Critical Reflection
Critical reflection takes place daily. Sometimes we don’t even notice it taking place. Sometimes it causes stress because we notice it too much. Jack Mezirow, author of “Transformative Learning: Theory to Practice,” explains the process of how individuals critically reflect in his article. “We engage in discourse to validate what is being communicated” (6). We can critically reflect on many things; a paper we wrote, a mistake we made, our abilities in sports, or even our relationships with people. Some people have a hard time critically reflecting. I am one of these people. I never realized I had such a difficult time reflecting until English 111. Prior to taking this class, I really never had to reflect on my school work. Throughout my high school classes, I would receive an assignment and once I completed it, I would receive a grade on my work and that would be the end of it. In English 111, I receive feedback on my assignments multiple times and then I have to critique my work and analyze and reflect on the comments in order to improve my paper. This is a challenge for me because it’s the first time I’ve ever had to do this type of reflection.
In order to critically reflect, I try not to read my article and just read the comments I received first. I do this because if I read my article first and I think it sounds good, I may not realize the need to change it. By reading the comments I received first, I can reflect on them and think about what I’m going to put in my paper to incorporate what the teacher would like to see and then when I read my article, I already have the idea in my head. Theodore Roszak, author of “The Cult of Information: The Folklore of Computers and the True Art of Thinking,” believes that “the mind thinks with ideas, not with information” (283). I agree with him on this because when I attempt to read my article first and then the comments, it is more difficult to figure out how to modify it to include the comments. The information in the comments aren’t my own ideas, so it’s hard to combine the material. Paulo Freire, author of “Education for Critical Consciousness,” describes the banking concept. “The more students work at storing the deposits entrusted to them, the less they develop the critical consciousness which would result from intervention in the world as transformers of the world” (242). This is interpreted as the more we store others’ critiques and information, the less we will be able to develop on our own. When I think about those considered leaders in our society, they are individuals who I consider as critical thinkers and who are not afraid to share their own thoughts and positions with others, however they are open to the critiques of others as a means to improve themselves. It is important for us to develop and improve our own ideas so that we gain more out of the critical reflection other than just improving the way we word things.
Reflection also takes place in other forms. Nancy Masterson Sakamoto, author of “Conversational Ballgames,” tells about her experience in speaking Japanese when English was her main language. “Often, when I joined in, the others would look startled, and the conversational topic would come to a halt” (448). Sakamoto critically reflected on this and realized that she was talking in a western-style even though she was speaking Japanese. Just like critically reflecting on homework helps to improve grades, reflecting on her Japanese, helped to improve her speaking abilities. When Sakamoto joined into the conversation, it made the Japanese men uncomfortable and they didn’t know how to respond. In the Japanese culture, you wait your turn to say your opinion which differs from just saying what you feel like when you feel like it in the English culture. By Sakamoto joining in, it was like she was criticizing their work. Once she learned this, her Japanese tongue improved extremely.
One of the main reasons that I have such a hard time with reflection when writing papers is because of frames of references which have been developed throughout my lifetime. Mezirow explains frames of reference in his book. He says, “A frame of reference encompasses cognitive, conative, and emotional components, and is composed of two dimensions: habits of mind and a point of view” (5). I could have developed habits because all throughout English classes in high school, I was told we need to write five paragraph essays based upon the information, not upon my opinion of the information. However, my point of view is based on my personal beliefs and values which I have developed from family, friends, experiences and where I’ve grown up.
Critical reflection is important in many different aspects. Just because I graduate, doesn’t mean that it will stop being important. Freire describes the idea of problem-posing in his article. “The problem-posing educator constantly re-forms his reflections in the reflection of the students” (247). This doesn’t just mean that a teacher takes what a student says into account; it also means that the student reflects on what the teacher says. Problem-posing is a very successful tactic when used correctly, the problem is that not many people are good at it in the start. It takes a lot of practice in order to succeed at problem-posing. It still needs to be used all the time. If one is not constantly critically reflecting, then they are no longer moving forward and improving themselves, and if they aren’t moving forward then they are standing still or moving backwards. Critical reflection doesn’t need to be only done by one’s self. It can also be done by others. A judge’s job is to critically reflect on mistakes of others and to decide the best form of punishment to make them critically reflect on their own mistakes. Just because I’m good at critically reflecting on myself, doesn’t mean I will be able to successfully do it for others, and just because I’m good at doing it for others, doesn’t mean I will be good at doing it on myself.
By not being good at critical reflection some huge mistakes could be made, ranging from getting a bad grade on a paper, to committing suicide because one thinks life can’t improve. In order to critically reflect, we need to change our frame of reference. Mezirow describes this when he says, “We transform our frames of reference through critical reflection on the assumptions upon which our interpretations, beliefs, and habits of mind or points of view are based” (7). One way to critically reflect is to think about what we are doing in another person’s point of view. By thinking about it in another person’s “eyes,” one can see their own faults. Another way to reflect is to observe others compared to you. Sakamoto did this when trying to learn Japanese. “After listening carefully to many Japanese conversations, I discovered what my problem was” (448). Obviously different techniques of reflecting work better for different types of people, there are many different techniques; you just have to find the one that works for you. The technique that works for me is to think about myself in another person’s eyes because then I can quickly evaluate myself and identify a solution.
Many times during English class, students will be asked to critically reflect on articles and say what they believe. Gerald Graff had this experience when reading the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” When the critics disagreed about the merits of the book the class was asked to give their opinion. Graff, author of “Beyond the Culture Wars,” says “Like the critics, our class divided over the question: Did Twain’s ending vitiate the book’s profound critique of racism, as Hemingway’s charge of cheating implied?” (114). Just like Graff’s class when asked to critique something, or reflect on it, a class will always be divided. Not every student has the same “frame of reference,” as Mezirow has described above, students have went through different situations which make them believe differently about different subjects. This is why papers improve so much when a teacher or another student’s opinion is used to critically reflect. Just like Roszak says, “But of course, an answer that satisfies me may not satisfy you” (285). If I write a paper by myself and then turn it in and consider it complete, the paper will only satisfy one person’s frame of reference. But if I have many other people give their opinion and transform my paper to include everyone’s, then I get a broader amount of information covered and can expand my own thoughts and ideas.
As you can see, critical reflection is a part of everyday life. By becoming open to criticism and learning to cope with critique instead of stressing about it, we can become better at writing papers and better individuals as a whole. It is impossible to write a paper that will satisfy every single person that will ever read it. So by taking everyone’s advice into account, even if we don’t use it, it can still help us to improve in the long run instead of just listening to our own opinion. Critical reflection can be a very scary thing to do if you’re new to it, but once you get the hang of it, you will never want to give it up. By critically reflecting, we become more autonomous thinkers, and improve our lives and our leadership abilities.
In order to critically reflect, I try not to read my article and just read the comments I received first. I do this because if I read my article first and I think it sounds good, I may not realize the need to change it. By reading the comments I received first, I can reflect on them and think about what I’m going to put in my paper to incorporate what the teacher would like to see and then when I read my article, I already have the idea in my head. Theodore Roszak, author of “The Cult of Information: The Folklore of Computers and the True Art of Thinking,” believes that “the mind thinks with ideas, not with information” (283). I agree with him on this because when I attempt to read my article first and then the comments, it is more difficult to figure out how to modify it to include the comments. The information in the comments aren’t my own ideas, so it’s hard to combine the material. Paulo Freire, author of “Education for Critical Consciousness,” describes the banking concept. “The more students work at storing the deposits entrusted to them, the less they develop the critical consciousness which would result from intervention in the world as transformers of the world” (242). This is interpreted as the more we store others’ critiques and information, the less we will be able to develop on our own. When I think about those considered leaders in our society, they are individuals who I consider as critical thinkers and who are not afraid to share their own thoughts and positions with others, however they are open to the critiques of others as a means to improve themselves. It is important for us to develop and improve our own ideas so that we gain more out of the critical reflection other than just improving the way we word things.
Reflection also takes place in other forms. Nancy Masterson Sakamoto, author of “Conversational Ballgames,” tells about her experience in speaking Japanese when English was her main language. “Often, when I joined in, the others would look startled, and the conversational topic would come to a halt” (448). Sakamoto critically reflected on this and realized that she was talking in a western-style even though she was speaking Japanese. Just like critically reflecting on homework helps to improve grades, reflecting on her Japanese, helped to improve her speaking abilities. When Sakamoto joined into the conversation, it made the Japanese men uncomfortable and they didn’t know how to respond. In the Japanese culture, you wait your turn to say your opinion which differs from just saying what you feel like when you feel like it in the English culture. By Sakamoto joining in, it was like she was criticizing their work. Once she learned this, her Japanese tongue improved extremely.
One of the main reasons that I have such a hard time with reflection when writing papers is because of frames of references which have been developed throughout my lifetime. Mezirow explains frames of reference in his book. He says, “A frame of reference encompasses cognitive, conative, and emotional components, and is composed of two dimensions: habits of mind and a point of view” (5). I could have developed habits because all throughout English classes in high school, I was told we need to write five paragraph essays based upon the information, not upon my opinion of the information. However, my point of view is based on my personal beliefs and values which I have developed from family, friends, experiences and where I’ve grown up.
Critical reflection is important in many different aspects. Just because I graduate, doesn’t mean that it will stop being important. Freire describes the idea of problem-posing in his article. “The problem-posing educator constantly re-forms his reflections in the reflection of the students” (247). This doesn’t just mean that a teacher takes what a student says into account; it also means that the student reflects on what the teacher says. Problem-posing is a very successful tactic when used correctly, the problem is that not many people are good at it in the start. It takes a lot of practice in order to succeed at problem-posing. It still needs to be used all the time. If one is not constantly critically reflecting, then they are no longer moving forward and improving themselves, and if they aren’t moving forward then they are standing still or moving backwards. Critical reflection doesn’t need to be only done by one’s self. It can also be done by others. A judge’s job is to critically reflect on mistakes of others and to decide the best form of punishment to make them critically reflect on their own mistakes. Just because I’m good at critically reflecting on myself, doesn’t mean I will be able to successfully do it for others, and just because I’m good at doing it for others, doesn’t mean I will be good at doing it on myself.
By not being good at critical reflection some huge mistakes could be made, ranging from getting a bad grade on a paper, to committing suicide because one thinks life can’t improve. In order to critically reflect, we need to change our frame of reference. Mezirow describes this when he says, “We transform our frames of reference through critical reflection on the assumptions upon which our interpretations, beliefs, and habits of mind or points of view are based” (7). One way to critically reflect is to think about what we are doing in another person’s point of view. By thinking about it in another person’s “eyes,” one can see their own faults. Another way to reflect is to observe others compared to you. Sakamoto did this when trying to learn Japanese. “After listening carefully to many Japanese conversations, I discovered what my problem was” (448). Obviously different techniques of reflecting work better for different types of people, there are many different techniques; you just have to find the one that works for you. The technique that works for me is to think about myself in another person’s eyes because then I can quickly evaluate myself and identify a solution.
Many times during English class, students will be asked to critically reflect on articles and say what they believe. Gerald Graff had this experience when reading the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” When the critics disagreed about the merits of the book the class was asked to give their opinion. Graff, author of “Beyond the Culture Wars,” says “Like the critics, our class divided over the question: Did Twain’s ending vitiate the book’s profound critique of racism, as Hemingway’s charge of cheating implied?” (114). Just like Graff’s class when asked to critique something, or reflect on it, a class will always be divided. Not every student has the same “frame of reference,” as Mezirow has described above, students have went through different situations which make them believe differently about different subjects. This is why papers improve so much when a teacher or another student’s opinion is used to critically reflect. Just like Roszak says, “But of course, an answer that satisfies me may not satisfy you” (285). If I write a paper by myself and then turn it in and consider it complete, the paper will only satisfy one person’s frame of reference. But if I have many other people give their opinion and transform my paper to include everyone’s, then I get a broader amount of information covered and can expand my own thoughts and ideas.
As you can see, critical reflection is a part of everyday life. By becoming open to criticism and learning to cope with critique instead of stressing about it, we can become better at writing papers and better individuals as a whole. It is impossible to write a paper that will satisfy every single person that will ever read it. So by taking everyone’s advice into account, even if we don’t use it, it can still help us to improve in the long run instead of just listening to our own opinion. Critical reflection can be a very scary thing to do if you’re new to it, but once you get the hang of it, you will never want to give it up. By critically reflecting, we become more autonomous thinkers, and improve our lives and our leadership abilities.