Reflection – an intro

1. Reflection – an intro PG Dip pre-service full time

3. Reflection • How many of you are good at reflection? • Why? (not) • Write your answers down in 3 sentences

4. Why reflect? • Reasons? Brainstorm them • To improve teaching practice • To learn from • Enhance your problem solving skills • To become a critical thinker • To make decisions • Improve your organisational skills • Manage personal change • Acknowledging your personal values • Take your own advice • Roffey-Barentsen & Malthouse (2009)

5. “Often we hear that one of the most important tasks of education is to teach students how to learn on their own throughout their lifetimes. But how do we learn how to learn? How do we know what we’ve learned and how to direct our own future learning? These are all questions addressed by the concept of metacognition. Simply put, metacognition means “thinking about one’s own thinking.”

6. There are two aspects of metacognition: reflection—thinking about what we know; self-regulation—managing how we go about learning. Thinking About Thinking: Metacognition Developed by Linda Darling-Hammond, Kim Austin, Melissa Cheung, and Daisy Martin With Contributions From Brigid Barron, AnnmariePalincsar, and Lee Shulman Stanford University School of Education

7. Bit o’ theory • 1.Common Sense reflecting ( Moon 2004,p.82) • “ reflection is akin to thinking but with more added to this” • Thoughts that occur after a difficult session • You know you have to do better and try to work out why • Its vague because lacks element of directed learning • Write a quick scenario of what happened

8. 2. Dewey’s reflective thinking • Main interest stems from problem solving • Why do you think? • Starts with a worry or a problem? • So you feel uneasy and need to stop and take stock • Here you now identify the problem • This is reflective thinking • Not always easy or pleasant • “What did I do?” “Could I have been better?”

9. 3. SchÖn, Donald(1983)- Reflective Practice • Reflecting on teaching and learning to modify practice is drawn from the work of Schon. He discussed the benefits of reflective practice for those engaged in professional occupations.  • acquisition of new knowledge was less important than the need to reflect and inform practice in an ever-changing workplace. He said there are different parts of the reflective process: • 1. Reflection in Action is working with awareness • thinking on your feet • responding to feedback signs • storing experience for next time • Examples? Where in your teaching have you had to do this?

10. 2. Reflection on Action is the usual meaning of reflective practice. It is: • reflecting after the event • making sense of what you did • having that ‘reflective conversation’ • 3. Reflection for Action: thinking in advance as you plan your teaching with your knowledge of the learners • http://www.resources.scalingtheheights.com/Schon%20and%20Reflective%20Practice.htm

11. More than omphaloskepsis!!? • Omphaloskepsis is contemplation of your navel as an aid to meditation • SO ….if Reflective Practice is to become anything more than random navel gazing, • it is advisable that you, the reflective practitioner, employs a particular process or model.

12. How to use a reflective model

13. David Kolb(1984) Experiential Learning Cycle Do Plan reflect Read

14. Or in other words: Kolb’s (1984) Experiential Learning Cycle is relevant to this process of on-going reflection and self-evaluation.Adapt what you have to teach to suit your learners Experience/teach Have reflective conversation with a colleague Learn Put new learning into practice Start cycle again

15. How to use it practically

16. Gibbs reflective cycle(1988) Encourages reflective practice by asking questions at each stage

17. Brookfield’s (1995) critical lenses • This is the next step – adds a critical element to reflection • 1. the point of view of the teacher (autobiography)- one of the most important sources of insight into teaching to which we have access.” (1995 p.31) • 2. the point of view of the learners • 3. the point of view of our colleagues • 4. the point of view of theories and literature • What did you do? How did your learners feel? Colleagues act as critical friends, take into account what the theory says

18. Rolfe et al (2001) Framework for reflexive practice • What? – describe the situation; achievements, consequences, responses, feelings, and problems. • So what? – discuss what has been learnt; learning about self, relationships, models, attitudes, cultures, actions, thoughts, understanding, and improvements. • Now what? – identify what needs to be done in order to; improve future outcomes, and develop learning • third and final stage is of the greatest importance in contributing to practice Rolfe et al (2001).

19. Task 1 • Using the handout- basic introduction • Use the sample on page 1. • Break it down into • A) the description (what happened?) • B) The interpretation (what’s most useful about the idea/event?) • C) The outcome (what was learned?)

20. Task 2 • Jenny Moon says reflective writing has 4 categories • Samuels (2008) devised 5 • See handouts • From the 2 excerpts work out which is “reporting level” writing and which is “reconstructing level“ writing- why?

21. References • Roffey-Barentsen, J. & Malthouse, R.(2009) Reflective Practice in the Lifelong Learning Sector. Exeter: Learning Matters • Moon, J.(2004) A handbook of reflective and experiential learning theory and practice. London:RoutledgeFalmer