Part 1:
Reflection in Action: Doing Things Right
A required reading in most administrative certification programs is Donald Schön’s
book, The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. In the book, Schon describes how professionals really go about solving problems. Schön contends that most challenges professionals face at work rely less on various heuristics learned in schools and more on the kind of improvisation learned in practice—what Schön terms, “reflection in action.” Along with the listening, observing, and adjusting that professionals perform in the reflective process, at some juncture professionals will step back and “reflect on action.” When in action professionals are focused on “doing things right.” When stepping back from the action professionals are focused on “doing the right things.”
School administrators are most comfortable with the first administrative move in Schon’s reflective model—reflection in action. Their training, along with the managerial tools in their offices, are designed to implement—getting stuff done. The table below outlines the steps and functions for doing things right. The distinction Schön will draw between doing things right and doing the right things is the pure act of reflection. In the implementation stage, reflection is embedded in the feedback function. Every task in the implementation function provides immediate feedback—budget overruns, lack of personnel, lack of time—which require immediate attention. All administrators good at their jobs will acquire the knowledge and skills to make the necessary adjustments to make certain that all tasks in the implementation function are carried out. In the next two blogs, I will describe what Schön means by reflection on action which is rarely practiced in main offices.
| TO IMPLEMENT | |
| Doing things right | |
| STUDY | Observe Research Theorize Select |
| PLAN | Goals— Objectives Assessment Organize Train |
| DO | Train Schedule Allocate Monitor Measure Adjust |
| INSTITUTE | Budget Personnel Material Location Supervise Assess Document |
Alan C. Jones 