Being a Critical Friend
Te Tū hei Hoa Arotake
“How strong do my working relationships have to be before I can ask the hard questions?”
The focus of this case is reflection on a problem of practice with a critical friend. In exploring the role of a critical friend, it also examines:
- the relationship between support and challenge in the process of change for improvement;
- the links between our beliefs and values and our professional actions – that is, between espoused theory and theory-in-use.
Case participants
Barbara Batchelor
Barbara Batchelor is a health education adviser with the University of Canterbury, Education Plus.
Gillian Tasker
Dr Gillian Tasker is a teacher educator and classroom researcher working as an educational consultant.
Background
Inservice teacher educators frequently take on a role that is sometimes described as a “critical friend”, both when working with teachers or school leaders and when supporting one another in examining their professional practice. Barbara had agreed to work with a group of five RT:LBs who had undertaken to collaboratively review their practice. As well as meeting with the group as a whole on a number of occasions, Barbara was working with each RT:LB on an individual basis as each focused on a specific aspect of their practice.
One of the RT:LBs, Fran, outlined a situation in which she had agreed to co-operate with a solution for a student that was not really in the student’s best long-term interests. She had done so because she felt it was important to establish a strong working relationship with the principal of the school before challenging his solution. In the same way, at this early stage of working together, Barbara hesitated to challenge Fran about her response to the principal.
Dissatisfied with her response to Fran, Barbara decided that as part of her own inquiry into her practice, she would enlist the support of an experienced and long-standing colleague, Gillian Tasker.
Commentators
John Loughran
Professor John Loughran is based at Monash University in Melbourne. He has a particular interest in the importance of reflective practice within teachers’ and teacher educators’ learning.
Michael Absolum
Michael Absolum is the director of Evaluation Associates in Auckland. He has a strong interest in the partnerships that can develop from open, learning-focused relationships.
Leading ISTE learning for this case
How this case reflects the ISTE inquiry and knowledge-building cycle
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