Reflective Practice and Goal Setting
Part of my growth process is engaging in a reflective practice on a regular basis (Clegg, 2000; Harvey, Clouson, & McMaugh, 2016). In higher education, the academic year is punctuated by seasons and rhythms of work that shape this reflective practice. Writing about my learning at the end of an academic year helps me with these reflections and inspires me as I review my annual goals for work and life, and set new ones for the coming year. I have shared my Annual Goals Template at the in the midstResources Page. If you are not already in this habit, consider adopting a goal setting and review routine, as part of your reflective practice and ongoing personal and professional growth.
How the Year Unfolded
Last year, around this time, I took a one-year contract at the University of Calgary, achieving a previous goal I had set to find work in my field, in Calgary, following the completion of my PhD. At the same time as I accepted that one-year contract, I had to adjust the timeline on my goal to find permanent or continuous work in my field. A one-year contract in my field was a strategic decision to move me closer to achieving the goal for continuous work.
When I made that timeline adjustment, I set some additional goals to boost my position as a candidate for any continuous roles that might open up. These additional goals followed the SMART Goal Framework: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time bound. Much has been written about SMART Goals (Bakker & van Woerkom, 2017; Lawlor & Hornyak, 2012; Weintraub, Cassell, & DePatie, 2021), including some critiques of their limitations (Daudkhane, 2017; Day & Tosey, 2011). I find SMART Goals useful in my goal setting practice. For the purposed of boosting my chances at a permanent job in my field, over the past year, I set out to:
1. design and teach a for-credit, university course (online, in-person, or hybrid), in the fall 2022 or winter 2023 term;
2. develop and lead a session based on my doctoral research findings, in the fall 2022 term;
3. publish two peer-reviewed articles based on my doctoral research, by the end of the 2022-2023 academic year; and,
4. apply for and secure a continuous job in my field, in Calgary, to start in summer 2023 (at the end of my one-year contract).
Achieving and Adjusting Goals
I am pleased to report that I achieved goals 1, 2, and 4 within the 2022-2023 academic year, while working full-time in a my one-year contract. I mention that the one-year contract was a full-time role because I do not want to diminish how challenging it was to start a new job in summer 2022, at an institution and in a department where I had not worked before, learn the new job, learn the institutional culture, develop new collegial relationships within the department and across the institution, while also working on the above four professional goals. Through in the move from Edmonton to Calgary in the fall 2022 and hosting family so that we could celebrate my PhD and attend the convocation ceremony in November, and, let’s just say, it was an incredibly demanding time in my life. All of this meant that I worked every weekend and often extra-long days during the work-week.
Goal Number 1: Achieved
In the winter 2023 term, I taught a for-credit university online on Saturdays and did course prep and grading on Sundays and either early in the morning or late at night on weekdays as well, just to keep up with all the grading.
Goal Number 2: Achieved
I was fortunate that my full-time job was interested in the practical implications of my doctoral research, and they created space and opportunity for me to develop a practice-oriented, professional development session as part of my contract with them. That allowed me to check goal number 2 off my list.
Goal Number 4: Achieved
Achieving goal number 4 was incredibly strenuous. I started applying to positions in the fall 2022 term and started interviewing for positions in January 2023. I had to expand my search beyond Calgary, and seriously pursued opportunities that would have required a long-distance relocation. I spend a lot of my so-called “free time” searching for and applying to jobs, tailoring my applications to each individual position, and preparing for and participating in multiples rounds of job interviews, both online and in person. With just weeks remaining in my one-year contract, I felt a tremendous sense of relief when I received the job offer for the continuous/permanent position I now have. Phew! By then, my evening and weekend teaching gig was done and I could stop searching for jobs. Suddenly, I had actual free time again. It felt ahhh-maze-ing!!!!!
Goal Number 3: Adjusted
In the midst of all that flurry of extra work over the course of the 2022-2023 year, I somehow managed to submit several articles to academic journals, for peer review. However, as is the way with scholarly publishing, I felt was the defeat of when three of my submissions were rejected. Others were sent back with the requirement to “revise and resubmit.” Ultimately, I was unable to get even one article published by the end of the academic year.
So, I adjusted the timeline on goal number 3, with the intention of setting that writing aside for a while and returning to submit it again at a later date. When I get back to it after some down time, I will be excited, once again, to share research, as a contribution to both scholarly and public conversations about theory and practice. It is humbling to have journals reject my work, but I know that when I have time and energy to return to my writing, I will have new eyes and insights about it, and this iterative process may make the work stronger or more relevant for whichever journals I decide to approach next.
Beyond Goals: Walking Reflection and Creative Flow
For many years, I have enjoyed going for brisk walks on my own, both as a form of exercise and to facilitate my reflective practice. I find this form of movement is ideal for reflective and critical consideration of how things have unfolded. Walking also seems to stimulate creative thinking; I am often inspired with new ideas and can map out entirely new projects in my head, while I am walking.
