Learning and impact – Perspective from John Loughran
Gillian:
Well that was really interesting, wasn’t it? I can really see how Fran has moved in her thinking. She’s gained quite a lot of new insight, hasn’t she, into her practice? She’s actually examining it in quite a different kind of way.
And that was really good because I actually sort of saw you there really challenging her and getting her to do that really reflective thinking. So you weren’t problem-solving for her, you were actually getting her to do the work for herself.
John:
Gillian affirms Barbara’s helping of Fran to look into her teaching in a productive way. She draws attention to how Barbara has developed her ability to challenge and to the fact that Barbara has helped Fran “to do the work herself”. Gillian is seeing in Barbara’s conversation with Fran the very things that she would have hoped to see: Barbara’s approach and behaviours demonstrate helpfulness as a critical friend in getting to the heart of the matter – the problem to be addressed (remembering that a “problem” is not a bad thing; it is a curious, puzzling, or interesting situation).
Barbara:
I think what I was trying there was also some strategies that we had shared together – that you had shown me in regards to how you could go about that.
Gillian:
Right. So I guess then some of that learning for you was around the fact that you’d picked up on the modelling of that conversation we had. What were some of the other things that were key learnings for you, over this last four weeks really?
John:
This is an important aspect of this conversation about modelling how to work as a critical friend. Gillian invites Barbara to reflect not only on what happened in their previous conversation but also on what Barbara “saw” in that conversation and the insights or issues she wanted to pursue as a result of that discussion.
In this case, Gillian is helping Barbara to revisit the situation, to actively compare her “thinking then” to her “thinking now”, and to articulate her hopes and expectations of herself as a critical friend. This is a very strong example of a shared adventure in learning about reflecting on practice in order to develop what might be described as “critical reflection” (Brookfield, 1995) or “effective reflective practice” (Loughran, 2002).
Barbara:
Certainly the importance of that supportive learning environment and making sure that you establish what the understanding of the roles are for all of us within that environment.
Gillian:
So them sort of knowing about your role as a critical friend?
Barbara:
Yes. And negotiating that role to ensure that we all, or individually we feel comfortable when we are working together as RT:LBs and myself, or in the group situation. So that was really important.
I guess a real light-bulb moment for me was that realisation that when I’m challenging, I don’t have to wait for the relationship to be built, that that is part of the building, and it’s really important that I ensure that I get those challenges in and the relationship building comes along with that.
John:
This is an excellent point and one that in many ways can only be learned through experience; that is, by taking the risk. The notion of not waiting “for the relationship to be built” hinges on an understanding of the power of relationship building through genuinely supportive, non-judgmental challenge. It accords with what Berry and Loughran (2002) describe as an assertion for shaping practice such that “an uncomfortable learning experience can be a constructive learning experience”.
This is not an easy point to arrive at in a critical friend relationship because the natural inclination is not to challenge too early. Such a view is based on an understanding of challenge that is perhaps more personal than professional. There is a great deal of important learning about challenge within the alternative perspective – that strong relationships can be built early through appropriate and thoughtful challenging and that this is a skill to be purposefully developed as a critical friend.
It could well be argued that Gillian has modelled behaviours for Barbara that illustrate building a relationship through professional critique and that Barbara has learned through that and is now applying it in her own practice. In working as a critical friend, there is much to be learned about withholding judgment and offering professional critique without being personally critical of another’s behaviours and practices. Yet this is paradoxical in many ways, for a critical friendship aims to concentrate on behaviours and practices in a productive manner in order to lead to real change.
Gillian:
Uh-huh.
Barbara:
Another area that has been some new learning for me is the importance of using the inquiry approach to that questioning. So that if I’m really looking at some of those deeper level questioning stems, then I can make sure that I’m getting some real probing and some learning happening there within that questioning.
Gillian:
Right.
Barbara:
The relevance of the readings, and when to engage in those readings in regards to calling upon readings for your practice, it was really significant and, yeah, I found that really important.
Gillian:
Great. So there was lots of good learning there. And I guess, really thinking ahead now, where to with Fran? And where to with your learning?
John:
Gillian cleverly draws attention to the two learners together (Fran and Barbara) here. By linking Barbara’s and Fran’s learning, she also mirrors the way she has been operating with Barbara as both a model and a co-learner. This encourages Barbara to think carefully about her expectations and hopes for Fran’s learning in relation to her own learning.
Barbara:
Where to with Fran? Well, certainly for me, supporting Fran in looking at those strategies to help her engage the teachers and those that she’s working with.
Gillian:
Some practice perhaps?
Barbara:
Yeah, definitely some practice, and she talked about that in the conversation, the importance of that for her.
Being a part of this learning community that we’ve set up and established, because that has obviously been quite powerful for her and is a way forward for new learning, when you can discuss and be involved in others’ problems and how that can ... the readings, how they can relate to those problems and how we can unpack them. So that’s really important.
And that ongoing reflection – reflecting with a critical friend, reflecting in the learning community situation.
Gillian:
The constant challenge.
Barbara:
Yeah, challenge in reflection, really important.
Gillian:
And what about you? Your learning?
John:
Gillian ensures that this link between both learners is capitalised on by drawing Barbara back to her own situation. This is a further illustration of Gillian’s purposeful role as a critical friend.
Barbara:
Yes, I’ve been thinking about that and I certainly want to continue on with this looking at how I’m challenging, what I actually am doing. And to do that, I need the critical friend relationship which we’ve established and which works really well for me to actually look at my practice and reflect and keep thinking about new learning for myself.
Also, the other aspect that I think is really important for me is being involved in the learning communities that I’m involved in – for example, my advisory learning community, offering the support, the supportive environment that it does for me to actually look at my practice and continue to reflect on particular readings that others find valuable and might actually assist me in my practice.
Gillian:
And that relationship between theory and practice?
Barbara:
Yes, yeah, absolutely. And trying to ensure that what I do believe in – my values and beliefs in theory – is actually lived out in the practice.
John:
The discussion finishes with what could certainly be a very strong point from which to move into a self-study. Gillian has helped Barbara to establish a need and desire to inquire into her practice in ways that could well lead to more formal inquiry and knowledge building by adopting a self-study methodology. Examples of this methodology in action can be found in Berry (2007) and Russell (2002).
References
Berry, A. (2007). Tensions in Teaching about Teaching: A Self-study of the Development of Myself as a Teacher Educator. Dordrecht: Springer.
Berry, A. and Loughran, J. J. (2002). “Developing an Understanding of Learning to Teach in Teacher Education”. In Improving Teacher Education Practices through Self-study, ed. J. Loughran and T. Russell. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Brookfield, S. D. (1995). Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Loughran, J. J. (2002). “Effective Reflective Practice: In Search of Meaning in Learning about Teaching”. Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 53 no. 1, pp. 33–43.
Russell, T. (2002). “Guiding New Teachers’ Learning from Classroom Experience: Self-study of the Faculty Liaison Role”. In Improving Teacher Education Practices Through Self-study, ed. J. Loughran and T. Russell. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
