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Getting to grips with barriers to reflection
Rita Newton, University College Salford
Abstract
Brookfield[1] wrote a journal article entitled Tales from the dark side which was an analysis of adult critical reflection. He saw the need for this research because he felt that little attention had been paid to ‘the way adults feel their way through critically reflective episodes - to understanding the visceral, emotive dimensions of this process’.
The truth is that the theoretical basis for reflection falls short of the realities in practice, what Brookfield[2] refers to as ‘emotional and cognitive flows ... periods of confusion and regression’. Current models of reflective practice illustrate this truth and fail to identify barriers to reflection within the process. The closest we come is in the work of Boud and Walker (1993)[3] in which a brainstormed list of barriers to reflection is suggested, following a process of experiencing ‘blocks’ to learning by the authors.
This paper moves on from current thinking by examining real barriers to reflection experienced by the author in the process of ‘getting to grips’ with reflection. Experience is further shared by reflections on the effectiveness of different methods available in overcoming barriers.
The practice of critical reflection
Dewey is acknowledged as one of the first educationalists to describe the concept of reflection and he saw it as
the active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supported form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and the further consideration to which it tends.[4]
Since Dewey’s work, there has been considerable research into the meaning and process of reflection and both Boyd and Fales[5] and Boud et al.[6] for example, clarify the meaning. They see the importance of experience within the learning cycle and it is only by focusing on the experience that we can reflect on it, and change behaviour as a result.
This clarification of the term reflection is examined in more detail by Jarvis[7] who considers it from the perspective of the practitioner. The starting point for reflection by the practitioner would be when actions which are being monitored seem to be going wrong or when hindsight indicates that action has not produced an anticipated outcome.
Additionally reflection can occur as a result of practitioners analysing the expected outcomes of action to see whether they could have been achieved more efficiently. In my opinion, this is probably less likely to occur because it always seems harder to ask why actions have been successful than to investigate why they have failed to achieve their anticipated ends. The process involves ‘more than recollection’ [8], and the author’s own experience confirms this, in that a journal of reflection in 1991 was a ramble through ‘recollections’. The only learning was that reflection was a waste of time!
It can be seen therefore that reflective practice is something more than recollections and thoughtful practice. Schön[9] guides us through the process of knowledge-in-action and demonstrates how the practitioner can use this to turn it into reflection-in-action, and reflection-after-action. Van Manen[10] adds to this by introducing the concept of anticipatory reflection. Whatever the terms or processes that we use to understand reflection, Boud et al. remind us of the importance of reflection by saying that
we believe that processing and reflecting on the personal experience is clearly a major factor for developing higher level learning.[11]
Current models of reflection
Titmus[12], talking about the definition of a model, refers to the work of Tight[13] who confirms that one of the recent developments in the study of adult education has been the growing attention paid to modelling. Kolb and Fry’s[14] work on Lewin’s experiential learning cycle[15] can be criticised for lack of depth because the nature of the stages on observation and reflection are not discussed in detail. Despite this criticism Marsick and Watkins[16] use it as the basis for their model in which they depict a process of continuous learning in the workplace which incorporates reflective practice. Another model is that published by the FEU[17] and again the nature of reflective practice is not explored in detail.
None of these models illustrate barriers that may be inherent in the process of reflection. Boud and Walker define barriers as
those factors which inhibit or block a learner’s preparedness for the experience, their active engagement in it, and their ability to reflect rationally on it with a view to learning from it.[18]
‘Naming’ barriers to reflection
In 1985 Boud and his colleagues developed a model which put the process of reflection into context. At this time they were not aware of barriers which hindered the process of reflection. In 1989 Boud and Walker reflected on the weaknesses of the model and produced a revised model[19]. It was not until Boud and Walker were preparing a chapter for their 1993 book that they became more concerned with critical reflection and barriers. So finally, in 1993 we see the emergence of barriers as a separate entity within the process of experiential learning and reflection, which largely came about due to Boud and Walker’s experience of being ‘blocked’.
Boud and Walker classify barriers as internal and external based on their origins in relation to the learner; internal barriers come from within the learner, such as:
previous negative experiences, accepted presuppositions about what the learner can do, or about what learning can take place, a lack of awareness of one’s assumptions, the emotional state of the learner established pattern of behaviour .... External barriers can come from people, the learning environment, the larger personal situation and context of the learner, and social forces such as stereotyping, cultural expectations, classism and so on.[20].
Boud and Walker did not have a direct analysis of barriers to learning from experience, but brainstormed a list of eighteen barriers, a copy of which can be found in their 1993 text.
From 1991 to 1994 whilst actively engaged in the process of explicit critical reflection, I experienced many barriers, most of which are documented through a journal that I kept during this time. Some correspond with those of Boud and Walker, the main differences being that Boud and Walker’s are more general, whilst mine are more specific. Examples of the barriers which I experienced are emotions and feelings, my own personal awareness, the environment and the keeping of a journal.
Emotions and feelings as a barrier to reflection
Boud et al[21] in their earlier model of reflection talk about Stage 2 of the model Attending to Feelings and stress that in reflecting it is important to work with any feelings which we may have. However Criticos cautions us,
that much valuable learning occurs in circumstances which we would never choose to experience, if we knew what the end point would be, and if we were aware of what we would need to experience so as to get to the end point.[22]
This reminds me of a discussion on ‘cupboards’ within an Action Learning Set on reflection, my interpretation of cupboards being experiences which remain in a cupboard, behind locked doors which we do not want to revisit or reflect on. I find the whole cupboard a barrier, plus the locks on the door, and I do not know when I open the door whether there will still be something left inside, or whether the moths will have eaten it. But the significance to me, is that I do not want to know. Postle[23] points out that ‘engaging fully the affective elements can lead to anxiety, pain and discomfort’, so for now I am happy to rest my hat on the door handle rather than putting it inside the cupboard.
Personal awareness as a barrier to reflection
This is, in my opinion, the most important barrier in reflecting on experience. If we are not personally aware that a barrier exists, then how can we possibly seek to overcome it?
When I first started having to reflect formally as part of a larger group discussion and to keep a diary, I hated it. One could say that there existed a pretty large barrier! The hardest thing for me to have done would have been to confront the barrier and to unravel it. My learning was seriously impeded in that I could not see the benefit of formally reflecting: ‘it wasn’t in my nature’ or ‘I’m too practical for things like that’ were typical thoughts at the time.
Am I writing about my thoughts/what has happened during this last week? ... Am I writing about my learning as a result of reflecting on the above? ... Am I just writing about anything? ... Am I writing about reflection? (Journal entry 1992)
You can see my confusion, so I gave up! For me, non-formal reflection, which I would define as reflection-in-action was all that I saw the relevance of.
Also coupled with this not knowing ‘how’ to reflect comes the feelings of not being ‘able’ or ‘good’ enough to undertake critical reflection, ‘impostership’ as Brookfield[24] calls it. ‘Someone cleverer than I’ occurs more than once in my journal.
The environment as a barrier to reflection
I can remember that each time I wrote a journal entry, I made a note of the environment in which I was writing it.
I have tried reflecting on the train whilst going to London; at home; and now whilst invigilating an exam - yes its wonderfully quiet but is it the right environment in which to reflect? (Journal entry Action Learning Set on Reflection, Week 2, 1994)
I wrote subsequent diary entries whilst in the University canteen and whilst in a hotel lobby, and in both of these I resisted the temptation to eat but got down to the weekly chore. I was very mindful of Terry Waite who wrote a journal of reflections in his mind whilst in captivity, and I was reminded of his words
I had heard of the underground prisons of Beirut: ‘The Lebanese Gulag’ as Terry Anderson described them. There were stories of prisoners being incarcerated for years in these places ... I sat down again and began to prepare myself for an ordeal ... Then I did what generations of prisoners have done before me. I stood up and, bending my head, I began to walk round and round and round and round. [25]
The keeping of a journal as a barrier to reflection
A journal is a recognised method of evaluating personal experience by reflecting on it. My initial difficulty was that it is not easy to just pick up a pen and to start writing. My background means that I deal with facts and figures and judgements are based on these, not on feelings or thoughts which you may just happen to have at the time. Writing about personal experience was profoundly difficult. Boud et al[26] suggest a possible reason for this in that the culture of academic and professional writing has always devalued personal experience in the ‘quest for objectivity and generality’. So we can see two instant barriers that restrict personal writing, namely previous experience and the traditional nature of academic writing.
I did find that once I overcame the initial barrier of putting pen to paper, I struggled further because I did not have a focus. I was so used to someone telling me what to write about that I felt as though I was writing about nothing - I could not cope with this literary freedom. Also I struggled with the time management skills required in writing a journal - the heart was half willing but the time management was weak! I continued discussing my difficulties with the Set members
... Jayne commented on the amount of ‘reflecting in the mind’ which I had done. She said that it was far in excess of the reflecting that she had done, despite the fact that she had written a journal for that week ... We agreed that perhaps I thoroughly participated in the process of reflection and probably enjoyed and benefited from it. Perhaps what I was sceptical about was the process of journal writing. (Journal entry from Action Learning Set on Reflection, Week 4, 1994)
This proved a major breakthrough in my attempts to overcome my internal barriers to reflection, and it was an external source which had assisted in the process. By forcing myself to keep a journal which I disliked, on a subject I disliked, I found that it was not the subject at all that was at the centre of my aversion, but the process of journal writing itself. Walker [27] refers to one of his students who had made a poignant comment when filling in an evaluation form,
but I also thought it [keeping a journal] was a scary experience as I pushed away the overcoat of defences that had kept a lot of strong feelings or hard thoughts at bay. Working through this was hard, damned hard at times.
So we have one small element of reflective practice in journal writing, yet many barriers are evident within it. I do still have a problem with journal writing and Boud and Walker[28] refer to the fact that the real battleground for working with barriers is the learner. I have analysed various methods that I used for overcoming barriers, namely through oneself, with the help of a group, and with the help of a facilitator and these shall be discussed next.
Overcoming barriers by oneself
Boud and Walker[29] identify a process for overcoming barriers starting with acknowledging that they exist. If I remind you of what I said previously about disliking reflection yet sticking with it, you can see how my experience accords with this suggestion. The easiest thing for me to have done would have been to give up completely because I did not want to know. Yet by working with the problem I realised that my barrier was with journal writing, which was an important landmark which Griffin[30] calls ‘naming’ - ‘the more clearly we can understand them, the more easily we can work with them’ [barriers].
Overcoming barriers with the help of a group
My experiences of working within an Action Learning Set are that I found that I was able to learn from the group, since their experiences of using reflection in practice were invaluable. I was eager to persevere and not give up because I had made a commitment to participate in the Set.
Students working together can motivate each other and help sustain interest in the exercise[31]. I developed a commitment to the group because the group became an invaluable part of the reflective process, because ‘we need, as learners, appropriate support, trust and challenge from others’[32].
Overcoming barriers with the help of a facilitator
My experiences of journal writing over the past two years has been facilitated by different people. Boud and Walker refer to the importance of effective facilitation, yet I am mindful of a piece from Brookfield[33] in which he tells us of the relevance of communication in which facilitators should ‘create conditions in which authentic dialogue and communicative discourse can occur’.
My experience of being on the receiving end of facilitation is that the relationship between the two people is fundamentally important, and there needs to be a build up of trust. One reference in my journal when discussing the use of journal writing states that ‘I have half argued with Mike’ and this was putting it mildly. Two years on, the fact that Mike saw reflection as ‘deeply powerful’ is still imprinted in my mind because I could not understand why Mike could see something which I could not. I learnt that I would not have been able to ‘argue’ with anyone had the facilitation not been effective. It would have been so easy for Mike to want to jump in all the time, but he did not. Brookfield[34] reminds us that ‘adult educators have to resist the temptation of hurtling precipitously and mindlessly into such exercises’. As a group we came across barriers and Mike was available to help in the discussion, not necessarily always knowing the answer, but at least effectively facilitating the process.
Conclusion
We can see that importance has to be placed on overcoming barriers to critical reflection because of the hindrance they can cause to the individual in trying to effectively learn from experience. Recognising and working with the barriers either by oneself or as part of a supportive community such as an Action Learning Set, may significantly help.
My own analysis of ‘getting to grips’ with the process of reflection illustrates that it is a long and painful process, with many sores and unhealed wounds. I am still going through a ‘period of confusion and apparent regression’[35] but at least if barriers are recognised within the community at large they can be tolerated both by the individual and the people around him/her more easily.
[1] Brookfield, S (1994) Tales from the dark side: a phenomenography of adult critical reflection. In International Journal o