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Disequilibrium and critical reflection

In addressing disequilibrium through problem-posing education, participants described the transformative process, critical reflection, and how they coped while in disequilibrium; they also identified various examples of disorienting issues.

The following statements by Molly and Alicia represented the experiences of participants. According to Molly

I came into the doctoral program believing I was a good person wanting good for all people. In the program I collided with information that made me realize I held certain beliefs that impeded actually advocating for all people. This required a dismantling, tearing down, deconstructing so I could construct an identity and possess a depth of understanding required to walk with a social justice posture.

Alicia reported,

You have got to be willing to strip down and become completely naked and then begin to clothe yourself with the humility, courage, and integrity to choose freedom from issues of socialization and indoctrination that hinder the rights of others. It is a process of birth and rebirth while recognizing a tendency to revert to earlier ways of being for the sake of comfortablility.

Participants recognized that disequilibrium involved self and the world as expressed by Mark: “You challenge your biases and prejudices in a way that may really disrupt your world. Donna viewed the challenge as “Getting past the threats to my belief system because I had a pretty hard barrier up.” Sharon stated, “The process was freeing and enlightening because I’m willing to risk, be afraid, challenge fundamental beliefs, and attend to what I previously would have ignored.” Marie cried and stated she “felt panic of being out of control and the loss of sense of self because of challenging beliefs I never would have considered questioning.” Tricia expressed frustration over her perceptions of how institutions shaped her:

I felt anger because I felt that the different arenas in which I was indoctrinated while growing up such as church, education, and family had given me partial pieces of the puzzle and that caused me to be fragmented within my individual self. I felt I was deceived into believing I stood for something that I didn’t because of my unexamined assumptions and uninformed beliefs that came through socialization. The anger was in part directed at the people that I felt contributed to this fragmentation but also at myself for not asking questions, digging deeper, and confronting myself.

Critical reflection was connected to working through disequilibrium. Rosie indicated, “It was self-searching where you thought you knew your way only to realize you really know nothing about your way.” According to John, reflection involved examining what and why beliefs were held: “You have to go deep down and reflect on those thoughts.” Luke responded to disequilibrium through reflection “over something I believed in the past and how I’m struggling to understand different perspectives about that belief in the present.” These comments illustrated the use of reflection in working through disequilibrium.

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Source:  OpenStax, Education leadership review, volume 12, number 1 (april 2011). OpenStax CNX. Mar 26, 2011 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11285/1.2
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