Reflecting on Learning & Practice

1. Reflecting on Learning & Practice

2. Learning & Reflection There are three topics to be presented, they are: A. Reflection for reasoning • Reflection in & on action for professional practice C. Reflection for learning from experience

3. Reflection : Definitions • Reflection is the search for general principles or rules based on evidence gathered largely from memory. • It is the search for possible answers, new questions, & evidence that supports the possible answers. (Glatthorn & Baron, 1991)

4. Reflectivity : A definition • Reflectivity is the act of becoming aware of a specific perception, meaning or behaviour of our own or of habits we have of seeing, thinking or acting. (Mezirow, 1981)

5. A. Reflection for Reasoning There are several taxonomies of thinking skills. The taxonomy of Bloom et al. (1956) consists of seven levels of learning. Each level of learning exhibits some thinking skills to tackle learning tasks.

6. Bloom’s Taxonomy

7. Thinking Skills Knowledge For the lowest level knowledge acquisition, the following thinking skills are dominant: • Define • Recognize • Recall • Identify • Label • Understand • Examine • Collect

8. Thinking Skills Comprehension Thinking skills for comprehension are: • Translate • Interpret • Explain • Describe • Summarize • Extrapolate

9. Thinking Skills Analysis • Connect • Relate • Differentiate • Classify • Arrange • Check • Group • Distinguish • Organize • Categorize • Detect • Compare • Infer

10. Thinking Skills Synthesis • Produce • Propose • Design • Plan • Combine • Formulate • Compose • Hypothesize • Construct

11. Thinking Skills Evaluation • Appraise • Judge • Criticize • Decide

12. A. Reflection for Reasoning Actually, all the thinking skills are applicable to reflective thinking for reasoning. Then, what else is so special about reflection for reasoning? Are there no specific skills for it? Probably you need to answer the following questions first.

13. A. Reflection for Reasoning These questions require simple yes / no answers only : (from King & Kitchener, 1994) • Do you agree that there can be legitimate differences of opinion about an issue? • Do you agree that you should think beyond an authority’s view? • Is there a difference between an interpretation and an opinion? • Do you often use evidence to justify a point of view? • Do you appreciate multiple perspectives on an issue? • Do you agree that the nature of knowledge is uncertainty? • Do you think that not all points of view are equally valid?

14. A. Reflection for Reasoning • Will different perspectives lead to different legitimate interpretations of evidence? • Is there a difference between facts and interpretations? • Do you agree that even opinions should be based on evidence? • Do you agree that even though you choose one alternative you will not deny the legitimacy of other alternatives? • Do you agree that some principles can be generalizable beyond the immediate situation? • Do you agree that you need to defend your viewpoint on the basis of evidence?

15. A. Reflection for Reasoning The answers to the above questions should all be yes. The questions direct you to the attribute of disposition and an epistemological understanding about knowledge.

16. A. Reflection for Reasoning Briefly speaking, knowledge is uncertain and there are different interpretations based even on the same facts. Reflective thinkers should choose among competing evidence-based interpretations but still be holding an open attitude that alternative perspectives on an issue are or can be legitimate. These sayings probably give you more confusion than concrete ways of directing your life or actions related to an issue. However, the essence of reflective thinking is tolerance of ambiguity. And for reflective judgement resulting from reflective reasoning is to construct your own point of view and defend it on the basis of evidence or argument as being better.

17. Non-Reflective Thinking The followings give you a contrast about the dispositions and understanding of knowledge characterized by non-reflective thinkers. • View from just oneevaluative perspective • View primarily either positive or negative side

18. Non-Reflective Thinking • Not interested to balance out positive & negative features in order to get an accurate overview of the object • Defend / consolidate positive or negative evaluation • Blind spot—follow from interests the thinker is not aware of & does not want to be aware of • Self-deception

19. Reflection In & On Action ForProfessional Practice The next slide shows a few questions to start up the topic on reflection for practice.

20. Do You Agree? • Professionals’ work is to apply standardized knowledge to well-defined problems? • Professionals only have to learn about the content of their expertise & the technical skills of it? • Professionals’ knowledge is objective & value-free?

21. Technical Rationality If your answers are all yes, then you are close to the viewpoint of technical rationality which shows the following understanding about professional practice: • Situations are well-defined • Professionals’ work is of problem-solving • Action is implementation of knowing (what has been learned in training) • Professional knowledge = theories & techniques of basic & applied science

22. Situations & Problems of Professional Practice However, in reality, professionals’ work is • ambiguous • indeterminate • uncertain • unique, and • full of value conflicts.

23. Issues of Professional Practice Therefore, professionals • work in indeterminate zones of practice • do problem-setting • professional knowledge = repertoire of examples & exemplars + ability to apply them • repertoire-building of knowledge: description & analysis of images, cases, precedents & exemplars • engage in reflective practice (Schon, 1983)

24. B. Reflection In & On Action For Professional Practice For professional practice, reflection in and on action is regarded as more appropriate. Again, to make a better understanding about Schon’s reflection in and on action, a contrast between non-reflective practitioners and reflective practitioners is shown below. The contrast is summarized from Ferry and Ross-Gordon (1998).

25. Non-Reflective Practitioners • Problems are isolated to act upon • Problems are quickly put into a category for solution generation Mode of Problem Identification

26. Solution Generation • A solution is self-perceived as acceptable • Generated from within the confines of the situation

27. Test of Solutions • Quickly weigh the pros & cons of obvious alternatives. • Then select the so-judged “best” alternative. • No testing, just go with it.

28. Response to Inconsistencies • If not A, then B or C. • At least an A, B, and a C.

29. Reflection-On-Action After the problem has been solved: • Not to be worried about.

30. Deficiencies in Decision-Making • Over-confidence bias • Ineffective / inefficient use of available information • (information overload) • Make errors in estimating risk & uncertainty • Have difficulty in selecting among alternative courses of action

31. Reflective Practitioners • Within a dynamic, ongoing interaction with the situation and the people involved. • Involve others in defining. Mode of Problem Identification

32. Solution Generation • Interactively, involve others within the situation • Look beyond the context

33. Testing of Solutions • Mental rehearsal process • Think out all the alternatives • Think about the impact • Redefine the problem if necessary

34. Response to Inconsistencies • Go back • Not to go back to the alternatives • But go back to the situation • Check if the problem has been rightly defined

35. Reflection-On-Action After the problem has been solved: • Relive the situation • Guess if: • You would have made another decision • You would have said something else • You would have done something different • Reflect & record as a sampler.

36. Skilled Decision-Makers Spend more time sizing up the situation than comparing alternative courses of action. (Klein, 1998)

37. C. Learning From Experience • All genuine education comes about through experience does not mean that all experiences are genuinely or equally educative. (Dewey, 1938) We all learn from experiences, but we also let experiences slip away without learning or learning inappropriately from them.

38. C. Learning From Experience • Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. (Kolb, 1984) • Experience has to be arrested, examined, analyzed, considered & negated in order to shift it to knowledge. (Aitchison & Graham, 1989)

39. Experience & Reflection Henry (1989) distinguishes several experience- reflection-leaning paths: • Experience  reflection • Experience  reflection  act • Experience  reflection, analyze act, action, test-out, synthesize

40. Experience & Reflection • theory  experience  reflect (generalize, decide)  understand reflect (diverge)  conceptualize  decide  act  goal  generalize  new insight

41. C. Learning From Experience As can be seen, learning from experience goes through several complimentary tasks that include cognitive, conative, and affective dimensions. Kolb (1983) has constructed a model of experiential learning that comprises a full cycle of learning from experience. The following slides present only the part on reflective observation.

42. Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory Concrete Experience Active Reflective Experimentation Observation Abstract Conceptualization

43. Reflective Observation Aims: • shape one’s own experience rather than observing & accepting experience as they happen

44. Reflective Observation Major Steps: • Observe & select • Conceive & interpret • Perceive attitudes & values • Develop concepts & theories

45. Reflective Observation Steps: • Step back from situations & involvement of the world • Discover new meanings in a situation through new ways of moving & acting • Carefully observe & impartially describe ideas & situations • A concern with what is true or how things happen • Select experiences to focus (by concern & interest vs. to delete, distort, or overgeneralize)

46. Reflective Observation • Interpret experiences: Organize & recode the messages of the experience (connect things, pull things together into a meaningful way, see such things in terms of relations, causality, and shape & meaning to human life) • Reflect on prior experience in relation to new ideas & information

47. Reflective Observation • Intuit the meaning of situations & ideas & their implications • Look from different perspectives & appreciate different points of view • Give observations personal meaning

48. Reflective Observation • By these processes of selecting, interpreting, generalizing  create and recreate a complex set of beliefs, knowledge of the experience  abstract conceptualization