Jul 22, 2009
Practice notes D. Schon
A useful overview of practice by D. Schon in a section reflecting on practice.
The word “practice” is ambiguous. When we speak of lawyer’s practice, we mean the kind of things he does the kinds of clients he has, the range of cases he is called upon to handle. When we speak of someone practicing the piano, however, we mean repetitive or experimental activity by which he tries to increase his proficiency on the instrument. In the first sense, “practice” refers to performance in a range of professional situations. In the second it refers to preparation for performance. But professional practice also includes an element of repetition. A professional practitioner is a specialist who encounters certain kinds of situations again and again…As a practitioner experiences many variations of a small number of types of cases he is able to “practice” his practice. He develops a repertoire of expectations, images and techniques. He learns what to look for and how to respond to what he finds. As long as his practice is stable, in the sense that it brings him the same types of cases, he becomes less and less subject to surprise. His knowing-in-practice tends to become increasingly tacit, spontaneous and automatic, thereby conferring upon him and his clients the benefits of specialization.
Schon, D 1983, The Reflective Practitioner, Ashgate, London. pp. 60
A practitioner’s reflection can serve as a corrective to over learning. Through reflection he can surface and criticize the tacit understandings that have grown up around the repetitive experiences of of a specialized practice, and can make a new sense of the situations of uncertainty or uniqueness which he may allow himself to experience.
Schon, D 1983, The Reflective Practitioner, Ashgate, London. pp. 61