Reading several articles and looking at some YouTube videos related to reflective thinking, makes me think back when I first started teaching. Let me explain why:
When I started my teaching career back in the late 1980s, I spent the first couple of years teaching very traditional 6th, 7th, and 8th grade mathematics. I really felt there should be a better way of providing instruction for my students.
Then came along an innovative Hands on, Cooperative grouping approach to teaching math. the program called Renaissance math was geared towards the middle school level. We had extensive training throughout the school year. I think if I remember correctly, in that first year we were out of class around 10 school days. we would learn how to provide
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These articles have great ideas.
“Reflective learning first came to a modern Focus to John Dewey in 1933... reflective learning allowed for people to connect ideas to pass knowledge in order to solve problems.”
Hannon Smith did further research on reflective learning starting in 1995.One idea is thinks laterally, where you envision a problem in a different way which may give rise to new solutions to Old problems”. Another idea is let's time pass after less interaction then reflects back upon it. the big idea behind this is there is basically three parts there's an action there's a reflection about that action and then there's a transformation. I believe these are good basic ideas to build upon and it is always good to have a history of what you are dealing with, in this case reflective learning.
In an article by Terry Heick, I think his first sentence gives the best answer to what it means to be a reflective teacher and what it means to me: “Reflection is a fundamental tenet of learning; it is also, therefore a fundamental part of
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Teachers “...reflect and identify how the learning process went, identify and explore teacher’s own teaching practices, which lead to changes and improvements in our instructions.”
It is a big role adjustment from being a content provider to a designer and facilitator of learning for students.
It's more or less an evolution of the instructors thinking of how to provide material versus giving students a direction and then facilitating the direction. More or less being a guide for learning forces the sole source of learning to shift from the teacher, to resources which are available to students. So the blended learning approach becomes all the different avenues that are available for students to learn with an intial direction coming from the teacher.
How to make it work in the classroom, is the process. You constantly need to take a look at the results, reflect, and revise. You go back and do it again till you get a little bit better at it each time.
Same thing with the student, They should take look at the process that's involved and what can make it work for them. This will in turn help make the process better for both student and
I have chosen to use Rolfe et al’s (2001) framework for reflective practice, as I felt this was the best model for me to reflect on my academic development. I feel this model is the appropriate model as it has allowed me to reflect on what my situation was, what action I needed to take and the results of that action.
“Reflecting” entails us to ask ourselves countless questions. How well am I interacting with the students? Are they understanding the concepts? Am I creating an adequate learning environment? How effective are my teaching techniques? Etc. This newly acquired knowledge on “Reflecting” has helped me growth as a teacher and has
...ot only use the cognitive skills of the students but also their affect. This will allow the students to process and reflect on how they made that specific decision or answer. They are not just focusing on the end result but how they end up in that result or scenario. Teachers need to incorporate more reflection pieces or activities in their lessons because it not only enhances the cognitive skills of the children but also addresses their social and emotional needs.
One reason for Reflection being used is to give practitioners the chance to change an aspect within their setting, which they feel can be improved in order to help the development of children within their practice. Reflective practice is about improving practice and coming up with theories to support the improvement (Holmes, 2011, p.7). Reflective practice using critical reflection will allow the practitioners to identify what they do well and what they need to improve on within their Early Years settings. It can also give practitioners the opportunity to develop their professional identity, and work at improving their working environment (Forde et al, 2006, p.65, 66). By allowing practitioners the chance to improve their working environment, it can have a huge influence on the children and their development within the Early Years. For example, a teacher looking back and being reflective over their lesson, will allow them to make amelioration for when they teach that lesson again, thus leading to further learning development of the
...ts work on the lessons independently or with a preservice teacher by using manipulatives or other mathematical tools it will allow them to fully grasp the concept that is being taught so they can do well in the long run of learning more complex mathematics.
...hat has worked and what hasn’t. If a student for example is taking blood for the first time and something goes wrong, they don’t find the right vein. Reflective practise would help that student to understand what he/she done wrong while carrying out the procedure and how they could stop that from happening again. Not is only reflective practice good for pointing out the bad factors of something but can also be there for when a procedure goes exceptionally well. If a health professional finds a certain technique works better than what’s in place already, reflective practise is a good way to shear the information you found with other colleges so they can carry out that particular producer. Gibbs 1988 is an example of reflective practice, he uses six stages when doing reflective practice which include Description, feelings, evaluation, analyse, analyse and actions plan.
As it mentioned above this reflective essay is based on the main theory on Reflection, which is the Honey and Mumford’s learning styles that was developed from Kolb’s work. This is based on four stages of specific styles of learning:
According to Driscoll (2000), there are three processes when reflecting on one’s practice. They are: ‘What?’, ‘so what?’ and ‘Now what?’ Using Driscoll’s reflective cycle will enable me to link theory to practice.
Boud and his co-writers view reflection from the learner's point of view. They emphasise the relationship of the reflective process and the learning experience against what the learner can do.
In this essay, I will be summarizing and exploring my understanding of reflective practice. Reflective practice is the process of learning through and from experience towards gaining new insights of self and practice (Boud et al 1985; Boyd and Fales, 1983; Mezirow, 1981, Jarvis, 1992). This generally involves examining assumptions of everyday practice. It also requires the individual practitioner to be self-aware and to critically evaluate their responses to practice situations. The point is to recapture practice experiences and think about them critically in order to gain new understandings and so improve future practice. This is understood as part of the process of life-long learning.
53). Aitken mentions this in relation to Dorothy Heathcote’s Mantle of the Expert approach to teaching and learning and knowing how students learn in order to help them effectively engage in reflection. My lesson encourages and incorporates many moments for reflection and rich discussions to take place. I choose to use the story My Grandmother’s Toy Box in the lesson which is a story that the students were introduced to on a recent excursion to the museum. The book provides an opportunity to reflect on what was learnt from the museum and for rich discussions to develop when exploring each of the toys from the book. My instruction for reflections and discussions is developed so that students are the producers, not just the consumers, of knowledge. For example, students are encouraged to actively participate in reflections and discussions, and in turn build upon knowledge as they are guided and prompted with questions that require a depth of articulation and understanding. For example, “What unique futuristic features will your toy have?” Based on their understanding of toys from the past and present, students begin to produce ideas about the characteristics of future toys and later on share these ideas with the class. According to Costa and Kallick (2008), this type of guiding and instruction is important to ensure students achieve understanding. Costa and Kallic state that ‘teachers who promote reflective classrooms ensure that students are fully engaged in the process of making meaning’ (p.
Let me say personally, reflective practices therefore imply more systematic process in terms of collecting, recording, and analyzing teachers’ thoughts and observations, as well as those of their students, and then going on to make changes towards teachers' professional development for a better teaching skills. All in all, I can say that reflective practice is important because it helps teachers to make more informed decisions about their teaching skills which are basically based on solid evidence that thoroughly collected over a period of
Without agreement on what reflective practice is, it is difficult to decide on teaching‑learning strategies. Reflective practice may be a developmental learning process (Williamson 1997), may have different levels of attainment (Wellington 1996), and may be affected by a learner’s cognitive ability (James and Clarke 1994), willingness to engage in the process (Bright 1996; Haddock 1997), and orientation to change (Wellington 1996). However, there does seem to be some agreement that critical reflection consists of a process that can be taught to adults. Brookfield (1988) identified four processes central to learning how to be critically reflective: assumption analysis, contextual awareness, imaginative speculation, and reflective skepticism.
student. In the following journal, we see the benefit of reflective practice and what it achieves
For instance, I have learned that just simply reflecting on what I am seeing in the classroom is not enough that I have to comprehend and gain knowledge about the classroom in a more profound and meaningful way, such as relating observations to theories and psychology studies. Also I have learned to reflect more deeply on what is going on around me, not just looking at what is at the surface. I took notes during my observation. I tried to not only write what was happening, but also why it was happening and tried to convey any thoughts or feeling the students, teacher or myself had. Lastly, in my reflection, I improved my reflection skills by asking myself questions, such as, “what would I do,” “how would I do it,” and “how would I react?” Then, I would reflect back on what I had learned throughout the semester to see if I could find the most appropriate