Engaging Women Educators In Reflective Conversations

The role of reflection, particularly critical reflection, is often absent from an educator’s professional development, yet it is a powerful tool for personal and professional growth. Critical reflection, adult learning, and women’s collaboration informed the literature review in this dissertation. I conducted this basic qualitative study using an electronic survey, a focus group, and elicited documents to generate insights about women’s experiences with a critical reflection framework. Survey respondents were past and current women enrolled in a doctoral program. The focus group consisted of six women, including the author. The focus group was structured using Fook and Garner’s (2007) critical reflection framework. Elicited documents were collected from focus group participants. Data was analyzed using open and analytical coding. Three insights were gathered from the data: (a) Time and intentionality are essential for reflection; a specific framework is secondary; (b) engaging in critical reflection is part of adult learning; and (c) the critical reflection process can be empowering. Results of the study imply personal and professional reflection can be a significant form of professional development. More research is needed to study the long-term effects of the critical reflection process on educator performance