Reflective practice

Session 1 –Understanding reflective practice

Introduction

• Welcome to the first session on reflective practice.• There are four sessions altogether and each session will

introduce you to ideas and effective ways of working using reflective practice. This resource is part of the professional learning pathway developed by the Welsh Government. Each session will take about 90 minutes to read and complete the suggested activities.

• We will be drawing on case studies of teachers in Wales, and referring to the Welsh Government standards for teaching.

• This session focuses on understanding reflective practice and reflective practice in action.

• You will be asked to do some recording of your thinking as you go through using a learning journal available as a stand alone document or from the facilitator’s booklet.

Understanding reflective practice

It’s almost certain you have heard the phrase ‘reflective practice’ – it’s become a catch-all saying to the point of cliché. But in fact, it is one of the most powerful mechanisms for developing teaching and learning that teachers have at their disposal.

Understanding reflective practice

Activity 1

Let’s begin by clarifying what ‘reflective practice’ is. Using the learning journal, please jot down three characteristics of what you understand is meant by the phrase ‘reflective practice’.

What is reflective practice?

Activity 2

Using the learning journal please develop your original three statements to show how your understanding is beginning to deepen and extend. You can add more statements if you would find that helpful then, if possible, discuss these with a colleague.

You may find that different people understand reflective practice in a variety of ways. Have a look at the responses of other teachers to the same question – ‘What is reflective practice?’ – that appear on the next slide.

We asked the question ‘What is reflective practice?’ to a range of teachers. Over the next four slides there are four responses. Click on each statement to see a commentary about each response and some associated readings.

What is reflective practice?

Statement 1• Reflective practice is just thinking about what you are

doing all the time.

Point for discussion• Difference between reflection in action and reflection on

action (Schon).

Paper to support discussion• Clarke, drawing on Schon

What is reflective practice?

Statement 2• Reflective practice helps me to think about how to develop

as a teacher.

Point for discussion• Reflective practice is about moving from routine action to

reflective action which is characterised by ongoing self-appraisal and development.

Paper to support discussion• Introduction to The Reflective Teacher (particularly pp1-15)

What is reflective practice?

Statement 3• Reflective practice is the same as discussing a lesson with

my manager after being observed.

Point for discussion• Reflective practice goes beyond a debriefing session after a lesson. It

is more than asking what happened and why (although these are very useful questions to ask). It involves teachers asking themselves:

- what does this tell me about my practice? - what does research say about this area of my practice? - where do I need to go from here?

Paper to support discussion• Learning Wales

What is reflective practice?

Statement 4• Reflective practice is about being a professional.

Point for discussion• Reflective practice is recognising not only what you do,

but how you do it, and the values that go along with that.

Paper to support discussion• Tarrant (2013, p.2)• Teaching - the reflective profession (p.10)

What is reflective practice?

• As you have seen, reflective practice has no one single definition but responds to your own professional learning stage.

• What follows are outlines of four major thinkers in the area. There are links to allow you to read more if you are interested in finding out more about what they have to say.

The ‘big thinkers’

• Dewey (1933) – ‘active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends ...’http://journals.sfu.ca/paideusis/index.php/paideusis/article/viewFile/102/61

• Schön (1983) – ‘the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning’ – reflectionin action and on action.http://infed.org/mobi/donald-schon-learning-reflection-change

The ‘big thinkers’

• Gibbs (1988) – described reflective practice as cyclical. He included ‘feelings’ as part of that process. www.brightknowledge.org/knowledge-bank/medicine-and-healthcare/spotlight-on-medicine/what-is-reflective-practice

• Rolfe (2001) – offers a deceptively simple model of reflective practice; the three labels encapsulate the three major stages of reflection.www.brightknowledge.org/knowledge-bank/medicine-and-healthcare/spotlight-on-medicine/what-is-reflective-practice

The ‘big thinkers’

• You can see that thinking about reflective practice itself developed over the years. However, what is consistent is that reflective practice always includes identifying an issue, taking time and space to think about that issue in some depth, considering an action that responds to the issue, and evaluating that response.

• Looking back over the learning journal, you will see that you have moved from a tentative definition to one which is clear and robust.

• The next section explores reflective practice in context.

The reflective practice cycle

• On one level, it would be rare to come across a teacher who does not think about their practice. Reflective practice builds on and formalises this activity and ensures that action results – it becomes reflexive practice – that is, there is a response to an issue which is considered and informed.

• The Welsh Government have given this activity a high profile by including reflective (and reflexive therefore) practice in the Practising Teachers Standards and as part of the professional learning pathway.

Reflective practice in action

• Professional values and attributes10. Value the improvement of practice through reflection and taking responsibility for continuing professional development.

• Professional knowledge and understanding16. Maintain an up-to-date understanding of their subjects/curriculum areas and related pedagogy in order to inform practice.

Practising Teacher Standards

• The Practising Teachers Standards position teachers as reflective practitioners and links that explicitly to professional learning.

• Learning Wales states specifically that ‘Evidence from other OECD countries tells us that practitioners learn best when they reflect rigorously on the outcomes achieved.’

• In Session 2 we are going to look at how the rigour can be introduced into reflection through teacher research.

Reflective practice and professional learning

Activity 3

In the learning journal, please make some notes about how you think reflective practice can impact on your own practice.

Looking forward, how might teacher enquiry be a part of this process?

Reflective practice and professional learning