Reviewing student work can be a confronting mirror.

When I analyze someone else’s research, I can flawlessly spot weaknesses in argumentation or methodological gaps. That critical distance comes naturally. But applying that same critical lens to my own work is a completely different story.

There’s a kind of blind spot for your own process. You’re so deep in it, so focused on the content, that it becomes harder to judge the form and structure objectively. It feels safer to play the role of the external expert than to apply that scrutiny to your own vulnerable process. It’s an ongoing point of attention for me: how to build routines that cultivate that necessary professional distance to my own projects.

#Reflection #AcademicLife #Research #Methodology