On Becoming a Critically Reflexive Practitioner

Abstract

Critically reflexive practice embraces subjective understandings of reality as a basis for thinking more critically about the impact of our assumptions, values, and actions on others. Such practice is important to management education, because it helps us understand how we constitute our realities and identities in relational ways and how we can develop more collaborative and responsive ways of managing organizations. This article offers three ways of stimulating critically reflexive practice: (a) an exercise to help students think about the socially constructed nature of reality, (b) a map to help situate reflective and reflexive practice, and (c) an outline and examples of critically reflexive journaling.

More than a method? Organisational ethnography as a way of imagining the social

“…Reflexivity goes beyond taken-for-granted ways of sense making (Cunliffe 2004), and as part of imaginative praxis, it enables the person to envisage other ways of doing things, to look beyond the level of everyday context seen as a necessity and given, such as the constraints of social class, family and work. According to Mills (1959), the sociological imagination makes connections between the larger picture and the local situation, the here and now and the historical -hence the importance of learning about history.…”

The drunkard’s search: Looking for ‘HRM’ in all the wrong places

“…Thus, while drawing on positivist prescriptions of how to implement a specific performance appraisal system, for example, a manager might also draw on constructionism in order to understand how either their own values or the values of others might impact on the overall efficacy of the system. This also allows and, indeed, encourages managers to understand and gain insight into their own assumptions (Cunliffe 2004(Cunliffe ,2001) Emphasising those recommendations further, our contention is that managers need to openly discuss the relevance of such insights or they will be forever locked into the smokescreen of hyperbole and rhetoric that surrounds much prescription for HRM practices. Yet, interpretivists must also engage with the positivists if their cause is to be incorporated into HRM practice.…”

“…The link between analysis and practice is facilitated in that we have a better understanding of what people actually do. This allows practitioners to reflect on the extent to which their own actions, judgements, biases and attitudes produce what they end up managing as HRM (Cunliffe 2004(Cunliffe , 2001). …”

Integrating a Triple Bottom-Line Approach into the Management System: A Framework for Institutions and Businesses Alike

“…The process is informed through established theoretical knowledge and consideration of the existing situation and where it should be in order to apply rational standards. (Cunliffe 2004;Caproni and Arias 1997) In this fashion, one's own assumptions and experiences help to develop a more progressive and holistic way to consider organizational management since reflective practitioners are able to think beyond the day-to-day operations.…”

“…(Schön 1983;Argyris 1982Argyris , 1991 By considering past occurrences and goals, practitioners are better equipped to deal with challenges and opportunities because they have reflected on themselves and the situation, ultimately creating theory within the practice of personal experience. (Cunliffe 2004) The reflection must be applied within concepts of practice to be transformative, not abstract. (Gray 2007;Marsick and Watkins 1990) In terms of critical reflection, Argyris (1991) defines two types of learning: Single and double-loop.…”