Critical Friend

The term critical friend invokes a paradox of sorts—placing in tension the commonly received ideas of each of the words in the pair. In that tension, however, is the power of what it means to be a critical friend. To define the phrase requires a re-examination of the two words and a recombination of the meaning when they are used in partnership. While the word critical often carries a negative connotation, here it is applied to infer higher order thinking, particularly bringing evaluation and synthesis to bear. This application of ‘critical’ does not carry a positivist notion of objectivity, but rather it is subjective. It is assumed that the critical friend brings his or her own lenses, which are formed from a unique set of experiences, histories and understandings, into the inquiry.

‘Friend’ carries pieces of its meaning from its vernacular usage and challenges others. In this context, a friend is one who comes into relationship with another with the expressed intention of sharpening the partner's vision or understanding. The relationship is one that is sustained over time and is built upon trust, so that each individual in the partnership develops greater understanding of the inquiries brought to the fore—the relationship is reciprocal, not hierarchical. With these preconditions, critique can be received not as negative but as generative. A critical friend, in this sense, does not seek to bring quick agreement but rather to complicate by probing for deeper meaning and evidence and seeking possible alternative explanations, most often through the use of a protocol or process that is repeated regularly. For instance, critical friend groups may come together regularly and use a predictable pattern of presenting problems of practice, observations or research conundrums. Peers listen and offer responses in turn.

[Page 207]Similar to the notion of interpretive community in action research, the critical friend's role supports the co-generation of understanding and balances the closeness that the action researcher has with the data, participants and communities in her inquiry with an essential outside eye. The critical friend relationship offers understandings so that the researcher can see what might otherwise be elusive without the perspective of another person (or people). Arthur Costa and Bena Kallick, for example, use the metaphor of the optometrist, who offers first one and then another ‘view’ of the eye chart for the patient to try on as she discerns the clearest view.

The use of ‘critical friend’ has been most closely associated with educational action research and assessment efforts, first in primary and secondary schools and later in higher education. In all of its applications, the concept of the critical friend carries the assumption of a sustained relationship with the essential condition of trust.