Reflection and Teaching

1. Reflection and Teaching Making It Work—Making it Tangible Sharon K. Miller Southern Arizona Writing Project 2007

2. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action • Donald Schön proposed a theory of practice that describes how effective practitioners in education learn from experience through reflection in action and on action. • His work has become the standard for reflective practice.

3. What is Reflection? • By reflection we mean the process through which one considers an experience by thought, feeling, or action. • Reflection may occur in conjunction with the experience or after it and is an attempt to create meaning. • An actively reflective learner is more likely than a passive learner to develop into a reflective practitioner, and in some professional disciplines, in particular . . . education (Schön 1987), the notion of reflective practice is embedded in the curricula.

4. Reflection: A process that… • Involves what the teacher does before entering the classroom, while in the classroom, and retrospectively, after leaving the classroom. • Can be defined as a spiral, in which we begin with reflection for action, move into • Reflection in action, and then to • Reflection on action(inevitably leading us back to reflection-for-action in an ongoing process).

5. Reflection for Action Reflection in Action Reflection on Action

6. Three Reflective Processes • Reflection for action • Reflection in action • Reflection on action

7. Reflection for action: anticipating activity and instruction • This reflective form, reflection for action, is part of the overall planning process. You review what has been accomplished and identify constructive guidelines to follow to succeed in future teaching episodes. • Prompts • I would like to explore / try… • I will work with … • I need help in … • I will use resources like … • I will use strategies like … • The students need to learn . . . so I will . . .

8. Example: Reflection For Action • Leslie Gray, Sept. 14 • For their current events log, I’m going to have them look at that picture on page 273 of the coal-mining boys and ask—what questions would you ask them? What would you want to know about their jobs? Their lives? For this log they will write about their jobs for a future audience. Will they care more about these boys? Will they think more about work and its place in American society? About its priority and place in their own lives? • I think I’ll ask them to hand in a piece of historical evidence with this one . . .I will encourage them to find a picture of the personality they wrote about last week—this log needs to come alive—maybe they will bring some voices into their writing.

9. Example: Reflection For Action • Judy Grumbacher, Nov. 1, 6 PM • I sat down yesterday during 6th period—while the class was taking a quiz—and wrote about what I needed to clear up in class today. As I was writing, I thought of a couple of examples to use about how force acts through a hinge. I think those examples will help. Now it all seems clear—how to present the hinge problem—I need to start by talking about—demonstrating is even better—the handle on a lawn mower. As the angle changes, so does the effective force—this is an example more kids are familiar with than the one I began with. Writing to learn how to teach!

10. Think about some recent instructional situation, perhaps from today. • Write a reflection in which you consider your options for addressing any issues that came up in the instruction. • Prompts • I would like to explore / try… • I will work with … • I need help in … • I will use resources like … • I will use strategies like … • The students need to learn . . . so I will . . .

11. Reflection in action: analytical reflection during* activity • The second form of reflection is reflection in action. Here, the individual is responsible for reflecting while in the act of carrying out the task • Prompts • I did … and … • I tried … but … • I noticed … when I … • I found that … I needed to … • I sensed that… so I … * This is generally recordedAFTER the experience.

12. Example: Reflection in Action • Sherry Tabachik, Nov. 11 • First day of football. S’s response to my comment that we must “learn the skills before we play” was “That sucks! I already know how to play!” • I started class by asking who knew how to throw a football. S raised his hand. I then asked who would like to show us and explain the process. Apparently S did not hear me say “to explain.” He came up front and began to throw the football. • When I asked him to explain what he did, he said, “I can’t do that,” and sat down. When I called on another to explain, he interrupted, finishing the other student’s sentence. I asked him to let the other student finish, but then I called on him for the next explanation (a pattern). He demonstrated and explained, so I praised him.

13. Think about some recent instructional situation, perhaps from today. • Write a reflection in which you describe how you had to adjust or modify your teaching in response to student cues. • Prompts • I did … and … • I tried … but … • I noticed … when I … • I found that … I needed to … • I sensed that… so I …

14. Reflection on action: Looking back at one’s teaching • Finally, reflection on action requires looking back on what one has accomplished and reviewing the actions, thoughts, processes, and products. • Prompts • I learned … • I gained an insight… • I realized … • I wondered why … • I could/should have …

15. Example: Reflection On Action • Judy Grumbacher, Oct. 31, 11 AM • I was having trouble explaining to a kid how forces act through a hinged joint. I knew I had to do a better job than I had done—simply saying “forces can act in any direction through a hinge” didn’t help the kid. I suspect that others in class wondered about this also, but didn’t want to ask. Many of my GT kids just write down everything I put on the board and assume it’s right—a bad assumption since I’ve been making mistakes right and left recently when I solve problems on the board. • NOTE: This reflection relates to Judy’s previous reflection FOR action on Nov 1, when she used this reflection as the basis of her planning for subsequent teaching. Because it’s a cycle, we can’t be sure where it begins or ends.

16. Example: Reflection For Action • Judy Grumbacher, Nov. 1, 6 PM • I sat down yesterday during 6th period—while the class was taking a quiz—and wrote about what I needed to clear up in class today. As I was writing, I thought of a couple of examples to use about how force acts through a hinge. I think those examples will help. Now it all seems clear—how to present the hinge problem—I need to start by talking about—demonstrating is even better—the handle on a lawn mower. As the angle changes, so does the effective force—this is an example more kids are familiar with than the one I began with. Writing to learn how to teach!

17. Revisit the writing you did in response to the writing prompt earlier. • Extend this reflection on what you didto include what you learned, the insights gained, or the questions that you might have about it. • Prompts • I learned … • I gained an insight… • I realized … • I wondered why … • I could/should have …

18. When you do it all, you are in the spiral: • Reflect FOR action . . . • Planning for how to modify or adjust based on your post-teaching reflection, then you teach, and while teaching you • Reflect IN action . . . • Paying attention to how the students respond to your instructional strategies, adjusting your teaching; then you • Reflect ON action . . . • Evaluating the instruction and student learning, and then . . .

19. Reflection for Action Reflection in Action Reflection on Action

20. Between Now and our Next Session • Use your journals to record reflections that include all three kinds of reflection • Write about your thinking BEFORE teaching • Write about how you adjusted teaching while IN the act of teaching • Write about how the teaching went AFTERWARDS and where you need to go from there.

21. Your Journal is Evidence of Reflection (DATA) • One of our data measurements for this project relates to reflection • We will want to collect examples of your reflections throughout the project. • Your contributions will inform us as we work to provide you with support and resources.

22. References • Cowan, J. (1998) On Becoming an Innovative University Teacher,Higher Education, Volume 37, Number 4 / June, Pages408-409. • Schön, D. A. (1991) The Reflective Turn: Case Studies In and On Educational Practice, New York: Teachers Press, Columbia University. • Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the Reflective Practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. • Schön, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner. New York: Basic Books.