Creating a Reflective Learning Community

1. Creating a Reflective Learning Community Sherry Lake, Colorado. Photo courtesy Deborah Smith By Deborah L. Smith UNM LEAD 560 – Dr. Chavez April 18, 2010

2. Reflection?It does not stop at a mirror image of the past, but reflects back the impact, in waves that affect the future.

3. Impact of reflection? • Personal growth • Professional growth • Leadership development • Interpersonal growth • Social understanding • Cultural awareness • Capacity building • Organizational growth • Systems improvement • Systemic change

4. Who uses reflection?

5. Historical Perspective 1930’s John Dewey: Defined reflection as, “active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends.” (Jay, J. and Johnson, K, 2002 p. 9)Reflection seen as “scientfic process” (Akbari, R., 2008) 1980’s Donald Schön: Expanded the scope to include reflection “on” practice (after the fact) and reflection “in” practice (thinking on our feet). (Smith, M., 1999, 2001) Viewed reflection process as “intuitive” (Akbari, R., 2008) 1990’s Munby and Rusell: Viewed reflection as “puzzles of practice” and solutions would lead to further action. (Akbari, R., 2008) 2000’s Jay and Johnson: Defined reflection as a progression through 3 developmental stages.Akbari, R., 2008) 2000’s Stephen Preskill and Stephen Brookfield: Embedded reflection in the Nine Tasks of the learning leader.Preskill, S. and Brookfield, S., 2009)

6. Reflecting “in” practice…thinking while doing.Schön, as cited by Smith, M (1999, 2001) “Catch and Release I” by Deborah Smith

7. Reflecting “on” practice…. looking back at the results!Schön, as described by Smith, M (1999, 2001) “Catch and Release II” by Deborah Smith

8. Reflection within and among the members, creates an open collaborative learning environment. Effective Leader Empowered staff Involved Parents Engaged students

9. Stakeholder reflection tools to improve learning community. • Principal Lunches • Surveys • Plus/Deltas • Site/District Councils • District/School Committees • Journal Writing • PDSA/Plus/Delta • KWL’s (Know, Wonder, Learn) • PIN’s (Postive, Interesting, Negative) • Reflective Stages • Peer Coaching • Talking Practice • Professional Development

10. Reflective Leaders Fairview Lake by Deborah Smith

11. Reflection and Learning Leaders(based on Preskill and Brookfield (2009) “The purpose of leadership is to sustain the desire of people to go on contributing, as both leaders and followers, to everyone’s overall benefit.” (p.61) Nine Learning Tasks – support and develop reflective process:

12. Guiding Reflective Practice Systems Improvement • Reflecting “in” and “on” practice (Preskill & Brookfield) • Reflecting through Plan Do Study Act process to monitor progress of school goals (NIST, 2010) • Reflection on progress in Eduational Plan for Student Success (EPSS) (New Mexico Public Education Department, 2009) • Reflection on annual school quality and satisfaction survey Staff Development and Evaluation • Guide staff in “critical reflection” (Preskill & Brookfield, 2009) • Use frequent, short observations for formative feedback (Pitler H. & Goodwin B., 2007) • Participate in informal, low-threat, private conversation with teachers (Marshall, K., 2005) • Ask “why”, during reflection, to help staff make “intentional” instructional decisions (Pitler H. & Goodwin B., 2007) “Reflection elicits a deeper awareness of the situation or event in order to inform future practice.” ~ Vidmar, 2006 (p. 137) ~

13. Reflective Teachers Fairview Lake at Dusk by Deborah Smith

14. Consider Stages of Teacher Development “The central goal of reflective teacher education is to develop teachers’ reasoning about why they employ certain instructional strategies and how they can improve their teaching to have a positive effect on students.” Lee, H. (2005) Stages of reflection, must reflect the developmental level of teacher: Lee, H. (2005)

15. Teacher Peer Coaching “Reflective peer coaching is a formative model for improving teaching and learning by examining intentions prior to teaching, then reflecting upon the experience. The goal of reflective peer coaching is to promote self-assessment and collaboration for better teaching and ultimately better learning.” Vidmar, 2006 (P.135) • Collegial relationship • Teacher determines own objective and desired outcomes • Conversation and collaboration • Short meetings before and after lessons • Reflect on a continual basis for formative assessment • Goal is personal professional growth and developing insights • Elicits a deeper awareness of actions to affect future practice Vidmar, 2006

16. Peer Coaching Steps(Vidmar, 2006) Planning Conference (10 min.) • Clarify intentions – lesson goals and objectives • Teaching strategy and procedures – what will teacher do? • Student achievement – how will students show success • Data for self-assessment – what is important to the teacher (personal goal) Reflective Conference (10 min.) • Assessment of lesson – how did lesson go? • Recall data to support reflections • Compare intentions to lesson • Effect on future lessons • Reflection on coaching process Note: the process does not necessarily include observation of the lesson by the peer coach.

17. Reflective Students Sherry Lake, Colorado by Deborah Smith

18. Student reflections on progress Reflections on self • Journal writing • Self assessment • Portfolios • Data Binders • Reflective conferences Reflections for others • Peer review/peer mentoring • Teacher feedback on surveys • Classroom feedback on PDSA’s(Baldrige, M., 2009) Student mentoring. By Deborah Smith

19. Reflective Organizations Cave Camping Revisited by Deborah Smith

20. Reflective Stakeholders Places where parents and stakeholders contribute to the reflective process • Parent/Teacher conferences • Parent Teacher Organizations • School advisory teams • District advisory councils • School/district committees • School Board meetings Ways in which parents/stakeholders contribute to the reflective process in school communities • Personal communication (in person, phone, email) • Surveys • Meeting evaluations (Plus/Delta and other tools) • Public communication (newspaper, websites, blogs)

21. Remember the Following, in Order to Avoid Common Pitfalls(Personal reflections from reading Akbari, 2007) • Do not just look back and recount the past. • Avoid making reflection a judgmental process. • Monitor impact on student learning • Make sure process improves student learning, teacher practice, or the system in general • Avoid using it like “confession”, to just admit wrong-doing • Be sure to look a the experience through many lenses; consider others’ perspectives to help the process • Respect developmental levels in the reflective practice – guide through the levels of reporting, to analyzing, to changing practice (especially in novice teachers and younger students) • Honor personality as a major contributing factor

22. Reflect on the experience, Noche, the Observant. By Deborah Smith

23. but move forward, with experience and wisdom. Noche, the Wise. By Deborah Smith

24. Resources Akbari, R. (2007). “Reflections on reflection: A crititical appraisal of reflective practices in L2 teacher education”. Elsevier, Ltd. Available online www.sciencedirect.com. Jay, J.K., and Johnson, K.L. (2002). “Capturing complexity: a typology of reflective practice for teacher education”. Teaching and Teacher Education. Vol. 18, pp. 73-85. Lee, Hea-Jin (2005). “Understanding and assessing preservice teachers’ reflective thinking”. Teaching and Teacher Education. Elsevier, Ltd. Volume 21, pp 699-715. Marshall, K. (2005). “It’s time to rethink teacher supervision and evaluation”. Phi Delta Kappan, Volume 86, No. 10, June 2005, pp. 727-735. Marzano, R.J., Waters, T., and McNulty, B.A. (2005) School Leadership that Works: From Research to Results. VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST (2010). Baldrige National Quality Program.Available at www.nist.gov/baldrige/. Retrieved April, 2010. Pitler, H. and Goodwin, B. (2007). “Asking why when observing classrooms”. Changing Schools. McREL Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning. Preskill, S. and Brookfield S., (2009). Learning as a Way of Leading. Ca: Jossey-Bass. Smith, M. (2001) Donald Schön: learning, reflection and change, The Encyclopedia of Informal Education. www.infed.org/thinkers/et-schon.htm Retrieved 4/16/09. Smith, M. (1999) What constitutes reflection – and what significance does it have for educators?” The Encyclopedia of Informal Education. www.infed.org/thinkers/et-schon.htm Retrieved 4/16/09. Vidmar, D.J. (2006). “Reflective peer coaching: Crafting collaborative self-assessment in teaching”. Research Strategies, 20, pp 135-148. Elsevier, Inc. Retrieved from www.sciencedirect.com. Zeichner, K. and Wray, S. (2003). “Portfolios as professional development tools”. Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) Highlights, Volume 15, No. 1.