contribute to our understanding of reflection (Béres, 2017b). Within the field of education, Dewey’s understanding of reflection as ‘learning from experience’ (1933) forms the backbone of most ideas of reflection today, but the ideas have been reworked constantly over the last few decades and are especially dominated by the ‘reflective practice’ approach developed by Schön (1983). How and whether reflection is ‘critical’ is also another contentious idea, as sometimes, ‘critical’ is taken as meaning ‘negative’ rather than in its more academic sense of denoting a critical theory perspective on how power is created and maintained in personal experience and social arrangements (Brookfield, 2016). Of course, critical reflection is also closely associated with Mezirow and Associates’ (2000) notion of ‘transformative learning’, which entails a deep change of perspective.

Given this abundance of different theories, meanings, and practices, we have decided to work with a model of critical reflection, which attempts to integrate these different perspectives into a framework and model based on a clear articulation of fundamental principles that are relatively and commonly held between different perspectives. This model was first developed primarily based on postmodern and critical perspectives (Fook, 2002) but has been further developed using additional theoretical frameworks (e.g. Fook & Gardner, 2007). We will elaborate on the actual theoretical underpinnings and the practical process further on, but at this point, it is helpful to state how we define critical reflection in a way, which integrates different perspectives: critical reflection involves learning from and making deeper meaning of experience through a process of unsettling and examining deeply hidden assumptions in order to create better guidelines for action and so improve professional practice and develop a more ethical and compassionate stance. It is informed by a reflexive awareness of how the whole self influences knowledge-making and behaviour by an appreciation of the link between language and power, an understanding of how personal experience is also social and political, and how individual beliefs can be changed in order to contribute to socially just change.

The experience of learning reflection and issues involved

In a very engaging way, Jeffrey Baker (2013) describes how he enthusiastically introduced critical reflection to his ‘bright and plucky public sector’ team, only to slowly witness their increasing ‘cringe’ from taking part. He notes that in the unsettling of assumptions ‘there is the experience of uncertainty, of not [italics added] knowing [. . .] and the possibility that aspects of our professional selves, our practice and its context will be revealed as problematic or troubling’ and, furthermore, that in this loss of innocence may be the realisation that ‘solutions to dilemmas may not be readily forthcoming’ (p. 17).

These kinds of sentiments are echoed in a classic article by Stephen Brookfield (1994) in which he outlines the ‘dark side’ of critical reflection. It is important to note what the ‘dark side’ is here, as Brookfield’s is one of the few pieces of work, which attempts to detail the experience of learning and interpreting learning from the perspective of the learners themselves. Brookfield notes five main themes in the experience. First, there is a sense of ‘impostorship’, that participating in critical thinking is, itself, an act of bad faith given the act of criticising the contexts and structures, which in fact maintain yourself as a learner. This is related to the second theme of ‘cultural suicide’, which involves recognising that being critical of, and challenging, conventionally agreed assumptions risk putting the learner out of step with colleagues and cultures in which they are also invested and which have sustained and may also continue to sustain them on some levels. The third theme is that of ‘lost innocence’, which involves the uncertainty (as mentioned by Baker previously) caused by moving from more certain universalistic ways of being and knowing to more dialogical and multiple understandings. Fourth is what Brookfield terms ‘road running’, that is, the incrementally fluctuating flirtation with new modes of thought and being. The concept of road running is quite apt, as it vividly captures the sense of uncertainty intertwined with excitement and apprehension, which trying on new ideas can induce. There is also the sense of feeling ‘unfaithful’ to old, tried, and tested ideas. Lastly, he describes the theme of community, which incorporates the idea of the importance of having a support group for those engaged in a critical process.

It would, of course, be inaccurate to suggest that these downsides are the abiding experience of reflection, as most of the literature written by students of reflection dwells on the transformative outcomes of their learning (e.g. Hickson, 2011; Pockett & Giles, 2008). In addition, even to conceptualise the experience of critically reflective learning as either having ‘upsides’ or ‘downsides’ is, perhaps, quite erroneous, as, in fact, upsides may also have downsides and vice versa. It may be their coexistence, which is crucial to learning how to become transformative. This idea recurs throughout this section, because it may be that the downsides actually lead to the upsides (e.g. being vulnerable may lead to change, and it is only in being vulnerable that change can be attained). Another example would be that of uncertainty, as it is through being uncertain that improvements might be made. In this section, we wish to pinpoint a little more, what actual detail regarding the challenges is inherent in the transformative learning experience. As a follow on from that, it will be important to note what safeguards need to be built into the critically reflective learning process in order to capitalise on its transformative aspects. Many suggestions are made along these lines from the contributors. In addition, we outline these in the model of critical reflection, which we use.

It is instructive to note here that, historically, it may have been the intellectual and cognitive aspects of transformative learning, which were emphasised (see, for example, Mezirow & Associates, 2000). However, more recently, there has been very appropriate recognition of the emotional aspects of the experience (McManus, n.d.). Saric and Steh (2017, p. 79) give a helpful overview of the ways in which emotions can affect critically reflective learning. First, emotions may constitute one of the motivations for engaging in reflection, as it is often unsettling, perplexing, or discordant experiences, which trigger the impulse to reflect. People may be left with feelings of anger, disappointment, frustration, regret, or distress or, perhaps, even wonder and feel the need to explore the experience to understand it better. In this sense, these triggering emotions can also become part of the reflective experience, as the connection between these feelings and the deeper assumptions or beliefs held by the person need to be better understood in order to understand the whole experience. Secondly, the experience of reflecting may become emotional in and of itself as other unpredicted emotions may surface or as long-held views are shaken. This is, of course, to be expected if the experience being reflected upon is personal. Sometimes, as well, the experience itself may not have been shared with anyone else before, so the more public act of reflecting in a group may engender its own set of emotions. Lastly, the longer-term implications of the reflective learning can also be emotional, as learners redevelop their thinking and actions to incorporate newly developed emotional responses.

Some quotes from critically reflective learners interviewed by Helen Hickson (2013) illustrate more about the experience of learning to critically reflect. One spoke of how assumptions about learning are challenged:

we often think that learning is something that should be linear – they teach it, we learn it, and away you go. With critical reflection you are learning a way of thinking, but it’s not always clear where you are going and what is at the end. People are sometimes impatient and get lost and frustrated, because they want to know where they are going, and I guess that’s the very nature of it. People also need to understand that they may experience some personal discomfort and vulnerability thinking about assumptions and values and where they came from.

(p. 62)

In a response from another participant, Hickson (2013, p. 63) draws out the idea of ‘spiraling’, which, rather than just going around in circles and ending up in the same place, describes a sense of going around in circles but, at the same time, going deeper. Through this process, participants particularly became aware of themes of resistance and acceptance. It was helpful to explore her assumptions about these themes in her own critical reflection process. She describes the overall experience of critically reflective learning in this way:

[I]t feels a bit like the eye of a cyclone – where it is calm, but you seem to go around and around but always come back to the central themes. And I wonder what creates this? Is it a life experience that keeps bringing us back to a similar place, and no matter what happens this central theme is going to be there? I have used critical reflection with lots of different groups and different people but I often end up back in familiar territory – the common denominator is me.

(p. 63)

Saric and Steh (2017, p. 79) also draw attention to how confronting what is less well-known about oneself has the potential to shake the foundations of one’s identity. In our own experience in conducting critically reflective groups, we do find that this is one of the biggest challenges for learners, as it is not generally expected that focusing on professional learning may involve needing to remake one’s identity. For example, Jane was used to thinking of herself as a ‘bad’ manager, because she felt she had mishandled supervision of a case where a client died and...