Editorial: Looking through the Johari window

Abstract

Research for All is dedicated to research that involves universities and communities, services or industries working together. The aim of these different groups working together is not only to share existing knowledge held by each of them, but also to build on existing knowledge in ways that groups of similar people struggle to do alone. Our own knowledge is always partial, with gaps and preferences that may differ from the gaps experienced and preferences held by other people. Bringing together people with different perspectives not only allows learning from each other, but also allows learning that is new to everyone involved. A first step is recognizing that each of us has our own way of looking at issues, and we may each be missing out if we do not enquire about how other people see them. Thinking about our different perspectives, blind spots and potential for learning together can be prompted by the visual model of the Johari window (Luft, 1961), named after its creators, Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingram. The Johari window was originally designed to encourage self-awareness and communication about behaviour. Rather than use it to investigate knowledge about ourselves as individuals, we have adapted it to analyse knowledge (and assumptions) about our world accrued from the perspectives open to different groups of people (see Figure 1). Instead of considering what is ‘known to self’ and ‘known to others’, which makes the Johari window helpful in psychology, we can consider what is ‘known to us’ and ‘known to others’ when thinking about research as a collective activity. Another change to the original model is recognizing that what is seen from multiple standpoints may be different yet equally important. Thus, analysing these differences may start with ‘us the researchers’ or ‘us the community’ or ‘us the service providers’ or ‘us the policymakers’ or ‘us the practising artists’ or ‘us the volunteers’, and so on, depending on the situation.