Abstract
Hunt’s book is directed primarily towards educational inquiry, reflective and pedagogical practices, although its perspective applies to a much broader range of professional areas. The book provides a masterclass on the foundations of reflective inquiry and the practices that can promote constructive transformative outcomes. Hunt’s distinctive contribution includes her analysis of spirituality in its contemporary context and its relevance for effective reflective practice. She not only covers the ground with great scholarship, but also boldly incorporates her own path through this complex terrain, giving an autobiographical tinge to the writing, and offering the reader valuable insights into her creative ways of working.
Before expanding on the book’s contents, I shall commence with what I think Hunt would join me in terming a “synchronicity.” Shortly after starting to read the book, a request landed in my inbox: Would I contribute to a Festschrift for Max Velmans to mark his 80th birthday? Max has contributed much to our understanding of consciousness over the years (e.g., Velmans, 2009, 2021), and the remit proposed for me—to focus on transpersonal aspects of his work—was one that I gladly accepted. The resulting article (Lancaster, 2023) has the subtitle, reflexivity at the core, which hints at the point I want to make here. Velmans terms his theory of consciousness “reflexive monism” and my article focuses on the ways in which the principle of reflexivity recurs at all levels of psyche from the physical—for example, in neural systems for perception—to the transcendent—with consciousness being the means through which the universe becomes reflexively aware of itself. For those of a religious bent, the latter might be expressed as God becoming conscious of Him-, Her-, Its-Self, as expressed in Jung’s myth for our day (Jung, 1961/1963).
When I returned to Hunt’s book, it rapidly became clear to me that a similar overarching role for reflective practice was its main thrust. Hunt describes the book’s purpose as being “to show how reflections on everyday practice widened into a search for meaning and purpose that led ultimately into the realm of spirituality” (p. 6). Reflecting on professional practice involves “two-way vision” (p. 227), looking simultaneously outwards and inwards; it requires “an awareness of all one’s ways of knowing, including the ground of that knowing and how it is embodied/expressed in practice” (p. 216, italics original). Hunt argues that this profound approach to knowing captures the essence of spirituality. Just as Velmans’ emphasis on reflexivity in understanding consciousness opens a larger outward vista on reflexivity as a cosmopsychic (Kastrup, 2018; Shani, 2015) process, so Hunt’s analysis of reflective practice turns a spotlight inwards to illuminate its value for understanding the nature of self and the “ground of all that is” (p. 217). The practitioner, according to Hunt, must address “the most fundamental question of all: ‘Who am I?’” (p. 241) for “critical reflection cannot be separated from spiritual inquiry” (p. 218). In mystical thought, this fundamental question lies, as it were, behind the initial stirrings of creation; the Source desires to know Itself (Lancaster, 2023).
A related theme running throughout the book concerns the process of coming to know—whether the knowledge is of self, the ground of all that is, or one’s ways of operating in professional contexts. Hunt follows Heron (1996) in identifying four ways of knowing: the practical (knowing a skill), propositional (knowing a fact or concept), presentational (knowing through imagery or feelings) and experiential (knowing through direct encounter). The strength of Hunt’s approach is well illustrated in this context by the way she further explicates these ways of knowing both by drawing connections with other authors’ ideas and through exploring her own ways of knowing. I found the personal component especially rich; I felt drawn into Hunt’s world, which is distinctly unusual for a scholarly work such as this. It is evident that she has been on a journey of discovery in relation to reflective practice, and the signposts she identifies from the journey add a rich guide for the reader. This autobiographical stance extends to Hunt’s “doodles,” which in some cases developed into models of the processes under examination. It is stimulating to witness the author’s process of discovery—through these sketchy drawings and her elaboration of imagery. From this perspective, the book is not only about reflective practice, but it also very much engages the reader in the process, which surely is the finest path to discovery.
A second major theme, strongly intersecting with the discussion of ways of knowing, is that of worldviews and their role in determining the aspirations and values associated with given ages. Again, the autobiographical motif is important—Hunt reflects with us on three books that were influential in forming the worldview that is at the core of her work. Like many, she believes that a major transition is taking place; we are transitioning from an age in which the fundamental worldview was that of what she defines as the “clockwork universe”—mechanistic, emphasising separateness and quantitative measurement—to a Gaian (after Lovelock, 1979) frame, in which holism, interconnectedness, and more qualitative approaches come to the fore. Hunt rightly identifies the role of myth in creating and sustaining worldviews and explores the signs of a new myth arising with the flag of Gaia on its mast.
Hunt’s portrayal of these changing worldviews is incisive. She effectively integrates the views of several authors whose works have been influential for these developments. More importantly for the book’s essential theme, she demonstrates how the worldviews impact on reflective practice: [T]he audit culture that many professionals find so demoralizing seems to be a product of the images, mythologies and ways of seeing—the mythopoesis—associated with a ‘clockwork universe’ worldview: it assumes that what is important is ‘out there’ and quantifiable; that systems are composed of separate, replaceable parts; and that professionals are components of a ‘society machine’ with outputs that can be measured primarily in economic terms. (p. 261)
It may be that Hunt’s hope that the Gaian worldview becomes dominant in the near future is overly optimistic; indeed, she notes signs of the clockwork worldview fighting to stay at the helm. But what I regard as important is exactly the stance Hunt takes—to consider the direction of travel for reflective professional practice under the new worldview. After all, whether or not the Gaian age effectively takes centre stage, many of its features are already highly influential—the need to take global positions in a transnational world; the incorporation of more holistic values in areas as diverse as education, health, and business development; and the ways in which “soul” is increasingly viewed in terms more spiritual than religious. Accordingly, aligning reflective professional practice with these values is timely. Indeed, the impetus that Hunt gives for this aim is not only reflective of a new worldview but is also formative, contributing to the shift that many of us are trying to promote.
The Gaian version of reflective practice becomes, in Hunt’s words, the challenge to find our individual paths that allow us to express “inner being in the provision of authentic service…. “[T]he very essence of being a professional…is about consciously bringing ‘inner being’ and ‘authentic service’ together” (p. 258, italics original). The term “authenticity” is critical for Hunt’s thesis. She sees spirituality as a search for authenticity, that we should real-ize (Hunt’s term) our individual paths, recognising the balance they generate between self-knowing, professional knowing and “the intangibility of the infinite ‘outside’” (p. 7).
I find little to criticise in this book. In places, I found Hunt’s use of quotations to be excessive; she clearly wanted to convey other authors’ ideas in their own words, but the flow of the book would have been improved with a more selective approach. And I think she could have gone further in speculating about the kinds of transformation that might be expected to arise through her spiritually sensitive approach, especially in specific areas such as education. But overall, I cannot fault the rich integration of ideas that has been achieved. Hunt’s approach casts significant light not only on reflective practice and paths to knowing but also on the changing nature of spirituality in our day and the mythical core of our values and aspirations.
I remarked earlier that a palpable strength of the book is Hunt’s own journey through which outwardly directed reflective practice became the catalyst for spiritual discovery. I found it refreshing to read a book by an author who clearly values authenticity. This book is not an exercise in academic narcissism, nor is it an excuse for expanding a CV. It is a resource for those who want their outer professional life to be in harmony with their sense of spiritual growth. This is a worthy and timely aim, and I highly recommend the book to all who may be seeking validity for their intuitions of a more wholesome approach to the professional worlds we create and inhabit.