I write because someone wrote to me today.
Caught up in my new job teaching two courses to MA students studying Human Resource Management at my very own alma mater, I have not had much time for reflection in these last couple of months, which by the way, should explain the lack of activity (poetry) on my blog too.
So it was quite paradoxical that I received this mail from a student based on my own feedback to her class that they were so engrossed in ‘doing’ that they were compromising on ‘reflecting’ which in turn was affecting their learning. She says that she has heard a few more professors saying the same thing, but she does not understand what we mean exactly.
What you are going to read is the result of her reflection on what I said that set me reflecting.
“Dear *****,
Thank for your mail.
When I mean reflection, it is exactly what you are doing right now and therefore you write to me. Let me elaborate.
A dictionary defines reflection as
re·flec·tion, n.
1. The act of reflecting or the state of being reflected.
2. Something, such as light, radiant heat, sound, or an image, that is reflected.
3.
a. Mental concentration; careful consideration.
b. A thought or an opinion resulting from such consideration.
It is the third meaning I was alluding to.
We often view reflection as an annoying interruption to the serious business of developing content knowledge in the subject area. However, there are sound reasons why learning cannot be had without reflection.
‘Reflection’ is the way in which we examine our experiences and draw lessons from them. David Kolb, in his book Experiential Learning: Experience as a Source of Learning and Development (Kolb,1984) presented reflective learning as a model that has entered the folklore as ‘the Kolb cycle’. Let us begin with Kolb’s ‘Lewinian Experiential Learning Model’ that you have also learnt about in the Learning & Development course that I teach you. It talks of the following four steps in the learning process.
1. Concrete experience
2. Test implications of concepts in new situations
3. Observations and reflections
4. Formation of abstract concepts and generalizations
(Adapted from: Kolb (1984))
There are several reasons why reflection is crucial to learning: (from Quality Improvement Agency for Lifelong Learning)
1. Reflection can help bridge the gap between theory and practice, and between off-job learning and on-job application. Reflecting on the real work problems can help identify how best to apply what we know in practice.
2. Reflection can help deal with ambiguity, stress and change. In our work, we often have to cope with new, unique problems we have not met before. The ability to reflect is essential to recognizing and confronting the uncertainty we feel as we try to deal with these problems.
3. Reflection leads to critical awareness. Reflection enables us to look critically at our own behaviour, the behavior of other people, and at the organisational and social context within which we operate.
All this means that reflection is not a bland or innocuous process – it is central to becoming a powerful, critical person who is prepared to challenge the way things are done.
Let me suggest a few ways in which reflection can be practiced. As the dictionary definition suggests, reflection is the process or result of mental concentration & careful consideration. So, the first requirement is to have have time for it. We can not rush from one experience to another (and one reading to another). We need to give ourselves time to think how the experience (or the reading) is important to the way we interact with the world.
When we experience something, we need to think of how our existing knowledge of concepts and our knowledge of our own and other people’s experiences from different times connect with our ways of interacting with our environment. That is when the knowledge becomes ‘deep’ and leads to formation of concepts and generalizations that can be helpful for our next experiences.
Same applies to reading. When we read, we come across concepts and generalizations based on other people’s (theorists and academicians) experiences. We need to think how they connect with our experiences and the way we perceive the world around us. It is only then that the ‘reading’ becomes a part of our knowledge and even when we have forgotten the terms and nomenclatures, the learning remains with us because it is rooted in our own experience of the world.
Too much of abstract theorizing. You can search ‘reflective observation’ on the web and you will come across what I have just said and much more. Let me suggest ways you can go about ‘reflecting’ on your experiences and concepts when you encounter them.
1. Plan new experiences. Plan newer experiences. When you come across unplanned experiences, submit yourself to them completely without fear once you have evaluated your constraints. Do not evaluate too much or beyond a point. After all, what do we have that we can lose. I am sure you would agree that life wouldn’t be fun without unplanned experiences. Look at how other people experience the world. Try their ways before you reject them.
2. Read. Read a lot. Read more. Reading is another way of experiencing what we cannot otherwise experience. It is the knowledge of other people’s experiences. When you research, you submit yourself to an experience completely and passionately. That is what creates knowledge that others later experience. So read. I will say it again. Read. Read a lot. Read more.
3. What applies to books in general, also applies to all other art. It is the storehouse of experiences – intuitive experiences that sometime even the artist did not know that he/she experienced. Experience art. Read every type of book. Read poetry. Watch movies. Listen to music, all types of music – from classical Indian to Rock music with Satanic messages hidden in their lyrics. The idea is to experience the world, the different facets to it.
4. Between experiences, pause. Yes. Pause. Make observations.
5. Think if the experience, the knowledge, the concept, the book, the story, the poem, the film, the music makes sense to you. Does it solve a riddle you thought of? Does it create a problem you want to solve? Does it explain something hitherto unhidden to you? If it does not, try one more time. Try stepping into the shoes (read context) of the other person and try looking from his point of view. Now, does it make sense now? It will.
6. If it still does not, do not despair. Your life is not over. Many more experiences await you. Someday, as Steve Jobs said, you will most certainly be right. Till then, continue your journey of experiences. Remember, (borrowing again from Jobs) we are already naked. There is no reason not to follow our heart.
That completes the cycle I guess.
I realize that you know most of what I have just said. Many great people (and I am not one (yet)) have said it before me. You write to me because there are several constraints that you face. The biggest is the conflict between what others expect of you and what you expect of yourself. Take your side. If you do not, nobody else will. If those others love you, they will eventually take your side. If they do not, it is their (excuse my French) bloody problem. Then comes the peer pressure. Oh come on! It is your life, not theirs. Live it your way if you are convinced about it. If you are not, listen to them, understand where they are coming from, learn if need be, and in the end (no prized for guessing), live your own life. There is no other way out. At least none that I would know of.
One more word here. We are all prisoners of the culture and the context we are part of. We cannot break the shackles of the system because we take a lot from our environment. Therefore, we must do our best within the constraints. For example, even though I tell you to live your life, I will put pressure on you to give your time to the subject I am teaching even though you might not like it. I am also subscribing to a system I am a part of. The only way out is to prioritize. Do enough so that you do not flunk the semester. I will not personally judge you were you to withdraw from doing your best in my subject in particular as long as you know what you are doing. The problem is often that you do not think even about that. Think and prioritize and then again, live the life that you decide for yourself. If ever, the shackles of the environment become heavier than you can bear, raise your voice and break them. May you have the courage to do so. But come what may, live your life the way you decide.
Once you have done this, life will be easier. You can sit back and reflect while others continue their non-reflective mad rush. Trust me if you will, they are not learning, they are only rushing. Kolb will agree. So will the Buddha and the Gita. And so will most of the world’s philosophies.
Now that I have said all that I know about your situation (since I have been in it myself and therefore all the theory), let me suggest a few actions. (from Quality Improvement Agency for Lifelong Learning)
1. Whenever you read or experience, try and recognize that an experience is in some way significant; and
2. take time after the experience to reflect on what happened and what you have learnt from it.
3. Keep a reflective diary in which you reflect on your most important experiences. The two crucial parts of any diary entry are a description of what happened and a reflection on how you felt about the event and what you have learnt from it. The idea is to make a note of your encounter with a concept or experience. Do it with or without the diary.
In his book The Reflective Practitioner Donald Schön explored how professionals use reflection to help them tackle the often very complex problems they encounter in their work. Schön called this reflective approach to problem solving ‘reflection in action’. He went on to describe some of the main things that professionals seem to do when they tackle problems in this way:
1. They allow themselves to experience ‘surprise, puzzlement or confusion’. This may simply be a feeling or anxiety that something is wrong, or an awareness that they have not encountered or read about this before.
2. They reflect critically on the problem before them. They reflect on the facts as they know them, the relationships involved, their own feelings. They are prepared to look critically at their own assumptions and at accepted ways of tackling this kind of problem.
3. They may come up with a new theory or hypothesis about the problem, and test this out through an experiment – Schön called this ‘reframing’ the situation.
That I think sums up (more or less) what is expected when someone asks you to reflect. You will know only when you do it yourself. Irrespective of what whoever says, that is the most important part. Do it and find out for yourself.
Last but not the least, I would like to thank you again for your mail. Share it with your class (your mail, if not mine) so that the process of reflection begins. You have set me reflecting too, and as far as you are concerned, do not worry – you are on your way!
And remember, there is no end, there is only the way and it is beautiful.
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
(from Leisure, W.H. Davies)
Sincerely,
Abhishek.”
Seems like I have said too much. I never seem to find the right balance between things.
My problem has always been that I tend to either reflect a lot and do nothing or that when I start doing, I do so many things at the same time that there is little reflection.
As I finish writing this, I need to go find the balance. Get rid of the unwholesome and practice the good. There is so much to do and then so much to reflect on and then again so much more to do and …
Oh! The possibilities seem endless.
