Summary Of Reflective Practice

Reflection and reflective practice are terms widely used by many professional groups this assignment will focus on the education sector, specifically primary education. Reflective practice was originally defined by Dewey (1933:9) as: “An active persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that supports it and the further conclusion to which it tends”. Although dated, Dewey is considered a seminal author and referenced broadly when examining reflective practice (Ghaye and Lillyman, 2006., Tripp, 2012., Schön, 2014., and Carroll and McCulloch, 2014). Many others have subsequently provided their own definitions including Kolb (1984), Boud (1985), Schon (1987), and Gibbs (1988). In

It was found in their study undertaken with those on teacher-training courses who were required to complete and evaluation tool that the writing in the study progressed from descriptive to “critical bridging” allowing for deeper level evaluation. These findings are supported by the inclusion of specific instruction and discussion of critical reflection within the teacher training arena. It would appear that there are links between Fund et al’s study and the encouragement for students engages in teacher training to pull apart experiences on placement and to reflect on these daily, as this is actively encouraged during placement. The lesson plans provided and used daily have specific areas to document the focus of your teaching development. The form has a dedicated evaluation sheet to be completed after each lesson, relating how well you perceived the children’s learning and progress to have been achieved. For the evaluation of your teaching in that lesson and to set a target for next lesson and an action plan. This then leads on to the next steps part of the form. The structure and continual use of this form provide the user with an ongoing reflection journal of their lessons to date, that can be returned to and critically reflected on both in real time and later. This practice would appear to be reinforced by O’Connell and Dyment (2011) who discuss the use of reflective journals as a form of pedagogy used in a range of disciplines highlighting the value they can provide such as centring learning but also the challenges that need to be addressed such as structure and training on critical reflection techniques. The chosen three models of reflection will be briefly outlined in the next