Overview
Following the previous phase of the CPAR process, students and teachers should intentionally engage in reflection on the work they have done. These reflections make visible to the students’ their accomplishments from a perspective that feels very different than the day-to-day work process in which only minute details (and frustrations) are most visible: in reflection students remember the difficulties they encountered, the knowledge they accumulated, and the successes they experienced and gain an understanding of how all of these elements interact to create a powerful and complex whole. In reflection students develop agency over their own learning (see Adaptable Methods: Student Reflections), which is especially evident in the visioning, or gaze toward the future that should accompany reflection. Answering questions such as What could we have done better? emphasizes the recursive nature of the CPAR process and allows students to consider how they might adapt their approaches in the future. Answering Where do we go from here? allows students to recognize their present placement as distinct from where they began and capitalizes on their momentum in consideration of next steps.
It is worth acknowledging that school schedules, beyond impacting the timing of every other part of the CPAR process, similarly influence the implementation of the reflection phase. Because project timelines are inherently variable while academic calendars demand rigid consistency, you might conduct a reflection at a time when teams or individuals are at slightly different phases of the CPAR process (for example, perhaps all students have publicly presented their work, but perhaps not all students have begun or completed their action). Regardless of these inconsistencies, it is important not to skip this phase of CPAR. You should also aim to schedule reflections that are timely: for example, reflecting the day after public presentations gives students enough time to process the event as an exciting culmination of their work but is not so far removed that students have trouble recalling their experiences and feelings from the day.
It is worth acknowledging that school schedules, beyond impacting the timing of every other part of the CPAR process, similarly influence the implementation of the reflection phase. Because project timelines are inherently variable while academic calendars demand rigid consistency, you might conduct a reflection at a time when teams or individuals are at slightly different phases of the CPAR process (for example, perhaps all students have publicly presented their work, but perhaps not all students have begun or completed their action). Regardless of these inconsistencies, it is important not to skip this phase of CPAR. You should also aim to schedule reflections that are timely: for example, reflecting the day after public presentations gives students enough time to process the event as an exciting culmination of their work but is not so far removed that students have trouble recalling their experiences and feelings from the day.
Methods
Reflection Circle
Reflection Circles help build community by allowing students to share perspectives. In the circle, students answer a series of predetermined questions, ordered in such a way that allows for celebration, promotes depth of thinking, and ultimately prompts visioning for the future. Ideally, students should be given time to individually answer each question, writing notes that they can later use to share with the group. However, during dialogue students should not feel bound to share only what they wrote. This reflection circle also provides an excellent opportunity for the students to celebrate one another’s successes: in these circles students often highlight the work of classmates who are not always praised according to the traditional methods of schooling (e.g. grades). See example guidelines here.
Reflective Writing
Reflective writing, following a reflective circle, allows students to engage more deeply with their own experiences. Using their notes from the dialogue, students should choose one particular moment to write about. The writing should include both thick description (which requires attentive reflection) and analysis (which contextualizes their experience). If students are expected to ultimately submit professional, polished work, these reflections can serve to explain the use of CPAR to public audiences.
Teacher Reflection
It is important to note here the value of teacher reflections (see Adaptable Methods: Teacher Reflections) throughout the CPAR process but particularly at this point. As they are experts in their own experiences, student reflections about this process provide invaluable feedback to teachers who seek to guide students through CPAR again in the future. Teachers should also feel empowered to conduct their own reflections, likewise taking advantage of the opportunity during this phase to see how the individual elements, at times difficult and at times frustrating, serve to contribute to a successful and valuable whole. Intentional visioning around your future work with CPAR contributes to your own recursive learning about how to better serve your students by guiding them through such challenging but powerful work.
Up Next
Because of the recursive nature of the CPAR process, the conclusion of this phase should connect back to Phase I: Reframing and Recognizing Expertise in the Room. Intentional reflection provides students with a concrete memory and an understanding of themselves to draw from the next time they engage in CPAR. It will also help to frame their future work in Phase II: Generating a Structural Analysis as their present work has perhaps provided them with an understanding of the systems they will address in future research. Students should be encouraged to draw on this knowledge in future CPAR projects, and will often naturally reference their work and findings from previous years throughout all future phases of CPAR.
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