critical reflection methodology

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Use of critical reflection as a research method: A case of research-induced distress?

Affiliation.

• 1 Research Coordinator, Project on Decentralisation and Health: Lessons from the Kerala Experience, Kerala Institute of Local Administration, Thrissur, Kerala, INDIA.
• PMID: 32103803
• DOI: 10.20529/IJME.2020.014

Critical reflection is widely used in qualitative research (1). It helps us understand participants' internal dialogues and analyse their thought processes. The use of oral or written reflections is a well-documented data collection method, particularly in educational research.

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• Using critical reflection in public health research: Identifying and mitigating emotional harms. Gopichandran V. Gopichandran V. Indian J Med Ethics. 2020 Jan-Mar;V(1):20-22. doi: 10.20529/IJME.2020.015. Indian J Med Ethics. 2020. PMID: 32103802

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Models of Critical Reflection

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For many educators unfamiliar with designing critical reflection activities and assignments, reflection is something that happens after an experience and that reflection is only appropriate for certain types of situations. In reality, critical reflection is a fundamental process of learning and meaning making. When getting started it's important to keep the following in mind: 

• Critical reflection can be designed to generate a variety of learning outcomes.  These include knowledge, skills, as well as attitudes, values, dispositions and behaviors. 
• Everything is reflection worthy. As a result, it's important to guide learners to attend dimensions of experiences that are of interest. 
• Guidance matters. When designing critical reflection activities and assignments, the guidance provided, whether via written prompts, oral or graphic facilitation, should assist learners to articulate and document their learning coherently and cohesively. 

In light of this, it's useful to remember, what have been termed the " 4 C's of Critical Reflection. " [Eyler and Giles]

4 C's of Critical Reflection

Provide learning opportunities to reflect before, during, and after the experience. The most common error that designers make is to limit reflection until after the experience. Improvements in CR capacity improve with time, practice and scaffolding. When integrating only within a course but across a program of study in order to build capacity for metacognition and critical consciousness building. Remember anything is reflection worthy. It is helpful to use a pre-mid-post structure, relative to the unit of time [session, week, semester, etc.], that focuses learner attention on changes in their assumptions and reasoning processes and on progress toward meeting objectives.

Experience, including service and community-based experiences, bring theories, concepts and statistics to life in palpable, contextualized and unscripted ways. Effective designers of CR, make sure to draw clear connections between the experiences and the frame/lens through that should be applied to the experience. Designers can use a variety of means to communicate the connection between academic content, as well as, other categories of learning [ professional, civic, personal, etc.] and "the experience" [e.g. syllabus, assignment instructions, lecture, etc.]

CHALLENGING

Critical Reflection requires stretching learners outside of their comfort zone to explore more difficult or challenging questions. It requires that the facilitator balance challenging learners while creating a supportive, safe space for learners to express doubt, frustration, and inspiration.

CONTEXTUALIZED

The mode of reflection/reflection mechanism should reflect the setting, be scaffolded appropriate to the learner.

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Critical Reflection

A Critical Reflection (also called a reflective essay) is a process of identifying, questioning, and assessing our deeply-held assumptions – about our knowledge, the way we perceive events and issues, our beliefs, feelings, and actions. When you reflect critically, you use course material (lectures, readings, discussions, etc.) to examine our biases, compare theories with current actions, search for causes and triggers, and identify problems at their core.   Critical reflection is   not   a reading assignment, a summary of an activity, or an emotional outlet.   Rather,   the goal is   to change your thinking about a subject, and thus change your behaviour.

Tip: Critical reflections are common in coursework across all disciplines, but they can take very different forms. Your instructor may ask you to develop a formal essay, produce weekly blog entries, or provide short paragraph answers to a set of questions. Read the assignment guidelines before you begin.

How to Critically Reflect

Writing a critical reflection happens in two phases.

• Analyze:   In the first phase, analyze the issue and your role by asking critical questions. Use free writing as a way to develop good ideas. Don’t worry about organized paragraphs or good grammar at this stage.
• Articulate:   In the second phase, use your analysis to develop a clear argument about what you learned. Organize your ideas so they are clear for your reader.

First phase: Analyze

A popular method for analyzing is the three stage model: What? So What? Now what?

In the  What?  stage, describe the issue, including your role, observations, and reactions. The   what?   stage helps you make initial observations about what you feel and think. At this point, there’s no need to look at your course notes or readings.

Use the questions below to guide your writing during this stage.

• What happened?
• What did you do?
• What did you expect?
• What was different?
• What was your reaction?
• What did you learn?

In the second  So What?   stage, try to understand on a deeper level why the issue is significant or relevant. Use information from your first stage, your course materials (readings, lectures, discussions) -- as well as previous experience and knowledge to help you think through the issue from a variety of perspectives.

Tip:  Since you’ll be using more course resources in this step, review your readings and course notes before you begin writing.

Below are three perspectives you can consider:

• Academic perspective: How did the experience enhance your understanding of a concept/theory/skill? Did the experience confirm your understanding or challenge it? Did you identify strengths or gaps in your knowledge?
• Personal perspective:   Why does the experience matter? What are the consequences? Were your previous expectations/assumptions confirmed or refuted? What surprised you and why?
• Systems perspective:   What were the sources of power and who benefited/who was harmed? What changes would you suggest? How does this experience help you understand the organization or system?

In the third   Now what?   stage, explore how the experience will shape your future thinking and behaviour.

Use the following questions to guide your thinking and writing:

• What are you going to do as a result of your experiences?
• What will you do differently?
• How will you apply what you learned?

Second phase: Articulate

After completing the analysis stage, you probably have a lot of writing, but it is not yet organized into a coherent story. You need to build an organized and clear argument about what you learned and how you changed. To do so,   develop a thesis statement , make an   outline ,   write , and   revise.

Develop a thesis statement

Develop a clear argument to help your reader understand what you learned. This argument should pull together different themes from your analysis into a main idea. You can see an example of a thesis statement in the sample reflection essay at the end of this resource.

Tip: For more help on developing thesis statements, see our   Thesis statements  resource

Make an outline

Once you have a clear thesis statement for your essay, build an outline. Below is a straightforward method to organize your essay.

• Background/Context of reflection
• Thesis statement
• Introduce theme A
• Writer's past position/thinking
• Moment of learning/change
• Writer's current/new position
• Introduce theme B
• Introduce theme C
• Summarize learning
• Discuss significance of learning for self and others
• Discuss future actions/behaviour

Write and revise

Time to get writing! Work from your outline and give yourself enough time for a first draft and revisions.

Even though you are writing about your personal experience and learning, your audience may still be an academic one. Consult the assignment guidelines or ask your instructor to find out whether your writing should be formal or informal.

Sample Critical Reflection

Below are sample annotated paragraphs from one student’s critical reflection for a course on society and privilege.

Introduction

Background/context of reflection : I became aware of privileged positions in society only in recent years. I was lucky enough, privileged enough, to be ignorant of such phenomena, but for some, privilege is a daily lesson of how they do not fit into mainstream culture. In the past, I defined oppression as only that which is obvious and intentional. I never realized the part I played. However, during a class field study to investigate privileged positions in everyday environments, I learned otherwise.   Thesis:   Without meaning to, I caused harm by participating in a system where I gained from others’ subtle oppression. In one of these spaces, the local mall, everything from advertisements to food to products, to the locations of doorways, bathrooms and other public necessities, made clear my privilege as a white, heterosexual male.

Body paragraph

Topic sentence : Peggy McIntosh describes privilege as an invisible knapsack of tools and advantages. This description crystalized for me when I shopped for a greeting card at the stationary store. There, as a white, heterosexual male, I felt comfortable and empowered to roam about the store as I pleased. I freely asked the clerk about a mother’s day card.   Writer’s past position:   Previously, I never considered that a store did anything but sell products. However, when I asked the sales clerk for same sex greeting cards, she paused for a few seconds and gave me a look that made me feel instantly uncomfortable. Some customers stopped to look at me. I felt a heat move over my face. I felt, for a moment, wrong for being in that store.  I quickly clarified that I was only doing a report for school, implying that I was not in fact homosexual.   Writer’s current position:   The clerk’s demeanor changed. I was free to check, she said.  It was the only time during the field study that I had felt the need to explain what I was doing to anyone. I could get out of the situation with a simple clarification. But what if I really was a member of the homosexual community? The looks and the silence taught me that I should be feared.  I realized that, along with its products, the store was selling an image of normal. But my “normality” was another person’s “abnormality.”  After I walked out of the store I felt guilty for having denied being homosexual.

Summary of learning:   At the mall I realized how much we indirectly shame nonprivileged groups, even in seemingly welcoming spaces. That shame is supported every time I or any other privileged individual fails to question our advantage. And it leads to a different kind of shame carried by privileged individuals, too.   Value for self and others:   All of this, as Brown (2003) documents, is exacerbated by silence. Thus, the next step for me is to not only question privilege internally, but to publicly question covert bias and oppression. If I do, I may very well be shamed for speaking out. But my actions might just encourage other people to speak up as well.

Sample paragraphs adapted from James C. Olsen's Teaching Portfolio from Georgetown University .

Critical Reflection as an Adult Learning Process

• First Online: 01 January 2009

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• Stephen Brookfield 2  

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Critical reflection calls into question the power relationships that allow, or promote, one set of practices considered to be technically effective. It assumes that the minutiae of practice have embedded within them the struggles between unequal interests and groups that exist in the wider world. For reflection to be considered critical, it must have as its explicit focus uncovering, and challenging, the power dynamics that frame practice and uncovering and challenging hegemonic assumptions (those assumptions we embrace as being in our best interests when in fact they are working against us). When adults learn to be critically reflective, they experience distinctive emotional rhythms – impostorship, cultural suicide, roadrunning, lost innocence and community. Nelson Mandela’s work as an ANC leader is used as an example of critical reflection.

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Critical Reflection

Critical Reflective Practices: Connecting to Social Justice

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Brookfield, S. (2010). Critical Reflection as an Adult Learning Process. In: Lyons, N. (eds) Handbook of Reflection and Reflective Inquiry. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-85744-2_11

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Critical reflection.

Critical reflection is a reasoning process to make meaning of an experience.

Critical reflection is descriptive, analytical, and critical, and can be articulated in a number of ways such as in written form, orally, or as an artistic expression. In short, this process adds depth and breadth to experience and builds connections between course content and the experience. 

Often, a reflection activity is guided by a set of written prompts. A best practice for critical reflection is that students respond to prompts before, during, and after their experience; therefore, the prompts should be adjusted to match the timing of the reflection. Critical reflection can be integrated into any type of experiential learning activity - inside the classroom or outside the classroom. 

It is important to understand what critical reflection is NOT. It is not a reading assignment, it is not an activity summary, and it is not an emotional outlet without other dimensions of experience described and analyzed. Critical reflection should be carefully designed by the instructor to generate and document student learning before, during, and after the experience. 

If you are considering using critical reflection, there are four steps to think about:

1.   Identify the student learning outcomes  related to the experience. What do you expect students to gain as a result of this activity?  Understand multiple points of view? Be able to propose solutions to a problem? 

2.  Once you identify the outcomes, then you can  design the reflection activities  to best achieve the outcomes. Remember, that critical reflection is a continuous process.

3.   Engage students in critical reflection  before, during, and after the experience.

4.   Assess their learning . A rubric that outlines the criteria for evaluation and levels of performance for each criterion can be useful for grading reflection products and providing detailed feedback to students.

Additional Resources

Bart, M.  (2011, May 11).  Critical reflection adds depth and breadth to student learning.  Faculty Focus.  Retrieved from  http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/instructional-design/critical-reflection-adds-depth-and-breadth-to-student-learning/ .

Colorado Mountain College.  (2007).  Critical reflection. Retrieved from   http://faculty.coloradomtn.edu/orl/critical_reflection.htm .

Jacoby, B.  (2010).  How can I promote deep learning through critical reflection?  Magna Publications.  Retrieved from  http://www.magnapubs.com/mentor-commons/?video=25772a92#.UjnHBazD-70 .

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Critical reflection for assessments and practice

• How to reflect

Critical reflection for assessments and practice: How to reflect

• Reflective practice
• Critical reflection
• Critical reflection writing
• Recount and reflect

How to critically reflect?

"It is on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly."

Claude Monet

A helpful way to approach critical reflection is to use it as a tool to build on your current practice. It enables you to carefully examine an experience to gain better understanding, to make connections and identify your key strengths and areas of further development . To look at things that didn’t succeed and to use failure to better inform future practice. And that can be difficult. Particularly when you need to reflect on mistakes or when the intended, desirable outcome wasn’t achieved.    

Questions and models

Critical reflection takes practice and time to become part of your skillset. The easiest way to get started is to either use prompt questions and models to help you critically reflect on your actions, thoughts and feelings. 

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