This idea is being introduced at this point so that you can use it as you think about the impact of feedback.
The Johari window is named after its originators, Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingram (for some reason there is only ever one ‘r? in ‘Johari?). It consists of four different areas which are shown in Figure 15 and looks rather like the separate panes of a window.
The open area covers what you know about yourself. You know about this aspect and are happy to share it with others. An example might be if you are happy to tell someone about your job.
The blind area includes what other people know about you but of which you are not aware. You might, for instance, be unaware of always using a particular phrase that irritates everyone you come into contact with.
Figure 15 Basic 4-pane Johari windowLong descriptionThe other two areas are the hidden area and the unknown area. The hidden area is what you know about yourself, but would prefer other people not to know. For example, this could include opinions that you do not want to share with others as well as any aspects of your life that you feel ashamed or guilty about.
The final area is unknown both to you and to others. This might include hidden talents, unconscious feelings or abilities and qualities that have never been brought to the surface. In other words, it may represent resources that could help your learning. Knowing about the likelihood of these, as yet, unknown resources is also a good reason for getting involved in new activities with new groups of people. Doing this opens up new possibilities of working with other people to find out more about your unknown area.
None of these areas is fixed. We can increase the size of the open area by asking other people to tell us what they know about us ? in other words by asking them for feedback. We can also increase this area by revealing hidden aspects of ourselves to other people. We can reduce the size of the unknown area by looking into ourselves (self-discovery) or by finding out about ourselves with the help of others (shared discovery).
These possibilities for movement are explained in a short video below, called ‘Johari window? ? watch this now.
Interactive content appears here. Please visit the website to use it.Transcript
Johari windowThe next activity asks you to use Karen, one of the case studies, to get some practice with using the Johari window before you apply it to yourself.
Watch the Case Study videos about Karen below. Use these to help describe what you see as being in Karen?s open Johari area ? remember that this area includes what she is aware of and is happy to share.
Karen Part 1Interactive content appears here. Please visit the website to use it.Transcript Karen Part 2Interactive content appears here. Please visit the website to use it.Transcript Karen Part 3
Did you think that Karen?s open area was reasonably extensive? You might have noticed that she spoke quite freely about both her personal and her educational background. She also told us quite a bit about her current role as a social worker. Karen also seemed to be quite open with regard to some of the skills and qualities she uses in this role.
I think particularly my mother was quite a strong character and she could be quite demanding at times. But, I think looking after mum and working on the home help, I understood that you have to listen to what people want not just to assume that you know best … You can?t sort of dictate to them if you want to be a carer. Then you have to be prepared to listen to the person that you are caring for. And I sort of transferred that over into my social work role as putting that person at the forefront of what they want and not particularly what I want if it?s going to fit in.
This activity uses Karen to show how asking for feedback may help increase the size of someone?s ‘open? area. Watch the videos below and then answer the following questions:
In addition, see if you can answer these questions:
Karen Part 1Interactive content appears here. Please visit the website to use it.Transcript Karen Part 2
Of course, it is only possible to guess what feedback Karen (and indeed the other case study subjects) might have had and the effects it has had. It is clear that Karen must have had feedback from her Open University tutors, as well as her colleagues and managers at work. Perhaps some of this aspect has given her the confidence to do what she has done, and maybe some of the feedback means that Karen still feels: ‘I am not an academic person…?.
Thinking about how Karen might have used the feedback she has had should help you think about how you might use feedback. It may be that other people have already helped you. The next activity has this as its focus.
Think back and choose a time when you have received feedback that has had a marked and positive effect on your learning. For example, you might have had a maths teacher who has given you a lasting confidence in your ability with numbers. As a result of a comment from them, you still enjoy working with figures and use then in daily activities, such as planning your household budget.
Using your Learning Journal, write down the main aspects of the feedback you received. Did this feedback help reduce the blind area you might have on your Johari window and, at the same time, increase your open area?
Sometimes feedback can be useful and helpful. At other times it can be negative or even undermine confidence in our own abilities. However, it is also clear that we need such feedback in order to build a picture of what we are good at and what we could improve on. There is only one solution to this problem ? we have to choose people that we can trust and who have no ‘axe to grind?.
An example of the dire consequences of asking the wrong person for advice is found in Shakespeare?s play Othello. Othello asks Iago for advice about how to be sure of his wife Desdemona?s affection. He thinks Iago is his best friend. In fact, Iago is jealous of Othello and gives advice which leads to Othello killing Desdemona and himself.
You might also want to use this activity to decide how you are going to approach getting feedback. You might decide that there is someone who would be willing to help and whom you trust; or you might feel that this is not going to be possible for you.
Figure 16 You need to be careful who you trust to give you good adviceLong descriptionHave a look back over the activities you have done already. Draw a personal Johari window for yourself. It may look like this diagram:
Figure 17 Personal Johari windowLong descriptionThe first part of this activity is to use your responses to the earlier activities in this section to see what you can put in the open area of your Johari window. This also provides another chance to review your qualities, knowledge and skills.
Once you have done this, you will need to put your Johari window somewhere safe until you have done the next part of this activity. This involves getting feedback from someone. Remember that the alternative is to use an imagined mentor to work out a new perspective on your qualities, knowledge and skills.
If you are using a personal contact, you will need to obtain their agreement to giving you feedback. You can decide what type of feedback you would like. It could relate to some of the aspects covered in this section, or you could opt for something else.
Once you have had your feedback, go back to your personal Johari window. Has the feedback helped increase the size of your open area? You could add in a description of this new element in your open area and even, if it was very helpful feedback, adjust the line between open and blind areas, so that the blind area is smaller.
If you have opted to try to imagine what feedback you might get from someone, you should attempt to do much the same. Have you increased the size of your open area and found out something about yourself that you were not very aware of?
If you cannot increase the size of your open area, this might be because you already have a very clear idea of yourself. Alternatively, it may be because you find it difficult to justify taking the time to focus on yourself. (If the latter applies to you, you might want to consider why this might be the case.)
The Johari window acts as a good way to think about the role of other people and our relationships with them. The window shows that other people are significant in two ways:
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