ABSTRACT
When I asked the bright and plucky public sector statutory team I currently manage to dive into the assumption-unsettling reflecting pool of critical reflection, and as they began to reflect upon the incidents that irked and irritated, troubled and preoccupied them in their practice, something happened that I did not expect. Usually an upbeat crew – indeed, remarkably optimistic and enthusiastic for a team of frontline workers, in my experience – the team approached the reflections with characteristically open-minded attitudes and the willingness to learn a new skill. But, despite their generosity of spirit, the sessions always seemed to grow tense and gloomy. And even though they tried to humour me with encouraging feedback, people started making excuses to get out of the sessions, and some members of the team made it quite clear that they would not be at all interested in participating as a reflector in the proverbial ‘hot seat’. I had been so excited about introducing critical reflection to the team, but even I was beginning to dread it. It was obvious to everyone that our critical reflections were becoming, well … cringe-ical.
