“Maybe reflective practices offer us a way of trying to make sense of the uncertainty in our workplaces and the courage to work competently and ethically at the edge of order and chaos…” (Ghaye, 2000, p.7)
Is a thought-provoking opening quote that initially I thought was
irrelevant for education. Upon deeper reflection of key words I thought more about
the classroom. How many times have you thought you planned a perfect lesson?
Then, found the learning to be either too challenging or easily grasped. It
happens, and although you plan for contingencies and next steps there can be an
uncertainty at times. Whether you ignore the situation or respond to student’s
needs, could be the difference between order and chaos. A relevant and stimulating
start to the article setting the need for reflection in education.
The article described two types of reflection.
"reflection-on-action (after-the-event thinking) and reflection-in-action (thinking while doing)." Finlay (2008)
Reflection-on-action has been encouraged at my school through the use of
appraisal connector.
Reflection-in-action is a harder one to document. To ensure it is true
reflection and that you are able to act on it, teachers may find it easier to
develop the skills after an event when they have time to think for themselves.
However when teaching would you continue to do something wrong when it is not
working? No, you would think about what is wrong and change directions. Many of
these small reflections happen constantly when you are a teacher. I agree with
Finlay (2008) that you need to do more that follow set procedures and you do
need to revise and modify.
For someone who initially struggled with how to reflect the article
offers advice through research from other sources.
Through PD I was given a model to help me reflect.
 |
| Rolfe 2001 as stated in Wikipedia |
This is similar to Gibb’s, although his goes into more detail. I agree
with Finlay that it offers structure to aid reflection as I have found in my
own practice. The inclusion of feelings and analysis will provide a deeper response
than the model I was using which led to diary writing.
 |
| Gibbs, 1998 |
Zeichner and Liston (as
stated in Finlay, 2008) did suggest that teachers should move beyond using
questions to critically examine their practice. However, questions provide
structure which can lead practice to change.
Zeichner and
Liston (1996)
differentiate between five different levels at which
reflection can take place during teaching:
"1. Rapid reflection - immediate, ongoing and automatic action by the teacher.2. Repair – in which a thoughtful teacher makes decisions to alter their behaviour inresponse to students’ cues.3. Review – when a teacher thinks about, discusses or writes about some element of theirteaching.4. Research – when a teacher engages in more systematic and sustained thinking overtime, perhaps by collecting data or reading research.5. Retheorizing and reformulating – the process by which a teacher critically examinestheir own practice and theories in the light of academic theories."
These two models are both suitable for different reasons. Zeichner and
Liston offer advice as to when and how reflection on-action and in-action can
be put into practice. Gibb’s model would be most suitable for levels 3-5
(reflection on-action) Rolfe’s model would be more suitable for levels 1 and 2
(reflection in-action) due to the need of rapid reflection.
The importance of being able to reflect not only ensures we develop our
practice but leads us to developing successful reflective skills in students.
The article strengthened my understanding of what reflection is and how to
develop my skills and those of my students.
References
Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford: Further Education Unit, Oxford Polytechnic. image retrieved from Jolt.merlot.org,. (2015). JOLT - Journal of Online Learning and Teaching. Retrieved 2 October 2015, from http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no1/park_0311.htm
L, Finlay. (2008) Reflecting on ‘Reflective practice. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/files/opencetl/file/ecms/web-content/Finlay-(2008)-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf
Wikipedia,. (2015). Reflective practice. Retrieved 2 October 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflective_practice#Rolfe_2001
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