I've always regarded myself as a lifelong learner and why not? This is what we tell our students that we are all a lifelong learners....nobody knows everything...we are all learning new things all the time. From learning new techniques to bring into our classroom to learning from our own reflections the outcome is always the same...we are lifelong learners.
Finlay (2008) discusses many areas of reflection within our practice and this forms the basis of this blog post. The first thing that stood out for me was that understanding of what reflective practice actually is varies considerably between scholars. Boyd et al (1983) cited in Finlay (2008) stated that reflection is a process of learning through and from experiences towards gaining new insight of self and/or practice. This statement whilst very simplified, to me, is where reflection lies. Without experiences, good or bad, we cannot know what works or doesn't work for us as individuals. This was further acknowledged within the article with reference to Dewey (1933) who also simplified the meaning by stating it was as easy as thinking the problem out and acting on it. In my own practice I think I do this..what is the problem, how am I going to solve it? trialing the solution and acting on whatever problem arises from this. Is this not what we do as teaching as an inquiry?
Through Finlay's (2008) article I found of interest the acknowledgement of Schon's (1983) article 'The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action' who discussed reflection-on-action and reflection-in-action. Within my own practice I often, not always, reflect in action where I can alter my lesson immediately in response to students questioning or if I notice something isn't working for my class.
"The practitioner allows himself to experience surprise, puzzlement, or confusion in a situation which he finds uncertain or unique. He reflect on the phenomenon before him, and on the prior understandings which have been implicit in his behaviour. He carries out an experiment which serves to generate both a new understanding of the phenomenon and a change in the situation. (Schon, 1983, pg. 68)"
Being able to alter the course of a lesson when it is first noticed isn't failure to plan correctly but shows the leader is observant of what is occurring in their educational place. Not all reflection needs to be conducted after the event, where sometimes, the learning opportunity has escaped. I feel that if I was not open to changing from my plan of action then how can I engage in a teaching inquiry. Being able to reflect throughout my practice enables conversations initiated by students to be entered regardless as to if they are relevant to the teaching block that is being worked on.
Modeling reflective practice
There are many models for reflection that can be found online and Finlay (2008) discusses a few but one I found I could follow as part of my own reflective practice:
Gibbs reflective cycle
Whilst there are pros and cons for all models of reflection, I found this one, even with six steps, to be the most useful. Gibbs cycle can be used in varying settings and can be used across curriculum areas. I find that it helps guide your reflections and like the teaching inquiry circle can keep going until you find a adequate solution. The inclusion of 'feelings' reminds the reflection of thoughts and feelings at the time and I often include this in writing criteria for my students. Most recently I used this model for my year nine students to write a camp diary, reflecting on their thoughts and feelings on camp earlier this month. Whilst there are many other reflective cycles that are more simplified such as Rolfe (2001) also cited in Finlay (2008):
I find this too simplified for how I reflect, but in the context of practical Physical Education lessons this would be a good model for immediate response.
Sometimes, as teachers, we tend to think that by following overly complicated methods these are best as we are 'professionals' but I feel that why waste unnecessary energy why not simplify the process so that we can spend more time on whats important..our students....Gibbs reflective cycle helps me to achieve this.
Finlay, B. L.
(2008). Reflecting on “ Reflective practice .” PBPL Paper 52, (January),
1–27. http://doi.org/10.1016/0260-4779(91)90031-R
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