What is Reflective Practice?
Finlay (2008) defines reflective practice as “learning through and from experience towards gaining new insights of self and practice”. One of the most important skills for educators to employ in their professional practice is the ability to critically reflect on the efficacy of their instruction. There are many reasons why critical reflection should be an integral part of teaching:
- Teaching effectiveness in enhanced through a desire for continuous improvement.
- Instructors can address potential bias through the consideration of alternative perspectives and the use of more inclusive practices.
- When student feedback and perspectives are invited and taken into consideration there is better learning engagement and student empowerment.
- Instructors who model reflective practice contribute to more reflective classrooms and academic communities.
- Reflecting on teaching practices encourages instructors to take responsibility for their role in the educational process.
- Critical reflection often leads to creativity and innovation.
- Instructors who reflect on their practice demonstrate a growth mindset and a commitment to life-long learning.
Which model for reflection works for you?
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle (1984)
Kolb posits that learning is a 4-stage process and that educators assume various roles within the four stages.
Stage 1: Concrete Experience (Feeling/having the experience). Here, instructors are experiencing something new in the classroom. This novel experience creates a learning opportunity; a basis for reflection.
Stage 2: Reflective Observation (Observing). Next, instructors attempt to name and understand what went well and where improvement is needed.
Stage 3: Abstract Conceptualization (Thinking). In this stage, the instructor seeks out various sources of information (including support from colleagues) to gain deeper understanding and develop alternative teaching approaches.
Stage 4: Active Experimentation (Planning). Finally, the instructor puts new understandings and skills into practice. The cycle is repeated based on the new experimentation.
Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle
Gibbs (1998) developed this six-stage theoretical approach to encourage instructors to reflect on their own thoughts and feelings.
Stage 1: Try to describe the lesson/experience. Consider your context, your students, the sequence of events, and whether you achieved your instructional goal(s) or not.
Stage 2: What was your emotional response to the situation? Did your feelings change over time? How might your students have been feeling based on your observations?
Stage 3: Evaluate the lesson/experience. What went well? What needs improvement? What is your role in the process?
Stage 4: Reflect more deeply on WHY the lesson/situation turned out the way it did.
Stage 5: What have you learned by reflecting on the lesson/experience?
Stage 6: Moving forward, what action do you plan to take?
Reflection-in-Action and Reflection-on-Action
Unlike other circular or stage models of reflection, Schön’s model focuses on action and learning during and after an event/situation.
Reflection-in-action helps practitioners become more responsive in the moment when managing complex situations. This adaptive expertise allows you to draw on your knowledge and experience to work through challenges. Reflection-on-action encourages individuals to reflect back “in order to discover how our knowing-in-action may have contributed to an unexpected outcome” (Schön, 1987, p. 26) and to consider the practices that could have been used to handle a teaching moment more effectively.
Ways to document reflection:
References
Dennison, P. (). Reflective practice: The enduring influence of Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory. Compass: The Journal of Learning and Teaching at the University of Greenwich, 9(1), 23-28. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/67042.pdf#page=30
Farrell, T. (2001). Critical friendships: Colleagues helping each other develop. ELT Journal, 55(4), 368-374. http://www.reflectiveinquiry.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Farrell-ELTJ-2001.pdf
Finlay, L. (2008). Reflecting on ‘Reflective practice’. Practice-based Professional Learning Centre, paper 52. Open University. https://oro.open.ac.uk/68945/1/Finlay-%282008%29-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf
Kolb, D. A. (2015). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (2nd ed.). Pearson Education.
Le Fevre, D., Timperley, H., Twyford, K., & Ell, F. (2020). Leading powerful professional learning: Responding to complexity with adaptive expertise. Corwin.
Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the Reflective Practitioner. Jossey-Bass.