Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education
Date of this Version
Spring 2021
Document Type
Article
Citation
To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development (spring 2021) 39(3)
doi: 10.3998/tia.17063888.0039.302
Special issue: Educational Development in the Time of Crises
Abstract
The Pandemic Educational Development Research Collaborative (PEDRC) formed in April 2020 to record research-participants’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and systemic racism crises and includes 18 educational developers across various 4-year institutions, types of centers, and positions in the field. The novel research methodology used by PEDRC, called “fractal reflection,” includes an iterative process of reflection, analysis, and meaning-making at the individual, paired, and group levels. However, this methodology served as more than just a means to collect data; it also provided a set of effective reflective practices to support educational developers managing the emotional labor of their work in times of crises. In this article, we describe our method of “fractal reflection” and discuss the findings from and benefits of this process. We connect our process to the literature of reflective practice and conclude with some key characteristics of reflective practice that others can use to integrate fractal reflection methodologies into their work.
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Comments
License: CC BY-NC-ND