A Critical Friend - Thanks
November 3rd, 2004Lois Ann Scheidt writes:
“At the The International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (IS_SoTL) conference I was present during a panel discussion where a conference attendee asked the presenter about the “role of a critical friend.” The term grabbed me and I knew I had to spend a bit of time finding out what it meant. After some web searching I found the following definition and citation.
“A critical friend can be defined as a trusted person who asks provocative questions, provides data to be examined through another lens, and offers critiques of a person’s work as a friend. A critical friend takes the time to fully understand the context of the work presented and the outcomes that the person or group is working toward. The friend is an advocate for the success of that work.”
- Costa, A. and Kallick, B. (1993) Through the Lens of a Critical Friend. Educational Leadership 51(2) 49-51
Critical friends are important in librarianship as well. Not only can we bitch and moan to one another about our jobs (or lack thereof), but we can throw ideas off of one another, and be critical of the others work without having the least bit of guilt. So, thank you, to all of my critical friends that I have met (online and off) over the past 4 years. (link via Mathemagenic)