Reflective practise is a way of studying your own experiences to improve the way you work. It is very useful for health professionals who want to carry on learning throughout their lives. The act of reflection is a great way to increase confidence and become a more proactive and qualified professional. As a teacher we are encouraged to reflect on our practise each day and come up with solutions to problems, implement strategies and celebrate successes. For this task I have tried focused on theorists in the education sector with a few extras found inspiring/interesting.
John Dewy - An educationist and considered theorist was interested in 'experience'. He said there were different levels of experience and considered education an experiential action. Dewey’s concept of experience allows a holistic approach to education, in the sense that it is based on the interaction between the human being and the world. Experience is a central aspect of this interaction. If you don't interact and engage with the world how will you further learn and develop. Dewy's theory links closely to Mcfee's examples of 'understanding' and 'concept'.
Graham Mcfee - he describes concept and understanding below...
This situation happens often in teaching. I have my content
and I plan my lesson as usual. The lesson goes well but in reality there
are some children who have fallen behind. It is extremely hard to notice
because they have learnt the key vocabulary (not the definitions) for the
lesson and know that certain words follow others. It is important to build
a foundation of understanding at the beginning of my lesson ie make sure
my students know some of the history of ballet and the terms
used rather than them just learning the steps and their names. How can
they reflect upon what they are doing if they have no background to look into?
I have just read Alice Sampson's
blogg for this task and she highlighted a paper written by Carol
Rodgers. Rogers article makes Dewys theories of reflection more
understandable, thanks Alice!
1: Reflection moves a learner from one experience into the
next with deeper understanding
2:Reflection is a disciplined way of thinking
3: Reflection needs to happen, in interaction with others
4:Reflection requires a certain attitude to value intellectual growth of oneself and others
Alice's Blogg:
http://alicesampson.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/task-2c-refective-theories.html
David Kolb - David Kolb published his learning styles model in 1984 from which he developed his learning style inventory. Kolb's experiential learning theory works on two levels: a four stage cycle of learning and four separate learning styles. Much of Kolb's theory is concerned with the learner's internal cognitive processes. Experiential learning is the process of learning through experience, and is more specifically defined as "learning through reflection on doing". Hands-on learning is a form of experiential learning but does not necessarily involve students reflecting on their product. Carrying forward the idea of 'experience' being key to reflection, Kolb's cycle enables you to reflect on your experience through mapping out your thoughts.
Graham Gibbs - Gibbs created a similar cycle and identifies
a series of six steps to aid reflective practise, these elements make up a
cycles that can be repeater over and over.
– Description - what
happened ?
– Feelings - what were
you thinking and feeling?
– Evaluation - what was
good and bad about the experience?
– Analysis - what sense
can you make of the situation?
– Conclusion - what else
could you have done?
– Action Plan - What will you do next time?
Unlike Kolb, Gibbs takes into account the realm of feelings and emotions which played a part in a particular event. Gibbs model incorporates all the core skills of reflection. Arguably it is focused on reflection on action, but with practise it could be used to focus on reflection in and before action. I am currently using this model in my work place and it is proving very helpful. It give me a clear thought process and help me make more rational decisions than if I were to problem solve on the spot and not reflect.
Gibbs G (1988) Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning. Further Education Unit, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford.
Donald Schon - Schon Gives a framework for thinking but it is not necessarily a step-by-step process to report. He introduces the idea of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action.
Reflection-in-action is something I think everyone
experiences on a daily basis, be it solving a quick problem or facing a
challenge in the work place. As a teacher I am frequently faced with challenges
during my lessons. I have to act on immediately to keep the momentum of my
lesson going and the students progressing. This is very much
reflection-in-action. I actually have a lovely example of this, during my year
7 dance class, one of the groups of three students were not working well
together (one student was messing about). I did not want to change the groups
as I had planned previously and I know these students are capable of
producing some good work. The other two students then got frustrated and upset
the one who was messing about. I quickly interjected and gave them
each roles, one captain, one creator and one director (this was not part
of my lesson plan). They responded exceptionally well and produced some high
level work. I will follow it up next lesson to make sure they are on good terms
and ready to work (reflection-on-action).
Below
are two quotes I really liked. I came across while researching
about reflective practise:
'Reflection is an important human activity in which people
recapture their experience, think about it, mull over and evaluate it. It is
this working with experience that is important in learning'.
Boud, D. Keogh, R. Walker, D. (1985) p43 Reflection:
Turning Experience into Learning. London: Kogan Page.
'We learn through critical
reflection by putting ourselves into the experience and exploring personal and
theoretical knowledge to understand it and view it in different ways'.
Tate, S and Sills, M. (eds) (2004) p126 The Development of
Critical Reflection in the Health professional. London; Higher Education
Authority.
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