Parker Palmer discusses disconnectedness as a “personal pathology” that each of us at times embraces, tolerates, perpetuates, or endures. Making connections between the literature and your practice, critically explore a professional experience that had implications for personal disconnectedness. Your exploration might take the form of a traditional paper or might take a creative or aesthetic form, like a/r/tography, poetic inquiry, or métissage. Whatever the form, the criticality will be evidenced in your deep analysis and critical extension of the concepts.

Introduction

            In The Heart of a Teacher by Parker J. Palmer (1998), he states, “I am a teacher at heart, and there are moments in the classroom when I can hardly hold the joy. But at other moments, the classroom is so lifeless or painful or confused – and I am so powerless to do anything about it…” (p. 1). I, too, am a teacher and learner at heart. As a learner, how can I endure and tolerate the pain when attending a class that so negatively affects my learning and adaptative flexibility? Palmer refers to this agony as disconnectedness or a form of disengagement that occurs when an individual experiences despair and hopelessness. This disconnectedness has no place in education or learning or the classroom.

            This essay describes an important lesson gathered from a personal experience and written in the first-person perspective. As stated by Winter (1988, p. 235), “we do not ‘store’ experience as data, like a computer: we ‘story it.’” I will mix formal academic writing examples with my informal personal narrative. Specifically, this essay will connect academic literature, my teaching practices and experience, and critically explore a professional learning experience that had implications for personal disconnectedness. It will conclude by outlining the methods I chose to overcome my disconnectedness.

My professional experience

            I remember those ten agonizingly long days, twenty years ago, as if it were yesterday. It was September 2000, when I took the Bylaw level I and II courses at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) in Vancouver. They were courses where I felt in my gut that they were not the right choices. I had made a terrible mistake, but there was no going back.

            The desks were aligned in rows, all facing the front of the class. Whiteboard and flip charts are the technologies used. Very early in the Bylaw I course, and definitely after the Bylaw II course, I felt I had completely wasted my time. I had spent unnecessary money on hotel accommodation and travel expenses, and I lost the vacation time taken from my current employer!

            The JIBC was the only institution offering the Bylaw I and II courses at the time. The principal instructor had a legal background as a criminal court prosecutor, although no experience in bylaw enforcement or law enforcement. Other guest instructors were lawyers with no law enforcement experience, and in my view, no teaching experience.

            My eyelids felt like lead during the two tortuous weeks. I could not keep my eyes open in class, let alone remember the content presented. “God put me out of my misery.” I kept asking how these courses could be considered the ‘best’ by management and industry standards if, in my opinion, they were the worst I had ever attended.

            My anger and frustration left me unable to make sense of my experience at the time. All I could remember was telling myself, “one day at a time, Laurie, this too shall pass.” The courses did end, and I received my certificates necessary for my future career with the City of Kelowna. I survived ten days of torture where all the rules of being a great teacher were shattered and the worst teachers glorified.

Stages of disconnectedness

            Since the Bylaw Enforcement courses, reflection and reflexivity provided the answers to why I felt disconnected during the Bylaw courses. In his book The Courage to Teach (1998), Palmer explains that educators and learners experience at least four stages of disconnection. Reflecting on the bylaw courses, while sitting in the classroom, I felt disconnected throughout the four stages and strove to find ways to regain a sense of connectedness.

            Stage 1) spiritual leave and physical leave.  I felt estranged from the educative experience but remained physically within the learning environment. I lacked connection from the teaching and learning context. I felt trapped during this stage and unable to escape. My mind wandered and thought of other activities not related to the class at hand and thinking of ways I could survive this ordeal to retain self. There was no air to breathe. Physical leave was the disengagement that forced me to flee to sustain self. I realized I was living a divided life and, without change, faced the death of self. Palmer (1998) asks the questions: who is the self that teaches and learns? How does the quality of my selfhood form the way I relate to my students, my colleagues, my world? Why had the Justice Institute not sustained and deepened the selfhood in the instructors from which good teaching comes?

            Stage 2) individual and communal. I continued to seek a path to connectedness, searching for contexts that promote and enable it. As a learner, I had to confront my anxiety and self-doubt, and by speaking of these feelings with other students in the class, we were able to support one another in our discontent and come up with strategies to re-engage with the course.

            Stage 3) personal and public acknowledgment. I shared positive learning experiences from other courses I had taken, which encouraged others in the class to continue who were also feeling disconnected. This created community solidarity, owing to our struggles and encouraged suggestions to make the course more effective.

            Stage 4) seeks paths to re-engagement. I used whatever tools I had from previous learning experiences to support my in-class learning. Examples included mind mapping, word games, and dreaming about creating my own Bylaw I and II courses.

Overcoming disconnectedness

            There are many responses and ways to overcome disconnectedness. Understanding the factors that shape this phenomenon helps us accept and restructure our relationship with education and learning.

            Although not aware of it at the time, through reflection and reflexivity, it was clear my expectations of the courses were not met. Ellyn Lyle, Of Books, Barns, and Boardrooms (page vii) states, “reflexivity refers to the researcher’s consciousness of her role in and effect on both the act of doing research and its eventual findings.” She defines reflection as “is after and individual whereas reflexivity is ongoing and relational” (p. vii).  Most of us reflect daily on many things. Reflection is nothing more than focused attention. Reflexivity is a more concentrated, in-depth reflection upon one’s perspective, values and assumptions and involves thinking from within experiences.

            Reflexivity has helped frame my narrative way of knowing what occurred in the bylaw courses. Bolton & Delderfield (2018) call for critical reflexivity, which “demands we focus on our own beliefs, feelings and emotions, and our taken-for-granted principles, values, assumptions, in short, our theories in use” (p. 60). It required me to re-visit my understandings of the events in the classroom and continue to negotiate possible interpretations of them. For example, I thought I would be receiving the best instruction and training in the Province of British Columbia but discovered it was some of the worst. To me, it seemed so simple, developing objectives requires program developers “to think through with the appropriate stakeholders what is to be taught or done by participants, the resources required to achieve program objectives, and the end product expected” (Caffarella & Daffron, 2013, p. 165). Sitting and listening to lecture after lecture of legalese with very little class participation or real-life examples was painful. I was completely disengaged with the instruction with feelings of despair and hopelessness.

            In retrospect, I would suggest my complaints were with both the learning content and the instructor’s lack of teaching experience. Instruction was based on the background and experience of the instructor and guest speakers’ capabilities. They felt the content was essential for learners to know and thought the courses were engaging and relevant. But the material had no practical component to work performed by bylaw officers on Any Street in Anywhere, British Columbia. The Bylaw Program coordinator was a lawyer and not a teacher with any formal teaching training. Without exception, the instructors may have been outstanding and professional lawyers who knew their subjects extremely well. Some may have been active and accomplished legal scholars with impressive publication credentials. However, they were lawyers and not educators.

            Using reflection and reflexivity in processing my learning experience in 2005, I decided to create my own Bylaw I and II courses. I used my knowledge and experience from a 25-year career in the RCMP and a new job in bylaw enforcement in the City of Kelowna. I designed Bylaw I and II courses for the city of Kelowna with provincial approval from Victoria. The courses included personal stories, guest speakers with bylaw and law enforcement experience, modern assessment methods, and subjects relevant to bylaw enforcement. For example, Judicial Justice of the Peace Brian Burgess instructing on the proper techniques and protocol for witness testimony in the British Columbia Provincial Court.

            I taught the Bylaw I and II courses for five years. I had very positive feedback from students, many of whom went on to find careers as Bylaw Officers, Police Officers, Correction Officers and BC Sheriffs.  My template for the courses continues to be taught to current and future learners.

Narrative Learning Theory

            Narrative inquiry and explanation adeptly explore the nuanced experiences of educators and learners. In this essay, I used the power of narration to recount an event that most profoundly affected my understanding of the two bylaw courses. MacEwan & Egan (1995) determined that narrative is appealing because it provides a medium for people to record the history of human consciousness. Gough (1997) claims that narrative is a way of examining any theoretical and practical problems in education. He maintains that stories, told and heard, reimagines the notion of education practice. In my case, the narrative gave me the ability to illuminate the teaching and my learning experience. This structure recounted the events in storied form and framed those events in a way that revealed the underlying plot (Webster & Mertova, 2007).

Conclusion

My aim as an educator is to practice what Palmer (1998) advocates, whereby “I join self, subject, and learners in the fabric of life because I educate from an integral and undivided self; I manifest in my own life and evoke in my learners a capacity for connectedness. I educate through my lived experiences. I connect learners and subjects in a community that is essential to educating and learning.”  By following Palmer’s suggestion, learning will be at its best because it will be goal-oriented, contextual, engaging, challenging, and most importantly – interactive. When I educate, I desire to engage and inspire learners to feel that interaction and connectedness so that we all can “hardly hold the joy.”

References

Bolton, G. & Delderfield, R. (2017). Reflective practice: Writing and professional development (5^th ed.).   Sage.

Caffarella, R. S., & Daffron, S. R. (2013). Planning programs for adult learners: A practical guide for     educators, trainers, and staff developers (3rd ed.). Jossey Bass.

Gough, N. (1997). Horizons, images, and experiences: The research stories collection. Deakin Univesity.

Lyle, E. (2017). Introduction. Of books, barns, and boardrooms: Exploring praxis through reflexive          inquiry. (pp. vii–xii). Sense Publishers.             http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=nlebk&AN=1594187 &custid=s7439054

MacEwan, H. & Egan, K. (Eds.) (1995). Narrative in teaching, learning, and research. Teachers College Press.

Palmer, P. (1998). The heart of a teacher: Identity and integrity in teaching. Courage Renewal.    http://www.couragerenewal.org/PDFs/Parker-Palmer_The-Heart-of-a-Teacher.pdf

Palmer, P. (2007). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life. Jossey-Bass.

Webster, L. & Mertova, P. (2007). Using narrative inquiry as a research method. Routledge.

Winter, R. (1988). Fictional, critical writing in J. Nias and S. Groundwater-Smith (eds.), The enquiring     teacher. Falmer.

Drawing on the literature, media, and your experience, discuss how reflexive inquiry can support educators in advocating for more socially equitable societies.

            Whenever I look at a question, I like to look at the ‘why.’ I think it has more to do with time management than anything else. I have limited time, and is the question worth answering? An excellent place to start would be to watch – oh, let’s say – ten minutes of various news media sites: environmental disasters, social injustice, corporate scandals, and questionable government leadership ethics. As educators and researchers, we have to respond to or engage proactively with these issues with our learners. We must encourage our learners to become more reflexive and we must become more reflexive as educators and researchers. Reflexivity is an essential resource in learning because it offers a critical and responsible approach to education and real-world activities.

            The why has been answered so on with the how reflexivity can help engage learners in advocating for more socially equitable societies. Cunliffe (2020) suggests that by taking a more responsible approach to education and teaching reflexivity, learners will be better able to make decisions about questionable work practices, irresponsible decision-making, and unethical leadership. Also, learners may re-think how they research and theorize, while educators re-think how they teach these issues. Reflexivity questions our assumptions and how they might impact our behaviour, relationships, the language we use, and research. “Reflexivity is about understanding that we live in a social and natural world, we shape it in intended and unintended ways, and we, therefore, need to accept responsibility for what we do and say” (Cunliffe, 2016).

            Advocating for a more socially equitable society can start with the educator by helping learners become reflexive practitioners who can examine themselves, their actions, interactions, and the nature of their relationships while acting in more ethical and responsive ways (Hibbert, Callagher, Siedlok, Windahl, & Kim, 2019). Making reflexivity relevant to learners may be challenging but engaging them in both self, and critical reflexivity must be encouraged.

            To change the outside, we must first look inside. Reflexive inquiry demands that we turn our gaze on ourselves as educators, researchers, learners, and leaders.

Laurie

References

Cunliffe, A.L. (2020). Reflexivity in teaching and researching organizational studies. Researchgate, 60(1),            64-69.             https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339917628_Reflexivity_in_teaching_and_researching_o           rganizational_studies

Hibbert, P., Callagher, L., Siedlok, F., Windahl, C., & Kim, H. (2019). Engaging or avoiding change        through reflexive practices. Journal of Management Inquiry, 28(2), 187-2003.           https://doi:10.1177/1056492617718089

EDUC 6123 – Unit 6, Discussion 6.1 – Why do people resist learning about power?

Consider your reading as you discuss why people resist learning about power. How might we, as educators, use RI to help them overcome this resistance?

I spent 45 years working for employers using command and control philosophy. Everyone was afraid. Afraid to lose their jobs, position, promotion, respect, and more. “Learning to see the structures within which we operate begins a process of freeing ourselves from previously unseen forces and ultimately mastering the ability to work with them and change them” (Senge, 1990).

            I was constantly asked, “who’s in charge here?” In many cases, I had the expertise and position that automatically conferred power on me. I heard the expression many times from RCMP managers, “The mounted police is not a democracy.”  As adult educators, the goal is to share power and control. I never looked at it that way. As an authority figure – whether policing or in the classroom – I had the advantage and took responsibility – what was done, how it was done, and how it was evaluated. I controlled who spoke, when and by whom. This control implied that if my goal were to encourage deep approaches to learning and behaviour, this model would be no longer appropriate.

            When attending the Justice Institutes Bylaw I and II classes, I kept saying, “I’m paying good money for this, so please teach me something!” I was trapped in an authoritarian-based transmission of information, skills, and attitudinal sets (Brookfield, 1986, p. 296). I felt disempowered and endlessly frustrated. I do not think the Justice institute was the least bit interested in the power relations in the classroom and how they played a role in promoting inequalities and disenabling learners while promoting reflection and action on what is right and just (Reimer et al., 2009).

            I am enjoying researching on looking at sociocultural forms of power and privilege. These are topics I want to learn more about. One such topic is intersectionality. It is a research framework that investigates and interprets things like sexuality, gender, race/ethnicity, and class and how they are shaped by power and freedom like sexism, racism, and classism while affecting people, individuals, collective identities, and experiences (Hankivsky, 2012). Researchers are increasingly applying intersectionality to the investigation of problems and inequities to capture the breadth of individual’s and population’s experiences.

            From a law enforcement perspective, for people to overcome resistance to any change, they need education, socialization, and enforcement. A simple example is mandatory government seatbelt legislation. Educated promoting the ‘why’ of using seatbelts, socialization where people know wearing seatbelts is a good idea and saves lives, and enforcement for the few who will not adhere—a long way from command and control.

Laurie

References

Brookfield, S.D. (1986). Understanding and facilitating adult learning. Jossey-Bass.

Hankivsky, O. (2012). Women’s health, men’s health, and gender and health: Implications of       intersectionality. Social Science and Medicine, 74(11), 1712-1720.    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953612000408?via%3Dihub

Reimer, S., Varcoe, S., Browne, A.J., Lynam, M.J., Khan, K.B., & McDonald, H. (2009). Critical inquiry and knowledge translation: Exploring compatibilities and tensions. Nursing Philosophy, 10(3),            152-166. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19527437/

Senge, P.M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Doubleday.

Drawing from your reading and your experience, discuss the unique capacity of RI to inform praxis development.

I start my discussion answer with a question, how reliable is my reflexive praxis as a way of knowing? As stated by McGarry (2019, p. 2), “My own paradigm is messy and incomplete, evolving from contemplating experiences (reflection), seeing myself as a part of those experiences (reflexivity), and framing the experiences in some form – a story or narrative… to make meaning happen (praxis). It seems reflexivity as a process for coming into knowing has been detrimental to my mental health.  Let me explain.

            I have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). My PTSD probably started at age 19 but was not diagnosed until age 40. It is treated with medication and counselling. Why have my nightmares increased? Why do I think more about my negative policing experiences than ever before? I have acknowledged this EDUC course has subjected me to an increase in emotional distress. However, I know reflection and reflexivity can facilitate my recovery, making me an emotionally stronger person while assisting with post-trauma growth. Evidence suggests that stressful and traumatic events can provoke positive psychological changes (Linley, P. & Joseph, S. (2004). It is suggested people may be more likely to become cognitively engaged with fundamental questions about life, death, and the purpose of being. A common change is to value the smaller things in life more and consider changes in life’s religious or spiritual philosophies. Seligman (2011) posits traumatic events can shake individuals considering their existence and dramatically influence their quality of life. Some people discover an ability to grow in ways they had not before. This phenomenon is known as post-trauma growth.

            Having PTSD and being treated for it has benefited me in three ways. According to Joseph and Linley (2006), 1) my relationships are enhanced in a positive way, 2) my views of myself have changed while developing wisdom, strength, and gratitude, and 3) my philosophy of life has changed. Examples would include, 1) I appreciate and love my family more, 2) I have meaning and purpose and direction in my life, and 3) I live in the power of “now” and do not take myself seriously. My true nature as the ever-present – I am (Tolle, 2004).

            The unique capacity of reflexive inquiry not only supports my praxis development but challenges it to change. A few bad dreams and nasty thoughts brought on by a career a lifetime ago are worth the positive changes in my current and future life. My wife’s background is in molecular biology and genetics, whereby every cell in the human body, including bones, changes over seven years. Nothing in life is constant.            

References

Linley, P. & Joseph, S. (2004). Positive change process following trauma and adversity: A review of the   empirical literature. Journal of Traumatic Stress. 17, 11-22.   https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15027788/

McGarry, K. (2019). Reflexivity as a process for coming into knowing. Learning Landscapes, 12(1),        155–170. https://www.learninglandscapes.ca/index.php/learnland/article/view/985

Seligman, M. (2011). Building resilience. Harvard Business Review. 89: 4, 100-106.        https://hbr.org/2011/04/building-resilience

Tolle, E. (2004). The power of now: A guide to spiritual enlightenment. Namaste.

Drawing from your reading this unit, discuss why it is important that we are conscious of how our lived experiences are operating in our teaching and learning roles. Please use poetry or images if it is helpful to you.

My teaching experience may have started like many others, but it came with little to no formal training or instruction with a “just wing it” direction. I was 19 years old, and part of my duties was to give school talks in the local k-12 community. This duty was assigned to all the junior police officers. What do I talk about while standing in front of a class while wearing the uniform of a mounted policeman? Who cares? Every class I attended was pretty much a here I am and do you have any questions? Voila! A perfect combination.

            Fast forward 45 years – how did that happen? What has changed and allowed me to reflect on why we must be conscious of how our lived experiences are operating in our teaching and learning roles. Perhaps I could do qualitative research using autoethnography as a platform—a little self-reflection and writing to explore anecdotal and personal experiences. I could connect it to a broader social meaning and understanding of my learning and teaching experiences. Besides, autoethnography is a form of research involving self-observation and reflexive investigation. I like this method of research into myself because it as Ellingson & Ellis (2008) points out, “the meanings and applications of autoethnography have evolved in a manner that makes precise definition difficult” (p. 449).

            One of the principal concepts of reflexivity is a requirement to learn about ourselves. This centrality of self-awareness reflects on Palmer’s (1998) insistence that we teach who we are. I educate like I manage a business using values, skills, and techniques that work for me at work and in school. When I educate, that is who I am. When I meet my learners out of the classroom, they laugh because I talk and act the same way out of class as I do in class. Not taking life too seriously, focused, and having fun. I love to tell a good “war story” in the classroom, where the meaning is found in retrospective reflection through remembrance and narration. My learners remember the stories because I make sense of the experiences in the process of storying them. With a reflexive process, the experiences for me and my learners mean something special.

References

Ellingson, Laura. L., & Ellis, Carolyn. (2008). Autoethnography as a constructionist project. In J. A.         Holstein & J. F. Gubrium (Eds.), Handbook of Constructionist Research (pp. 445-466). Guilford            Press.

Palmer, P. (1998). The courage to teach. Jossey

Respond to the claim that reflexivity is the responsibility of every researcher, regardless of research approach. If you prefer, respond through video or voice. 

Conducting research can change a researcher in many ways. Through reflexivity, researchers have the opportunity to acknowledge the changes brought about in themselves due to the research process and see how these changes affected the research process. Researchers should acknowledge reflexivity is recognized as a significant part of research findings.

            In research, reflexivity pertains to the “analytic attention to the researcher’s role in qualitative research” (Gouldner, 1971, p. 16, as cited in Dowling, 2006) and is both a concept and a process. The idea entails self-awareness which means being actively involved in the research process and part of the social world being studied (Ackerly & True, 2010). The process is introspection on the role of subjectivity in the research process. It is a continuous reflection by researchers and their values while recognizing, examining, and understanding how their “social background, location, and assumptions affect their research practice” (Hesse-Biber, 2007, p. 17). Through reflexivity, the researcher becomes aware of contributing to the construction of meanings and lived experiences throughout the research process (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011).  Qualitative research is a rich source for experiences in reflexivity where reflexivity can enrich the research process and its outcomes.

            Let me examine four examples of reflexivity: personal, epistemological, critical, and feminist.

Personal: Reay (2007, p. 611) argues that reflexivity is “about giving as full and honest an account of the research process as possible, in particular explicating the position of the researcher in relation to the research.” Epistemological: The concept of reflexivity challenges the assumption that there can be a privileged position where the researcher can study social reality objectively, independent from the value-free inquiry. Ackerly & True (2010) posits that researchers have to take this commitment to reflexivity seriously: the use of constant reflections and review of theoretical approaches and perspectives. Critical: Critical reflexivity posits that the production of knowledge is entrenched in specific socio-political and cultural contexts. In other words, reflexivity allows the researcher to be critical about what is heard, written, and interpreted. Feminist: Reflexivity is used to look into power differentials within different stages of the research process (Hesse-Biber & Piatelli, 2007). Feminist research must consider reciprocity where researchers have to write and share how they experienced research, how they do their work, be it good or bad, and make visible the questions, complexities, and processes of doing research (Pillow & Mayo, 2007, p. 163).

            Although some may think reflexivity is the researcher’s responsibility and there is evidence to support it, perhaps others fear it would be unprofessional or intrusive to disclose personal characteristics or personal disclosure would be inconsistent with publishing demands. However, as stated by (Palaganas, Sanchez, Molintas & Caricativo, 2017), “It must become a duty of every researcher to reveal and share these reflexivity’s, not only for learning purposes but towards enhancing theory building.”

            Who knows, you may find yourself changed by the many aspects of the research process: listening well, participation, and your reflexivities.

References

Palaganas, E. C., Sanchez, M. C., Molintas, M. P., & Caricativo, R. D. (2017). Reflexivity in Qualitative Research: A Journey of Learning. The Qualitative Report, 22(2), 426-438. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2552

Ackerly, B., & True, J. (2010). Doing feminist research in political and social science. Palgrave   Macmillan.

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2011). The Sage handbook of qualitative research

            (4th ed.). Sage.

Dowling, M. (2006). Approaches to reflexivity in qualitative research. Nurse Researcher,

            13(3), 7-21

Hesse-Biber, S. N., & Piatelli, D. (2007). Holistic reflexivity. In S. N. Hesse-Biber (Ed.),

            Handbook of feminist research: Theory and praxis (pp. 493-514). Sage.

Pillow, W. S., & Mayo, C. (2007). Toward understandings of feminist ethnography. In S. N.

            Hesse-Biber (Ed.), Handbook of feminist research: Theory and praxis (pp. 155-172).

            Sage.

Reay, D. (2007). Future directions in difference research: Recognizing and responding to

            difference. In S. N. Hesse-Biber (Ed.), Handbook of feminist research: Theory and

            praxis (pp. 605-612). Sage.

Consider the assigned content this unit and discuss how reflexive capacity can broaden perception. Please feel free to use an arts-integrated or creative approach to respond if it is helpful.

 In law enforcement, I used my abilities to see, hear, or become aware of things through my senses and used them to understand and interpret the meaning. Although we all require several intelligences, perception was my preferred way of learning. As Howard Gardner (2006) explained, “As human beings, we all have a repertoire of skills for solving different kinds of problems” (p. 20).   Reflexive capacity allows me to slow down, observe more closely, and reflect, which are crucial for understanding, transforming actions, and keeping that forward momentum in life. 

            As stated in (Probst & Berenson, 2014), “Awareness of one’s subjectivity develops through an internal process that is supported by external activities.”  The more practiced and capable I am at reflecting on thought and interactions, the better I can transform actions and improve relationships. Interesting how this process involves understanding how behaviour is motivated by mental states and how mental states are both separate and connected. 

            Reflective capacity can be improved and enhanced in anyone willing to work on learning to reflect on their experiences critically. Besides, this reflective transformational approach is a great tool to use to move through barriers and achieve personal and professional goals.

            I left an organization where a reflective culture is absent with toxic work culture and environment. Reflexive capacity and a reflective approach have at their hearts a spirit of curiosity and inquiry, which ask the question, why? Reflective questioning is critical to individual and organizational growth. Perhaps if I created conditions for reflection and reflexive capacity, I would have felt safe, improved my morale, motivation, and performance. Or is that my perception?

Laurie

Gardner, H. (2006). Multiple intelligences: New horizons. Basic Books.

Probst, B. (2015). The eye regards itself: Benefits and challenges of reflexivity in qualitative social work research. Social Work Research, 39(1), 37–48. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=pbh&AN=101194341&site=eds-live&custid=s7439054

Probst, B., & Berenson, L. (2014). The double arrow: Flow qualitative social work researchers use reflexivity. Qualitative Social Work, 13, 813-827.

Freire’s notion of conscientization is central to developing critical capacity regardless of methodology. What does conscientization mean to you and how have you experienced it?

 Schugurensky (2011) has cited many authors suggesting Freire was one of the greatest educators in the twentieth century and one of the most original thinkers whose influence has been felt globally, particularly in the transformative vision of adult education. If Freire suggests the notion of conscientization is central in developing critical capacity, then I should know what it means and how I can experience it.

            I find it challenging understanding Freire, although his primary focus was seeing education as education for the liberation of oppressed peoples. It is a philosophical argument about the purposes of education and a way of thinking about education. Freire developed a learning process called conscientization where adults could critique many aspects of their reality that are taken for granted through problem posing. The process was democratic and designed to break down the traditional hierarchy between teacher and student, moving in the direction of mutual learning and as co-learners. There was dialectical thinking (view issues from multiple perspectives) while identifying contradictions in society, questioning daily realities, challenging dominating forms of power, and finding ways to advocate for change. Freire advocated education as always politically positioned between power structures, and educators either implicitly or explicitly choose political goals.

            I experienced conscientization while advocating and helping to develop the grassroots RCMP Auxiliary Association. It is now the Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada (MPPAC). They provide representation to identify, resolve and reach consensus on professional and employment concerns with the Employer. They seek to exercise the right to engage in free collective bargaining with the Employer, a right currently enjoyed by all police officers in Canada, except for RCMP members. I found the most challenging aspect of the change was educating the officers on the benefits of an Association.

            At the time, I did not realize practicing Freire’s philosophy by educating my colleagues in how they and the policing community could develop a critical understanding of their social reality through reflection and action. In other words, conscientization in action. 

Laurie

References

Schugurensky, T.W. (2011). Paulo Freire. Continuum International.

Share a peer-reviewed article not included in the reading list that helped you untangle reflexivity from reflection.

The article I have chosen was written by Professor Paul Hibbert, University of St. Andrews, School of Management, St. Andrews, Scotland.  The article is titled, Approaching Reflexivity Through Reflection: Issues for Critical Management Education.

Dr. Hibbert’s paper seeks to develop insights for teaching reflexivity in undergraduate management classes by developing critical reflection processes. The introduction of the paper identified how reflexivity is often associated with research and teaching. Going one step farther, reflexivity in education has been described as the sine qua non (an essential condition or element) of critical management studies (Fulop, 2002). Hibbert (2013) supports this belief by stating, “reflexivity is intrinsic to the emancipation of thinking and the overcoming (or at least recognition) of the most deeply hidden influences and constraints: those hidden within our own assumptions” (p. 3).

Although Dr. Hibbert’s work career mainly was in industry management, my career was in law enforcement (government) management but supporting similar concerns and disappointments. We both reflected on our careers and experiences, leaving us with some uncomfortable realizations. The style of work, pressures, and toxic work environment were neither necessary nor beneficial to our health or the organization’s success. We were keen on exploring ways in which we could help others avoid the same mistakes.

This led Dr. Hibbert to engage with the topic of reflexivity. To find the answers, he had to examine and question his assumptions concerning his problems at hand and undermine the socialized constraints that guide, inform, and shape such assumptions (Hibbert, 2013). If our foundational assumptions change as a result of the process of reflexivity, then the process of thinking is also changed. As stated by Hibbert (2013), “reflexivity is reflection.”

Understanding ourselves and promoting critical self-awareness requires the study of reflexivity and considering how it might relate to our academic lives and teaching practices.  The important objective for teaching reflexivity is to nurture an inquiry attitude and turn it both outwards and inwards. “The reflective gaze should be turned outwards in the beginning to see the social systems that affect and enable individual possibilities and inwards, in the beginning, to see the hand of these systems at work in oneself” (Hibbert, 2013, p. 19). The desired attitude of reflexive enquiry should lead to a loosening of commitment to all particular ideological worldviews. However, acknowledging ideologies are “inevitable, all-pervasive and ever-present.” (Watson, 1982, p. 274).

Through reflection and reflexivity, the critical point is that learners can see their world views and see what new interpretations and understandings may be surfaced through entertaining such radically new perspectives.

References

Fulop, L. (2002). Practising what you preach: Critical management studies and its teaching. Organization, 9, p. 428-436.

Hibbert, P. (2013). Approaching reflexivity through critical reflection: Issues for critical management education. Journal of Management Education, 37:6, p. 803-827. Research Gate.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263471068_Approaching_Reflexivity_Through_Reflection_Issues_for_Critical_Management_Education

Watson, T. (1982). Group ideologies and organizational change. Journal of Management Studies, 19, p. 259-275.

Drawing on your reading this week, discuss your understanding of the differences between reflexivity and reflection.

            Upon first reading page vii of Ellyn Lyle, Of Books, Barns, and Boardrooms, attempting to understand the difference between reflexivity and reflection, she lost me in her interpretation. Lyle states, “reflexivity refers to the researcher’s consciousness of her role in and effect on both the act of doing research and its eventual findings.” She defines reflection as “is after and individual whereas reflexivity is ongoing and relational” (p. vii). Naturally, I continued reading to page xi, although the definitions were still unclear. So, what are the differences?

            Most of us reflect daily and about many things. Reflection is nothing more than in-depth, focused attention. Reflexivity is a more focused, in-depth reflection but upon one’s perspective, values and assumptions. The comparison would be having a slice of apple pie (reflection) or adding extras like heating it and adding vanilla ice cream (reflexive). Adding both reflective and reflexive questions help to ensure everything is covered.

            In policing, I reflected on many things requiring an in-depth review of events, either alone or group. I tried to work out what happened, what other officers thought or felt about it, who was involved, when and where, what officers had experienced and thought and felt from their perspective. Reflection is good for me because it makes me ask why? It brings experiences into focus from as many angles as possible. Innocent details might prove to be crucial, but other details irrelevant or lead to somethings unnoticed at the time or identifying a seemingly innocent detail. Reflection could be viewed from many angles.

            Reflexivity adds far more by finding strategies to question my attitudes, values, assumptions, prejudices, bias, habitual actions and more. By being reflexive, I can examine my knowledge, see how my behaviour plays out in my personal and professional values, and see why such practices might marginalize groups or exclude individuals. Reflexivity involves thinking from within experiences. Policing questions may include why this passed me by, why did I miss this, my assumptions which made me not notice or make that decision, what are my employers’ pressures or ideologies that obstructed my perception, how and in what way were my actions perceived by others. These are profound questions enabling development much better than just asking what happened?

            Hanson (2013) explores deepening pedagogical practices around critical reflection and reflexivity. Bolton & Delderfield (2018) call for critical reflexivity, which “demands we focus on our own beliefs, feelings and emotions, and our taken-for-granted principles, values, assumptions, in short, our theories in use” (p. 60). He would undoubtedly endorse asking reflective and reflexive questions in (Kipling, 1902, p. 83) “I keep six honest serving men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.”

Laurie

References

Bolton, G. & Delderfield (2018). Reflective practice: Writing and professional development (5^th ed.). Sage.

Hanson, C. (2013). Exploring dimensions of critical reflection in activist-facilitator practice. Journal of     Transformative Education, 11 (1), 70-89.

Kipling, R. (1902). Just so stories. Macmillan. Lyle, E. (2017). Of books, barns, and boardrooms: Exploring

Lyle, E. (2017). Of books, barns, and boardrooms: Exploring praxis through reflexive inquiry. Sense.