I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless as it extends into the world around us, it opens an equal distance into the world within.
- Lillian Smith
Reflection is a process of exploring and engaging with experience in order to make sense of it (Boud, 2001).Footnote 5 In a BC study, researchers and practitioners named reflection as one of the attributes of effective practitioners. Leora Gesser wrote:
Reflection for me means thinking with depth. It involves pondering, chewing, turning ideas around and making choices. Sometimes reflection is an internal process, and sometimes it includes discussion and ruminating with others. (2004, p. 146)
Research in practice, like creativity, is also a reflective process. As with reflection about practice, you may find yourself thinking about your research spontaneously-in the shower, on your way home, or when you first wake in the morning. Research in practice also offers an opportunity to step back and reflect more intentionally about your practice. Such reflection can also help you identify and express what you know experientially and intuitively about being a practitioner (Schon, 1983). Whether spontaneous or intentional, reflection and creativity can be supported by writing, art making, taking time to move or be still, and by talking with others (Gesser, 2004, p. 146).
Writing about our research in practice can be both a process for reflection and a record of our reflections. Reflective writing is often referred to as journaling. Your "journal" can be a notebook or art pad or binder, a folder on your computer, or a combination of these. Perhaps you prefer to handwrite in a special hardcovered book selected for the project, or maybe you find yourself writing on bits of paper that are at hand. Choose an approach that works for you. Remember to date your entries and leave space to add reflections when you reread a page.
Whether or not you choose journal writing as a process for reflection, consider writing in a journal as a way to document your reflections. Too many times I've had reflections and insights while walking or cycling or riding a bus, only to lose hold of them because I did not write them down when I had the chance. Another option is to tape record your reflections.
Return to note 5 Donald Schon (1983) talks about two kinds of relection. Relection-in-action is the kind of relective thinking that we do in the moments of teaching or other practice. Relection on action is what we do when we step away from our work and take stock of our experiences.