INTRODUCTION
Think-pieces on Critical, Creative and Reflective Practices

The four frameworks and the associated tools and processes are, to us, the authors, worth using: obviously—otherwise we would not have assembled them into a book. But how do we envisage you, the readers, being moved to apply them? Of course, if you are a student of ours, you might use them because we require that. Other readers might want evidence of the effectiveness of the framework, tool, or process applied to situations like those you find yourself in. However, some of you, we hope, might not to wait for us to provide such evidence. You might experiment for yourself with some of the frameworks/tools/processes. By adopting or adapting them in your own research and engagement, you could build up a toolbox to draw from. It is this experimentation and toolbox-building response that Part 4 aims to foster through a set of think-pieces on critical, creative and reflective practices.

The think-pieces recount phases—or passages—in our own development as teachers and researchers concerned with personal, professional, and social change. The journeys—passages in another sense of the word—we have undertaken are ones of exploration, of moving into unfamiliar or unknown areas. Such journeys involve risk, open up questions, create more experiences than can be integrated at first, require support, and yield personal change. In this spirit, we provide snapshots and sketches, not detailed chronicles; we want to open up questions and point to a complexity of relevant considerations, but leave them for you to chew on. We hope you say: "Yes, I like the idea of exploring. I think I'll try out this or that framework/tool/process and weave it into my own work.” In doing so, you would have to address the specific constraints you personally operate under, not the least your own foibles, blinders, and enthusiasms. Evidence of effectiveness is a limited guide for that.

There is a critical or contrasting position implied by offering think-pieces. We do not accept the premise that, before people adopt a new approach, they need to be shown, in some quantitative way, that it is effective. For a start, what counts as effective is not simple—is it assessed by your score on some test, your confidence as a creative agent, your continued use of the approach five years later, or...? In any case, people can make a mess copying someone else's "proven" approach; they can make it fail by not being into it, by being rote in the way they apply it. Our premise is that ideas—even very good ideas—need to be worked into a person's webs of practices, imaginations, and interests. You are always being confronted with new situations and finding ways to respond, so we want to affirm your ability to shape your own work and lives. From the think-pieces to follow, you can draw resources for your work- and life-shaping explorations; indeed, experimentation and work/life-shaping explorations is what our think-pieces aim to model.

While we resist demands for proven effectiveness, the think-pieces emphasize the importance of making space away from our practice and practicing from time to time to take stock of the outcomes and experiences. We'd be happy to be brought into any conversations you have about your explorations, sharing resources, struggles, and accomplishments.

(To retain the flow of the original think-pieces but minimize repetition, readers are directed in certain places to sections in previous think-pieces or other entries in the book.)