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Reflection is Critical

Critical self-reflection on one’s practice is “often seen as the starting point for gaining new perspectives in the daily routines of working professionals” (Lundgren and Poell 2014). And rightly so - how else can we start to change our own behaviour and practices without appropriate research into what those practices are? We reflect because we actively want to challenge and understand our actions, assumptions, methods and processes. Critical reflection is central to my research, not only as part of the proposed conceptual framework, but as a key element of the research methodology itself: I reflect on the experience of making work, and establish where and how playfulness contributed, with a view to encouraging this in future work. I have always considered critical reflection to be a key contributor to my creative practice, even if I don’t always make the appropriate time for it.

We discuss critical reflection all the time in HE. At The University of Edinburgh’s animation programme we set our students multiple ‘critically reflective’ tasks, encouraging students to look back over their work and reflect on their processes, decisions, methods. But more and more, I have students asking me what we mean by reflection. And that got me thinking about whether I could answer that question appropriately, not only for them, but for myself. If we are to encourage reflection, in others and ourselves, we need to not only know what reflection is, but understand how we reflect; and, perhaps most importantly, why.

What

For Boud, Heogh, and Walker (1985) reflection is “a generic term for those intellectual and affective activities in which individuals engage to explore their experience in order to lead to new understanding and appreciation (p.19). This definition, along with almost all others, has its roots in John Dewey’s belief that reflective thinking was a key aspect of learning (Dewey 1933). Reflective thinking “involves a deliberate attempt to find evidential grounds for thinking something” (Candy 2019, p16); reflection is “the activity of exploring or examining an issue of concern and considering it in relation to personal experiences” (Lundgren and Poell 2016).

Many authors developed conceptual frameworks and theories in their attempts to define and clarify the reflection process (Boud, Keoggh, & Walker, 1985; Mezirow 1991; Schön 1983). Nguyen et al. (2014) offer a detailed analysis and synthesis of many key writers on the subject of reflection. They identify five core components common to key definitions of reflection:

“(i) thoughts and actions (TA); (ii) attentive, critical, exploratory and iterative processes (ACEI); (iii) the underlying conceptual frame (CF); (iv) the view on change (VC), and (v) the self (S)” (p.1180).

and subsequently define reflection as:

…the process of engaging the self in attentive, critical, exploratory and iterative interactions with one’s thoughts and actions, and their underlying conceptual frame, with a view to changing them and with a view on the change itself. (p.1182)

In this way, reflection places the self at the centre of an ongoing process which critically explores thoughts and actions, and the underlying potential reasons for those thoughts and actions, in order to potentially make purposeful, considered changes and reflect on those changes.

Why

Nguyen et al’s definition of reflection provides insight into why we might reflect also: reflection enables change. It facilitates is the ability to break down processes and actions, and the underlying causes or contexts for those processes and actions, and allows practitioners to change or adapt them (or not) going forward. Reflection, in short, facilitates learning.

Schön characterises the creative practitioner as “someone for whom continuous reflection is an integral part of the way the practice on a daily basis” (Candy 2019 p.14). Creative practitioners are often driven by playful behaviours such as curiosity and exploration, which manifest in “a compulsion to move out of their comfortable, familiar zones” (ibid, p.50). As such, reflection is a particularly valuable way of assessing what ‘worked’ in a project or practice, and being able to adapt that for future work. And that’s not only attributed to processes - again, as Nguyen et al define, by reflecting on the conceptual frameworks that underpin their work, creative practitioners can establish concepts in their work and explore them. I, for example, am particularly interested in the use of nostalgic design inspired by children’s media to explore issues I experience as an adult. However, I established this through reflecting on my previous work and understanding what it is I actually enjoy about making work that fits that pattern. Creative practitioners continually reassess their methods, influences and processes to find ways of working (and playing) that not only provide satisfaction in their use, but create satisfaction through the completion of aesthetically satisfying - ‘good’ - work.

Robin Nelson, in his book Practice as Research in the Arts (2013), categorises three types of knowledge that surround creative praxis:

know-that: ‘outsider’, distant knowledge; conceptual frameworks

know-how: tacit knowledge, performative knowing, experiential - things you ‘do’

know-what: know what “works”, know what methods

Know-how, for the creative practitioner, is the technical, artistic or thematic tools they use for their creative practice. Know-what, on the other hand, is a much deeper understanding of our decision making and the context of that process in creative practice - and it is only achievable by “pausing, standing back and thinking about what you are doing” (Nelson 2013, p.44). This is the fundamental aim of critical reflection - to make our tacit knowledge, explicit. Nelson looks at this from the perspectice of Practice Research, but it is just as valid as a method for the creative practitioner - for how else can we really develop our methods and processes, without shining a light on explicitly what they are, and why we do them?

Unfortunately, “Many practitioners”, Schön declares, “find nothing in the world of practice to occasion reflection” and have become comfortable in the “constancy of their knowledge-in-practice” (Schön 1983, p85). Reflection itself develops our knowledge and furthers our practice. To not reflect is to stay constant; to stagnate.

When

Reflection is a continuous process during creative practice. For creative practitioners in particular, reflection “enables them to move forward through the making process” (ibid p.71). This demonstrates how reflection not only happens onthe creative practice, but in it as well. Schön delineates between these two key types of reflection: reflection-*in-*action, and reflection-*on-*action. Both are highly valuable types of reflexive knowledge generation. But they operate in different ways:

Reflection-in-action is “characterised as an intertwined and reflexive process of thinking about the actions being taken, or about to be taken, in a unique situation” (Candy p18). When a practitioner is practicing, “he [sic] does not keep means and ends separate but defines them interactively as he frames a problematic situation. He does not separate thinking from doing” (Schön 1983). Schön uses the example of jazz musicians improvising together, who navigate their jam by feel and “make on-the-spot adjustments to the sounds they hear” (Schön 1983, p69). Reflection in this regard happens in-the-moment and is based on know-how implicit in the expertise of the practitioner. Although Schön’s notions of reflection-in-action has its critics (Court 1988; Eraut 1995) fundamentally its roots are in the notion that we use our tacit knowledge - knowledge that we have built as experts - to make in-the-moment decisions. Reflection-in-action, for all intents and purposes, goes hand in hand with creativity.

Reflection-on-action, by contrast, is the kind of reflection we may recognise as familiar - “the process of making sense of an action after it has occurred and possibly learning something from the experience which extends ones knowledge base” (Eraut 1995, p16). Reflection-on-action happens subsequent to the action, and consequently much more aligned with critical reflection: when we take some space to look back, analyse, and learn from that action. Where reflection-*in-*action happens in the moment, reflection-on-action happens when we create space after the moment. Indeed, reflection-on-action inevitably involves reflection on the -in-action:

“We reflect on action, thinking back on what we have done in order to discover how our knowing-in-action may have contributed to an unexpected outcome. The reflection takes place after the event and draws on knowledge of previous events and their connection to an unexpected event; it includes working out what has to now be done to address this in the future” (Schön 1983)

Both types of reflection have clear merits for the development of an artistic practice. Reflection-in-action allows for decision making based on tacit knowledge. In my own practice this manifests through rapid prototyping and decision-making: does this look good? Does this ‘work’? It is often difficult to record this process, just as it would be difficult to record the decisions made by the jazz musician above; they come thick and fast, and even describing why I made them can prove difficult. More often than not, it’s just that something ‘felt right’. But it feels right because of all the knowledge and experience - the know-how - that I have accrued over decades of creative practice. This allows me to know what works (Nelson). However, reflection-in-action does not provide the space to critically engage with thoughts and actions.

Reflection-*on-*action, however, provides a more specific space for critical reflection. Reflection-on-action echoes Nguyen et al’s definition of reflection, which - at their highest level - involve analysis of the conceptual frameworks and subsequent thoughts and actions. In essence, reflection-on-action is much more akin to what we understand typical reflective practice to be, and where -in-action allows for knowledge generation through experience, -on-action allows for specific critical analysis and learning to be ascertained from that experience.

Linda Candy posits several types of reflection that may be key to the creative reflective practitioner, one of which may be of particular use: reflection-*for-*action. Conducted at the start of a project, in reflection-for-action, “extensive preparation takes place, including constraint identification” (Candy 2019 p.71) - provides creative practitioners to reflect on previous work prior to or as part of starting a new work in order to take our previous experience ensure that past processes are incorporated into the current.

Utilising reflection-for-, -in- and -on-action could create a reflexive framework for practitioners that would comprehensively cover reflexive processes prior to, during and post creative practice.

How

There have been, over time, a number of models designed to support creative reflection (Jasper 2013; Driscoll 2007; Kolb 1984; Gibbs 1998). Nguyen et al’s conceptual model for reflection above makes for a theoretically comprehensive model for reflection. However, this model is not workable in a literal sense - I cannot see myself, at a point when needing to reflect, looking back on their model in the hope it would give me some direction. What this highlights is the distinction between theoretically effective models for reflection, and practical models and methods of reflection that allow creative practitioners to quickly, effectively and critically analyse their processes to develop them going forward. Put plainly: models of reflection do not always feel accessible to a practicing creative practitioner. The theoretical structure, context and history of reflection is less important than the practicable aspect - literally, what do I do to reflect?

Graham Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle (1988) - “One of the most famous cyclical models of reflection” (University of Edinburgh, 2020) - provides a helpful structure for reflection. Using this model, practitioners move through six stages:

Gibbs’ originally advocated for use of the model in situations which are repeated, which makes this a viable model for creative practice; whilst the practice itself might change, the act of practicing is repeated by the practitioner.

In each stage, the practitioner can ask themselves questions to interrogate and reflect on the process. The University of Edinburgh (2020) provides examples:

Description

Feelings

Description

Analysis

Conclusions

Action Plan

(University of Edinburgh, 2020)

These questions provide a useful basis from which to begin reflecting-on-action. When directed towards previous projects, they also provide helpful prompts for reflection-for-action, allowing the practitioner to ‘set the table’ using constraints and learnings from previous projects. Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle, then, provides us with a functional framework to begin answering these questions in written form.

That is not to say answering these questions must be formulaic, or stray from practices which suit the practitioner. Journals, blogs, logs, diaries; any of these have the potential to become valid and productive forms of reflective record (Clarke and Bautista 2017). Exercises such as free writing can be constructive places to start with reflection (Reflective Practice Toolkit, date unknown), something I have already established in my own practice. Free writing allows us to “channel the ‘Tacit Knowledge’ and put it on paper” (University of Cork, date unknown). However, the University of Cambridge’s Reflective Practice Toolkit suggests that freewriting is “just the first step in reflective writing” (date unknown) - free writing requires editing and synthesis to translate the Tacit reflection into more constructive, formal, critical reflection. Perhaps there is a process that begins with free writing and results in a more synthesised version of reflection.

For the visual artist, I believe that sketchbooks can inform our reflection. Through my own sketchbook practice, I explore and experiment, test ideas and write notes to myself. These notes range from the unrelated (”call Nana”) to those which actively question the creative processes I am undertaking in a project (”I must make something I actually enjoy making”). Alongside these are the drawn developments of the current project, demonstrating a reflection-in-action, in-action - they are records of my tacit decision making. As such, I believe that sketchbooks - when used to record the development of a project - form an integral part of recording the kind of reflection that is difficult to capture at the time. They sit somewhere between Schön’s jazz musician’s in-the-moment decision making and reflection-on-action’s post-match reflection. More research needs to be done on sketchbooks as reflective tools - but as they are central to my own creative process, it’s undeniable to me that they form part of that record.

Discussion

“Reflexivity is not just about probing practice; it is a means of taking control of one’s own practice” (Cake et al 2015 p.473).

The creative process is a constant cycle of making and evaluation, in-the-moment decision making and post-action analysis. Reflection allows us to both access our know-how and make in-the-moment decisions, and transfer that know-how to know-what by critically thinking about the ways, processes and contexts within which we word. Reflection, undoubtedly, is a key tool for learning and growing as artists.

On first glance, of course it makes sense to go back over thoughts and actions in order to learn. But reflection - as I keep telling my students - is not just about describing what you did; it is about understanding it, critiquing it and developing future strategies based off it. Because of that, it is important to find models and definitions of reflection that feel accessible, rather than those which cover all the theoretical bases, but are overly complicated to implement in a creative practice.

Perhaps like play, reflection is personal; perhaps it requires the practitioner to find a process that works for them. The important thing, Amber Clarke (2014) suggests, is that “it becomes a consistent part of one’s practice” (p.58). It is only through consistent practice that reflection really comes into its own: by consistently, consciously engaging in reflection-for, in and on-action; that is how we learn, develop and grow as creative practitioners.

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