Foundations of Reflecting

Data generation and action do not flow between each other unmediated. The pragmatic fieldworker must reflect in order for the two to inform each other. Reflecting is the analytical partner to envisioning. The two mental processes work together to produce the inner world of social change. Reflecting is also key for transforming lived experience into theoretical models. As for pragmatic fieldwork, the method highlights the meaning-making power of intentional reflection. In a way, because of Dewey’s fusing of truth and inquiry, the act of reflection becomes just as valuable as knowing. 

Reflecting is also pivotal for sorting out practice-based abstractions (we often call them missions, policies, etc.). These are often not any less “theoretical” than academic theory. Reflection also has an ethical dimension. Without critical analysis of the state of affairs, we are unlikely to act rightly. To aid this, the fieldworker’s reflections can draw on the critical work done by others.

Skill Development for Reflect

Reflecting can be improved by journaling, meditating, identifying and resisting the urge to satisfice, reading critical scholarship, developing logical reasoning (deduction, induction, abduction), and learning techniques for reflexive consideration, close reading, and coding techniques.