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Critical Incidents: Becoming a Reflective Practitioner

Whilst there is no overall academic consensus as to exactly what

qualifies as a critical incident, David Tripp (1993) explained that
critical incidents are produced by the way we look at and interpret
the significance of an event. It can be argued that that
interpretation can only be achieved through the process of
reflection. Daudelin (1996, 39) defines reflecting as: the process
of stepping back from an experience to ponder its meaning to
the self Many theorists such as Fook, White and Gardner (2006,
9) believe it is not enough to simply reflect, because it tends to
remain at the level of undisruptive changes of technique
Theorists such as Brookfield (1995) believe that critical reflection is
what is required for teachers to develop their authentic voice and
pedagogic rectitude. Through the course of this essay I will
analyse different methods and models for reflection and apply
them to critical incidents that I have experienced during my
teaching practice to date.

Dewey (1910) tells us being reflective enables us to direct our

actions with foresight, however it is Schons (1983) reflection-inaction and reflection-on-action theory that was most relevant in a
critical incident I witnessed. During a group activity, I caught one of
my learners viewing a very graphic sexual image on his computer.
I immediately told him to turn it off however before he did so he
sent the image to another learner in the class and I saw it open on
that learners computer screen. I then of course told that learner to
remove the image from his computer also. As I reflected-in-action
I came to the conclusion that I could not continue the input without
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further intervention, so I stopped the activity and addressed the

class. I made it clear that this was a serious breach of the code of
conduct that would result in disciplinary measures if repeated. The
class was left in no doubt that this behaviour was unacceptable.
Afterwards as I reflected-on-action, I realised that whilst I handled
the situation appropriately in the classroom, I had a duty of care to
safeguard other learners from a repeat of the action and to
safeguard myself from accusations of undervaluing the magnitude
of what transpired, so I reported the incident to the course leader
who carried out an investigation. This resulted in both the learners
involved being disciplined by the head of department and the
incident added to their student profiles. Whilst I found this method
of critical reflection effective, Ixer (1999) argues that reflection-inaction cannot be applied to those working in professionally
demanding jobs because practitioners utilise knowledge built up
from their own experience. Greenwood (1993) also criticises
Schon for downplaying the importance of reflection-before-action
which involves thinking through what to do and how to do it before
actually doing it. As it is not possible to reflect on every potential
scenario before it happens, previous experience can be effective
to inform us how to act in (or react to) different circumstances.
Kolb (1984, 38) believes that learning is the process whereby
knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.
Boud et al. (1985, 7) however states that experience is not
sufficient for learning and goes on to suggest that structured
reflection reflection that prompts questions or actions to enable
deeper thought is the key to learning from experience.

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Johns (1994) model, based on a list of five key questions,

recognises the importance of sharing reflections as part of building
a community of practice, which is defined as groups of people
who share a concern [and] who deepen their knowledge and
expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis (Wenger et. al.,
2002). I found this particularly interesting when I reflected on a
critical incident involving a number of students who failed to return
to class after a break because I had told them that I would not
allow them any more lesson time to work on their assignments. As
someone who would consider himself what LaBoskey (1994)
would call a pedagogical thinker, my reflection involved me asking
of a lot of questions of myself: What is my instinctive response to
this, and why am I feeling or acting in this way? Brookfield (ibid.)
and his critical lenses theory provided a useful model to analyse
this event because it allowed me to view what occurred through
four different perspectives (lenses): my own (autobiographical), the
students, my colleagues and theoretical perspectives. This model
forced me to consider the views of others on an equal footing with
those of my own, in particular, looking at it from the students
perspective. As Brookfield (ibid., 35) says: the most fundamental
metacriterion for judging whether or not good teaching is
happening is the extent to which teachers deliberately and
systematically try to get inside students heads I also
appreciated the importance it places on seeing things through the
peer lens. The shrouds of silence that Brookfield says usually
surrounds teaching practice have been removed and my
relationship with their usual teacher has deepened as we regularly
reflect on our teaching practice. He is definitely a significant figure
in my community of practice and it was by reflecting mainly with
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him and through the students lens that my initial feelings of

outrage and annoyance gave way to self-awareness. Whilst I still
stand by the decision I had made, I developed a degree of
empathy towards my learners. Brookfields model works well when
dealing with significant critical incidences, however for those
smaller in scale it may be far too unwieldy. Due to their simplicity,
Bortons (1970) What So what Now what? model or
Greenaways (1998) Do Review Plan could be better for
reflecting on an incident that requires much more practical
expediency (real world application). The impact this critical
incident had on me emotionally however (how it made me feel)
would not have been explored sufficiently by using these methods.

The role that feelings have in the reflection process is one that a
number of theorists have sought to develop. The strength of
Brookfields model for example is to reflect through different
perspectives but it could be argued that it too does not give much
emphasis to an individuals feelings, or at the very least, it can lead
to mixed messages (e.g. because I saw the incident through the
students eyes, was I wrong to feel annoyance and disrespected
by their actions?) Gibbs (1998) reflective cycle places personal
feelings alongside the experience of what occurred, which proved
useful when I reflected on a critical incident involving a female
learner who, upon noticing was withdrawn and tearful I engaged in
conversation to see if I could help. She said she was fine and in
the course of the conversation offered to show me a picture of her
newborn baby son. When I asked his name, one of the other
learners remarked: Was his name, hes dead! The incident
(Stage 1) made me feel (Stage 2) deep sorrow and
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embarrassment. A thorough evaluation (Stage 3) of the incident

revealed that the good to come out of this was that the learner
was able to express her grief in a safe environment, the bad was
that through an insensitive comment from one of her peers, she
was confronted with the harsh reality of her situation and I was left
feeling I had contributed to the incident. Through analysis (Stage
4) of the situation I realised that in light of all the facts available to
me at the time I was not to know that she was grieving and the
conclusion (Stage 5) I drew was that she was actually attending
college as part of the bereavement process. What this taught me
was that in order to provide a safe learning environment for my
learners I needed all relevant information about them, so my action
plan (Stage 6) was to read all my students profiles before
engaging with any learner under my care. As well as a focus on
personal feelings, Gibbs model provides the opportunity to
evaluate, analyse and to learn from an experience. It could
however be argued that Gibbs model doesnt allow for the deep
level reflection or critical thinking, that according to Silverman and
Casazza (2000, 239), goes beyond mere reflection to
deconstruct long-held habits by looking beyond the behaviour
itself to their own self-image and examining why they do what they
do. In other words, in order to reflect effectively, one needs to
challenge pre-conceived ideas and assumptions of both the self
and the workplace.

As someone who has been out of education and working in

industry for over twenty years, my career (indeed my life) has been
peppered with what could be described as critical incidents. Im
pleased to say that reflection has played a part in each of them in
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some way or another (even if I didnt realise it at the time). I

believe that to reflect is to show you care. One thing that has
become clear to me as I reflect on my teaching practice is how
much baggage preconceived ideas, beliefs and assumptions I
have collected along the way and have brought with me into the
classroom. When I first started teaching I had strong ideas on
things such as learner behavior, classroom etiquette and
acceptable levels of discipline. All of these have been tested and
reflected on and, as a consequence, I have adapted. Reflection
has shown me that learners are not the same as employees and
should not be treated as such. As a result I now feel much more
comfortable in my role as a teacher. Whilst I still expect learners to
maintain high standards in my classroom, I believe that structured
reflection has provided me with the tools to make my teaching
practice much more productive for both learner and teacher alike.

Words: 1636

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Course Name/Year: PGCE (PCET) 2014/15

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Greenaway, R. (1995). Powerful Learning Experiences in

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Tripp, David (1993) Critical Incidents in Teaching. London:

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Course Name/Year: PGCE (PCET) 2014/15

Course Component: UTXGTG-30-3 Comp B