80 - Breaking the one-way mirror: Building participant reflection into evaluation design

Abstract Information: Evaluations can sometimes feel extractive—like we’re using a one-way mirror to observe and obtain information from participants in the programs we are evaluating. In this Birds of a Feather session, we will explore the idea of using reflective practice as a tool to break that mirror. Currently used predominantly in the healthcare and formal education fields, reflective practice has the potential to provide benefits such as improved self-efficacy, generating new ideas, and supporting creative thinking and problem solving. The hosts of this session will facilitate a discussion about the ways in which evaluations can build opportunities for evaluation participants to engage in reflective practice. We will discuss questions such as: What role might evaluation play in supporting reflective practice? What opportunities and challenges exist to designing evaluations that intentionally center opportunities for participants to reflect? How else might evaluations be reframed so as to reduce the inherent power imbalance and be more mutually beneficial for the evaluator and evaluation participants?