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Rara - be scattered, to have an effect, shoal of fish.
The 'rara' in raranga can be interpreted to mean 'to have an effect' or to shake things up. The effect that we are able to have on children's learning through review is greatly influenced by our ability to make wise judgments and act accordingly. In making wise judgments, we need to be able to look at our practice critically.
Throughout this process, we were always reflecting by working through the questions and thinking about what they mean and how they look from the child's perspective. We realised that there was no way that we could ever fully understand their perspective, but we would always endeavour to try.
[Wisdom is] a way of knowing.
2001
Joy Goodfellow suggests that wisdom involves a combination of experience, knowledge and action with these characteristics:
- reasoning ability
- an expression of concern for others
- an ability to learn from ideas and environment
- an ability to make sound judgments (moral issues)
- the expeditious use of experience
- intuition through which an ability to see through things, read between the lines and interpret the environment is displayed.
In effective review, wisdom is achieved through reflection and reflexivity. These actions require a level of self-awareness coupled with an ability to share our discoveries with others in the learning community. Reflection and reflexivity allow us to scrutinise our practice honestly and openly, without blame.
Reflection
Reflection enables us to see beyond the taken-for-granted ways of doing things and explore alternatives for our practice. Reflection supports us in developing an understanding of the way in which we make decisions and of the values and beliefs that underpin them. Becoming aware of how we make these decisions is a way of clarifying our thinking.
Reflection in review
Reflection in review allows us to use what we know (sometimes called tacit knowledge) and what we find out through the process of review to discover new theories. These theories have the potential to influence and challenge our practice. In this way, reflection opens up possibilities and opportunities to change and improve. We can look critically at ourselves in the light of what we learn about our practice.
Reflexivity
[Reflexivity is the way] organizations 'turn around' upon themselves, critically examine their rationales and values and, if necessary, deliberately reorder or reinvent their identities and structures
2000, pages 299 to 230
Reflexivity reminds us that knowledge is located within a context and is therefore never free from bias.
Reflexivity in review
Reflexivity in review enables us to suspend our judgments by accepting the fact that there are many ways of knowing and coming to know. We can then respond to different kinds of information coming from a range of perspectives. Rather than dismissing these insights because they are different from our commonly held beliefs, we explore them through the process of preparing, gathering, making sense and deciding.
Processes for reflecting
Reflecting deeply requires 3 increasingly challenging processes:
Reflection-in-action
Thinking 'on your feet' and responding 'on the spot'.
Reflection-on-action
Examining what happened by asking others, questioning ourselves, and reading different theories about it. At this point, we begin to critically examine ourselves. (The first 2 processes are adapted from Schön, 1983.)
Reflection-on-action
Developing new theories and consolidating, adapting or changing practice as a result.
[In reflection, we are] expecting to be surprised, and prepared to change our minds
2004, page 45
In this way, reflection can be viewed as a disposition to enquire and not give up. We remain open to possibilities amidst the challenge! By being openly reflexive, we have the opportunity to discover new insights about ourselves, our practice and our human condition. We can make the most astounding discoveries at the most unlikely times because we are focused on making meaning rather than being proven 'right'.
