Unit 1
Reflection as defined by the Oxford English dictionary (2012) as the action or process of thinking deeply about a subject, involving influence from one’s life and experiences, thus a reflective journal is designed to help me think deeply about my learning, especially on issues such as: my progress in learning, the difficulties I may have encountered in the process of learning, the strategies I have taken to get around those difficulties, and my evaluation of my own performance.
For the study, writing a reflective learning journal helps me: bring together theory and practice and yield better understanding of the course material while for my development as a successful and independent learner, it helps me: See my strength and weakness
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Reflection can been described as a process of turning experience into learning, that is, it is a way of exploring experience in order to learn new things from it. According to Boud, eogh, and Walker (1985:19) they define reflection as “those intellectual and affective activities which are engaged in by individuals to explore their experiences in order to lead to new understandings and appreciations”. Reflection often involves taking the unprocessed, raw material of one’s experience and engaging with it Inorder to derive sense from what has occurred. It often involves exploring messy and confused events and focusing on the thoughts and emotions that accompany them. Reflection can be undertaken as an informal personal activity either for its own sake or as a part of a structured course. Reflection may focus on special activities taking for instance workshop activities, events of the past experience for example, what learners easily recall from prior experience, or concurrent activities in the learners’ workplace and community that can act as a stimulus for learning. In this context, the word event is used to refer to any activity from which learning may result, whether it happens regardless of its location that is whether in a classroom, a workshop, a formally scheduled placement, or in everyday
Reflection, as explained by Moon (2013), is the process of looking back on an event or experience and thinking about it and learning from it. Reflection, which is learning through experience, is not a new concept. As humans, we naturally reflect on our surroundings and experiences on a day to day basis in order to make sense of them. (Norman, Vleuten and Newble, 2002). In a professional context, reflation is vital for a practitioner to learn and improve their practice. By using their own experiences, practitioners are able to analysis, and in turn, adapt or improve specific areas of practice
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.
Reflection is a process that begins with looking back on a situation thinking about it, learning from it and then using the new knowledge to help you in similar situations in the future. We need to evaluate through reflection to examine whether change is needed. We can then decide what action is needed and what we would do the next time we are faced with a similar situation. It might not necessarily be something you have done wrong, it may well be you were happy with the outcome of a situation you had some input into and would do again. It may have been something you did differently that had a positive result and
Reflection is a significant component of pre-registration education (Davis et al.2000). Hillard (2006) claims that for practitioners to learn from an experience they need to go beyond description and should reflect on their experiences in practice as this could potentially uncover any underlying influences, motivations and knowledge. Reflecting on an experience could then be identified as a process to bridging the gap between theory and practice (Bulman & Schutz, 2004).
The ability to reflect critically on one’s experience, integrate knowledge gained from experience with knowledge possessed, and take action on insights is considered by some adult educators to be a distinguishing feature of the adult learner (Brookfield 1998; Ecclestone 1996; Mezirow 1991). Critical reflection is the process by which adults identify the assumptions governing their actions, locate the historical and cultural origins of the assumptions, question the meaning of the assumptions, and develop alternative ways of acting (Cranton 1996). Brookfield (1995) adds that part of the critical reflective process is to challenge the prevailing social, political, cultural, or professional ways of acting. Through the process of critical reflection, adults come to interpret and create new knowledge and actions from their ordinary and sometimes extraordinary experiences. Critical reflection blends learning through experience with theoretical and technical learning to form new knowledge constructions and new behaviors or insights.
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
Reflection is a key part of our personal development plan that is significant from both academic and employment perspectives. It investigates and someway measures our present level of skills and knowledge by looking back to reflect our latest performance and monitoring future improvements (Gallagher K., 2013, p. 23-24).
Most people question the purpose of writing a journal. People who write a journal keep it to fulfill a basic human need – “self expression and reflection” (Sagan 1). Writing is known as one of the easiest ways to express your personality and who you truly are. You can write in a journal without having anyone judging you – unless you chose to have someone else read it of course. You may reflect on your writing while you are writing your journal/diary entries. Then, once you have expressed your thoughts, you can even go back to your past entries to reflect on what you have said before. Reflecting on your writing can help you develop as a person. It helps you think through a situation and possibly solve it. Reflections help generate ideas for how to improve as an individual. But really, it’s entertaining to re-read past memories and see how much...
Reflection within early year’s settings and schools allows for the practitioner to think about the work that is being completed either whilst doing it or after it has occurred, the reflection allows for seeing how the work has gone or whether it needs to be changed for future practice. Schön is a key writer about reflection and illustrates the differences between reflection in action, reflection on action and reflection whilst completing the task. The above critical skills help all practitioners to develop understanding as they hugely impact on others lives, if this skill is not engaged in then practice could be effected (Leeson, 2004).
I can use this information in my classroom by having children that have a hard time expressing themselves use art as a way to express themselves. Not only if they have a hard time expressing themselves, but if they seem to be having a bad day and need time to themselves coloring utensils and paper can be giving to them to help calm them. Also these articles taught me what art really means. I thought of art as just a way to express yourself and be creative. The Fransisco Goya article taught me art is form and content. I can use this information to help teach my students creativity, confidence, problem solving, perseverance, focus, how to work with others, how to handle criticism and dedication.
Refection allows students to enhance prior knowledge, draw new conclusions, and make meaning of an experience (Fiddler & Marienau, 2008). The literature greatly emphasizes that, for service-learning, reflection should be structured, formal, and faculty-led (cite). Jacoby (2015) writes that the service-learning experience without reflection could be not only a missed opportunity, but a damaging opportunity. Students engaging in a service-learning experience may reinforce existing stereotypes and biases, develop unsustainable solutions to problem, and do more harm to a community than good. Reflection is an opportunity to think critically about an experience with a facilitator who can push, challenge, and correct as needed.
I chose Luis Hernandez for my artifact. It is from Dr. Rodriguez’s EDRE 4861 Language Arts and Social Studies Instructional K-8 fall class. It fits the criteria for standard # 8; understanding and using a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.. I understand I need a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop a deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways. The Projecbestex, is another web base amazing tool to have at any grade level. It can be used to accommodate any learning style, because
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.
A reflection log is, in essence, a personalised learning resource. This reflection log will showcase the thinking and learning skills I have developed from module (IS6136 - Professional Practice Skills), which is underpinned by a peer learning system. As part of this peer system, I was encouraged to discuss and share my thoughts, as well as to develop my reflection log in a collaborative way. The reflection log helped me to extend and further my understanding of the material presented. Section 2.0 of this log will discuss five major takeaways from this module, in light of the learning expectation set by the lecturer. Section 3.0 will conclude the reflection log.
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