I have found so far when reading articles within the readers that I feel a lot like a man, stood in a river, looking for gold. The article is the river bed, and the words are the pebbles that make up that river bed. I repeatedly scoop up a paragraph of pebbles in my sieve and search through them, and every now and again I find a little bit of gold. I keep going until eventually, I have enough flecks of gold to melt down into a nugget, or even a bar!
Well, I have just read "Action Evaluation and Action Theory: An assessment of the process and its connection to conflict resolution" Ian Darling, March 2008 from the list at the end of reader 2, and here is my nugget...
Ian Darlings piece is all about comparing Donald Schons idea of Reflection, more specifically In-Action Reflection, with Jay Rothmans concept of Reflexivity (an alarmingly similar sounding term!!).
"Reflexivity involves delaying the instinctive and unexamined reactions to external stimulus, and analysing them before responding" (Rothman, 1997, 36). In other words, slowing down your reactions enough to analyse said reactions before acting.
Initially, I immediately jumped to the conclusion that is exactly the same as Reflection In-Action, but upon reflection, of course it isn't! The idea of Reflection In-Action is that you reflect and alter your practice as you are doing it, but this still requires the sequence of Action, Evaluation, Modification. Reflexivitys equivalent sequence would be Thought, Analysis, Modification, Action. Reflecting before you've acted!
What a mind boggling concept! Surely if you were involved in an argument (which incidentally is what Rothmans field of study is all about: Conflict Resolution) and everyone was pausing to think about their reaction before they even contributed, it would take days! Or would it? Would the argument even get off the ground? It could be said that arguments, more often than not, escalate as a result of the exact opposite of Rothmans Reflexive Practice. Due to emotions running high, each participator blurts out the first antagonising or offensive thing that reaches their lips without thinking. The other participants react to this by doing the same, and it escalates. What if each of the participants practised Reflexivity? Would there even be an argument? If there was, it would certainly be a lot more controlled and resolved more quickly.
All this led me to ask the following question:
How can I apply this theory to my own Professional Practice?
As soon as I thought the question, there was an answer sat there waiting for me.
Teachers; how many times when teaching a class has a child said or done something that has antagonised you in one way or another? You may be lucky and your answer be never, but I have certainly experienced this a few times, and if I were to reflect upon my reaction I would conclude that it was a "visceral response" (Rothman, 1997, 35) caught up in the pace of the class. I can't remember any specific examples, which is actually part of the problem. If I had processed what the child had said or done, caught my reaction and analysed it, modified it, and then responded, the response would have been meaningful, measured and more than likely much more effective.
There are obviously potential negatives to this practise; is it even possible to practise Reflexivity without appearing to have "drawn a blank"? Is there time to think that much about how you're going to respond? Is there a danger of over thinking what comes out of your mouth? We are, after all, creative people, and it's believed by many that the best artistic creations are impulsive, drawing on gut feelings. Will this process lead to over-thinking?
These are all questions I intend to explore and include in my reflections. I would love to know your thoughts on this concept; it seems to have struck a chord with me, perhaps I feel it will be a useful process for me personally!
4 comments:
Wow, Liam what a thoughtful and 'reflective' post! It's interesting to be drawing these ideas into your own Professional Practice. The whole post was really well structured and provocative. I am now looking at the different theories in the reader and will try to link them to my work and how I reflect. The idea of 'Reflexivity' is one that actually we as artists probably don't practice. I would say that yes,as creativ people we dance or act on feelings and emotions. For me, this creates a more 'real' result rather than one structured and possibly too tentative. Weren't all the greatest artists like Van Gogh, Nureyev, Shakespeare, a bit contraversial and risky in their time....?
Liam you have explained well - and with the theorists - what the differences are between reflection in action and reflexive thought - both valid processes. I have been in enough discussions (some rather heated I might add) with ego-mad artists who are caught up in the moment that would deliver a short sharp verdict on this methodology (rather than the balanced and mature artists who treat all with kindness and respect).
Over-thinking - a real fear for artists - when original concepts are there and must be captured . Just saw The Culture Programme with An interview with David Lynch that talks about the creative process http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj3ip_Xa1gM How do you get things done and create at the same time?
What about this type of thing and professionalism? Can you give us some more examples of reflection in practice and reflexivity form your own practice that you admired? that is 'best practice' in the theatre or teaching? You can anonymise as needed and use roles instead of names.
Alicia - Absolutely. When it comes to creating, you could probably say that the concept of Reflexivity is a counter-productive one. I think it's a tool that's worth having in your arsenal, though perhaps not for creative purposes but for "real life" events within professional practice, by which I mean meetings with potential employers, mediating non-creative discussions with peers etc. I've met a number of people in the past that have such creative thinking that they just say what pops into their head without thinking, often with self detrimental consequences.
Paula - I just watched the interview you posted in your comment: incredible. I've never seen or heard of David Lynch (that's probably a terrible thing to admit!) but he really truly fascinated me. Two quotes particularly got me thinking:
"The goal of all legitimate meditations is to unfold the full potential of the human being" David Lynch, 2007.
"When you get a technique that allows you to dive all the way within and experience that ocean, freedom comes" David Lynch 2007.
Both these quotes are talking about the complete OPPOSITE of Reflexivity. He's talking about the process of creating being a meditative process, completely losing yourself in that creation without concious thought or reflection, and I agree. In order to create something pure and true, you cannot filter the idea or modify. As I said to Alicia in my reply to her comment, its about using Reflexivity in the non-creative elements of your practice. In terms of the artistic creation itself, the process of creation shouldn't be interrupted by Reflexive or Reflective practice. In the capacity of teaching, however, both are essential tools.
I found this so interesting Liam. The idea of being reflecive in action, is a very difficult one. In my profession, I have to do this on a daily basis. Children do not have the ability to be reflective in action, and as an adult, it is my job to be able to stop and think, mid flow, about what is the correct thing to say. It is so challenging and there are so many occasions that I would love to answer back in what I believe is the 'animalistic' and natural reponse to someone being negative, dis-respectful or aggresive to you. I have obviously been practising Rothman's theory throughout my years working in schools, (thank goodness!),and this now comes naturally to me.
I agree with you, that this method is not always pracital though, especially in artistic surroundings. If an artist is too reflecitve in action, I imagine that quite often, we would lose the instinctive, artistic quality in them.
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