Recently I’ve tried to carve out a little more time to catch up on reading — an activity that always seems to re-energize me. As I dug down into my pile of books and articles, I came across some wise words about the importance of personal and professional reflection. Here are a few of my take-aways:
In her book Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future, Meg Wheatley underscores the value in paying attention to the big picture of our own personal and professional lives:
“I’ve found that I can only change how I act if I stay aware of my beliefs and assumptions. Thoughts always reveal themselves in behavior. As humans, we often contradict ourselves–we say one thing and do another. We state who we are, but then act contrary to that. We say we’re open-minded, but then judge someone for their appearance. We say we’re a team, but then gossip about a colleague. If we want to change our behavior, we need to notice our actions, and see if we can uncover the belief that has led to that response. What caused me to behave that way and not some other way?” (p. 22)
My aha from Wheatley is this: we all need to spend some time every day doing a “gut check” of our professional behavior, examining our responses in key situations, looking for contradictions, ferreting out beliefs and assumptions that are getting in the way of accomplishing goals that will advance our vital work. As Wheatley assures us, we can learn the habit of introspection.
Doug Reeves (author of a new favorite book of mine, Transforming Professional Development into Student Results) says that educators need to spend time reflecting about the purpose of practice – as in “practice makes perfect.” Criticizing the “give me something I can use right now” mentality about professional development, Reeves argues that we could learn a lot from individuals in other professions where reflection is critical, particularly athletes and musicians. He suggests we might look up an accomplished athlete or musician and ask them four questions:
1) What do you do before practice?
2) How do you respond to mistakes?
3) Where/what are your sources for feedback?
4) What is the ratio of practice to performance?
Like many other education thought-leaders, Reeves argues that educators too often connect feedback to personal criticism — and mistakes to failure. Compare that to an athlete or musician who will tell you that making mistakes and receiving constructive criticism is the only way they can improve. Reeves contends that being a professional infers that one must practice his or her skills constantly to become better.
My take-away? It’s important for us to be open to new ideas and approaches, to try them out, solicit feedback, and then reflect on that feedback, seeing it as a way to improve. It can be painful. It may require us to let down our guard and admit we’re not perfect. But I think most of us understand that it’s the only way to grow.
What have you learned about reflection from your own life and professional experiences? And what have you been reading recently that’s prompted an “aha moment” or two?
