Reflective Practitioner Goals

Developing with respect to Reflective Practitioner Goals overlaps substantially with Taking Initiative In and Through Relationships. (In addressing the goals to follow readers who are not students should substitute “research and writing projects” for references to “courses” and “programs of study.”) Plus-Delta Feedback is a suitable format for taking stock of these goals as the project proceeds and in a Self-Assessment at the End.

Goals

1. “I have integrated knowledge and perspectives from my current and past courses into my own inquiry and engagement in social or educational change.”

2. “I have also integrated into my own inquiry and engagement the processes, experiences, and struggles of previous courses.”

3. “I have developed efficient ways to organize my time, research materials, computer access, bibliographies, etc.”

4. “I have experimented with new tools and experiences, even if not every one became part of my toolkit as a learner, teacher-facilitator of others, and reflective practitioner.”

5. “I have paid attention to the emotional dimensions of undertaking my own project but have found ways to clear away distractions from other sources (present and past) and not get blocked, turning apparent obstacles into opportunities to move into unfamiliar or uncomfortable territory.”

6. “I have developed peer and other horizontal relationships. I have sought support and advice from peers, and have given support and advice to them when asked for.”

7. “I have taken the lead, not dragged my feet, in dialogue with my advisor and other readers. I did not wait for the them to tell me how to solve an expository problem, what must be read and covered in a literature review, or what was meant by some comment I did not understand. I did not put off giving my writing to my advisor and other readers or avoid talking to them because I thought that they did not see things the same way as I do.”

8. “I have revised seriously, which involved responding to the comments of others. I came to see this not as bowing down to the views of others, but taking them in and working them into my own reflective inquiry until I could convey more powerfully to others what I'm about (which may have changed as a result of the reflective inquiry).”

9. “I have inquired and negotiated about formal standards, but gone on to develop and internalize my own criteria for doing work—criteria other than jumping through hoops set by the professor so I get a good grade.”

10. “I have approached this course and the program of studies as a whole as works-in-progress, which means that, instead of harboring criticisms to submit after the fact, I have found opportunities to affirm what is working well in the course or program and to suggest directions for their further development.”

(See Phase J)