Reading several articles and looking at some YouTube videos related to reflective thinking, makes me think back when I first started teaching. Let me explain why:
When I started my teaching career back in the late 1980s, I spent the first couple of years teaching very traditional 6th, 7th, and 8th grade mathematics. I really felt there should be a better way of providing instruction for my students.
Then came along an innovative Hands on, Cooperative grouping approach to teaching math. the program called Renaissance math was geared towards the middle school level. We had extensive training throughout the school year. I think if I remember correctly, in that first year we were out of class around 10 school days. we would learn how to provide
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These articles have great ideas.
“Reflective learning first came to a modern Focus to John Dewey in 1933... reflective learning allowed for people to connect ideas to pass knowledge in order to solve problems.”
Hannon Smith did further research on reflective learning starting in 1995.One idea is thinks laterally, where you envision a problem in a different way which may give rise to new solutions to Old problems”. Another idea is let's time pass after less interaction then reflects back upon it. the big idea behind this is there is basically three parts there's an action there's a reflection about that action and then there's a transformation. I believe these are good basic ideas to build upon and it is always good to have a history of what you are dealing with, in this case reflective learning.
In an article by Terry Heick, I think his first sentence gives the best answer to what it means to be a reflective teacher and what it means to me: “Reflection is a fundamental tenet of learning; it is also, therefore a fundamental part of
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Teachers “...reflect and identify how the learning process went, identify and explore teacher’s own teaching practices, which lead to changes and improvements in our instructions.”
It is a big role adjustment from being a content provider to a designer and facilitator of learning for students.
It's more or less an evolution of the instructors thinking of how to provide material versus giving students a direction and then facilitating the direction. More or less being a guide for learning forces the sole source of learning to shift from the teacher, to resources which are available to students. So the blended learning approach becomes all the different avenues that are available for students to learn with an intial direction coming from the teacher.
How to make it work in the classroom, is the process. You constantly need to take a look at the results, reflect, and revise. You go back and do it again till you get a little bit better at it each time.
Same thing with the student, They should take look at the process that's involved and what can make it work for them. This will in turn help make the process better for both student and
...hat has worked and what hasn’t. If a student for example is taking blood for the first time and something goes wrong, they don’t find the right vein. Reflective practise would help that student to understand what he/she done wrong while carrying out the procedure and how they could stop that from happening again. Not is only reflective practice good for pointing out the bad factors of something but can also be there for when a procedure goes exceptionally well. If a health professional finds a certain technique works better than what’s in place already, reflective practise is a good way to shear the information you found with other colleges so they can carry out that particular producer. Gibbs 1988 is an example of reflective practice, he uses six stages when doing reflective practice which include Description, feelings, evaluation, analyse, analyse and actions plan.
When becoming a reflective practitioner, the knowledge allow them to know how to support children while providing them with a deeper understanding of how children develop; theories are continuously being researched and developed in order to provided more research on learning experiences and high-quality learning opportunities. Theories are vital to work as practitioners will be able to understand various things about children like their development, behaviour and reaction as well as styles of learning and attachment and transition needs; each part is vital in order
Most teachers in the past have taught mathematics through procedural lessons. Procedural lessons consist of having the students work with a concept over and over again until it is memorized. For example, children could be given homework assignments with the equation three times five over and over again until that equation is memorized. Anytime these children saw three times five, they would instantly know the answer is fifteen without missing a beat. Once memorized, the teacher will move onto other concepts, and the children continue learning. While this may sound like a solid method for teaching, there remains one underlying problem that most children will never learn through this method; why? Why i...
student. In the following journal, we see the benefit of reflective practice and what it achieves
Without agreement on what reflective practice is, it is difficult to decide on teaching‑learning strategies. Reflective practice may be a developmental learning process (Williamson 1997), may have different levels of attainment (Wellington 1996), and may be affected by a learner’s cognitive ability (James and Clarke 1994), willingness to engage in the process (Bright 1996; Haddock 1997), and orientation to change (Wellington 1996). However, there does seem to be some agreement that critical reflection consists of a process that can be taught to adults. Brookfield (1988) identified four processes central to learning how to be critically reflective: assumption analysis, contextual awareness, imaginative speculation, and reflective skepticism.
Reflection is a key element of the human learning process. It can be used to justify aspects of practice and legitimise the knowledge gained from it, as opposed to traditional forms of learning.
Let me say personally, reflective practices therefore imply more systematic process in terms of collecting, recording, and analyzing teachers’ thoughts and observations, as well as those of their students, and then going on to make changes towards teachers' professional development for a better teaching skills. All in all, I can say that reflective practice is important because it helps teachers to make more informed decisions about their teaching skills which are basically based on solid evidence that thoroughly collected over a period of
As it mentioned above this reflective essay is based on the main theory on Reflection, which is the Honey and Mumford’s learning styles that was developed from Kolb’s work. This is based on four stages of specific styles of learning:
Through the certification process, candidates must compile a portfolio with various pieces of evidence related to general teaching practices and their specific content area. There are videos of whole group and small group lessons, analysis of student work samples and inclusion of artifacts of leadership, professional learning, community involvement and communication that must demonstrate consistent and continuous growth. Throughout the process, you are required to think about what you teach, how you teach and why you teach it a certain way. This constant reflection was revolutionary in my teaching methodology. I knew what metacognition meant but the act of writing it out and defending my thought processes clarified my reasoning and helped me to see patterns that needed to change. As teachers, we constantly reflect on our teaching but until it is articulated, those ideas tend to be nebulous and easily dissolve in the daily duties of our regular lives. I never would have realized the power that the word “because” has until it links a lesson to a child, standard, or
Kirova, A., & Bhargava, A. (2002). Learning to guide preschool children's mathematical understanding: A teacher's professional growth. 4 (1), Retrieved from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/kirova.html
...S. and Stepelman, J. (2010). Teaching Secondary Mathematics: Techniques and Enrichment Units. 8th Ed. Merrill Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ.
The reflective dimension is the journey of self-development through a critical analysis of one’s thoughts, behaviours and values. Reflection allows you to relate your inner self to the environment around you. It encourages social responsibility and constant improvement as you learn from experience and acknowledge success. (Olckers, Gibbs & Duncan 2007: 3-4) Reflection can boost learning by stimulating awareness of our feelings and practices. This allows health professionals to cope with unfamiliar circumstances and conflicts.
Don't try to change everything immediately. And the more reflective you become, the more you will notice. Take it one day at a time. The greatest reward of becoming a reflective practitioner is that you become aware of how insightful and capable your students are. All teachers can develop habits of mind conducive to effective decision making.
Students need to be inspired to think critically. By this they comprehend what has been learned and be able to use it. I hope my students will be able to achieve their greatest potential that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to. We can give our children these building blocks thru education to use in decision making situations, moral value of their thoughts and actions. This will guide them to realize how their actions and decisions will affect themselves and others.
For instance, I have learned that just simply reflecting on what I am seeing in the classroom is not enough that I have to comprehend and gain knowledge about the classroom in a more profound and meaningful way, such as relating observations to theories and psychology studies. Also I have learned to reflect more deeply on what is going on around me, not just looking at what is at the surface. I took notes during my observation. I tried to not only write what was happening, but also why it was happening and tried to convey any thoughts or feeling the students, teacher or myself had. Lastly, in my reflection, I improved my reflection skills by asking myself questions, such as, “what would I do,” “how would I do it,” and “how would I react?” Then, I would reflect back on what I had learned throughout the semester to see if I could find the most appropriate