BETA Conference 2012, Ruse

A black belt at learning from experience

Adrian Underhill

Reflection means taking an attitude of inquiry and

curiosity, to become aware of our

practice, not just immersed in it

Not to examine one’s practice is irresponsible; to regard

teaching as an experiment and to monitor one’s performance is a responsible professional act

Ruddock

The purpose of reflective practice is to change things, not

just think about them

We make the mistake of dictating problems and solutions, making people passive, colluding

in the problem and dictating answers, rather than inviting

them to empower themselves by entering the problem, and

developing their own knowledge

Anne Burns

Intelligent action in complex situations is unlikely to derive from

following given or universal models……

There are no ‘universal’ solutions to ‘local’ situations. Therefore we need to by guided by knowledge

and experience from the people in the local situation…….

We need to develop local knowledge that exactly follows the

contours of the setting and circumstances we are in…

 

…neither modern science nor the modern university is dedicated

to the study of one’s own practice…

Bill Torbert

Universities … are institutions committed….to a particular …

view of knowledge that fosters selective inattention to practical

competence and professional artistry

Donald Schon

Experiment 1: Recall a recent happening in which you were actively involved

1… What happened? Describe the ‘facts’

2… Your thoughts and feelings at the time

3… Self evaluation: How I see it now

4… Learning: What can I take from this?

5… What next? What shall I do different?

I experience myself as a living contradiction

when I recognise that I hold a value, such as fairness, yet deny it in practice

Whitehead

…to come to understand the degree to which

we may be experiencing ourselves

as a living contradiction, and to find ways of resolving

the tension so that we can live in a way

that does no violence to our own or others’ integrity.

What is deeply important to you in your work?

What fires you up?

In what ways do you enact this value? In what ways contradict this value?

When people are aligned to their purpose, when the gap between values and behaviours closes,

what people experience is… a stream of ease

Roger Lewin

Outcomes and impacts

Actions and Behaviours

Values and Purposes

…the problem is …that we don't know enough about

experience. Everybody thinks they know about experience, I claim we

don't.....

We have had a blind spot in the West for that kind of

methodical approach…. where you become truly a black belt … observer of your experience…

Francisco Varela

The Learning Mantra:

See what’s going on Do something different

Learn from it

A learning organisation is one that:

facilitates the learning of all its members and

continuously transforms itself…

(Pedler and Aspinwall)

A company that does lots of training is NOT a learning

company

Individual learning can be wasted unless harnessed at organisational level

1.. It’s easy to get people to listen to and experiment with new ideas and suggestions2… When one person learns something new, everyone hears about it3.. Making mistakes is part of learning. You can be open about it. It’s not career limiting4.. Staff members of all ranks give each other plenty of quality feedback from above, below, sideways5.. Everyone is involved in discussing school policies before adoption6… People in one dept. know what people in another dept. are thinking, and they help each other

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

Burns, A. 1999 Collaborative Action Research CUPBurns, A. 2010. Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching RoutledgeLewin, R. 2001 Weaving Complexity and Business: Engaging the Soul at Work TexereMcNiff, J. and Whitehead, J. 2005 Action Research for Teachers David FultonPedlar and Aspinwall 1998 Concise Guide to the Learning Organization Lemos & CraneReason and Bradbury 2001 The Handbook of Action Research SageRichards and Lockhart 1994 Reflective Teaching in Second Language ClassroomsSchon, D. 1991 The Reflective Practitioner CUPTorbert, W. et al. 2004 Action Inquiry: The Secret of Timely & Transforming Leadership. BKVarela, F. October 2009 http://www.dialogonleadership.org/indexName.shtmlWilliams and Burden Psychology for Language Teachers CUP

 

BETA Conference 2012, Ruse

Thank you!

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