Do I really need to become a reflective practitioner?

When I first heard the term reflective practitioner, my mind went straight to self-reflection. How can I improve my work? What can I do better? What can I improve on, etc?

But what does reflection actually mean?

Reflection is a learning process we use in our day-to-day lives. It occurs when a person is thinking and consciously looking by analysing and interpreting one’s previous experiences such as one’s actions, feelings and responses (Rogers, 2001).

What does it mean to be a reflective practitioner in education?

A reflective practitioner is a person that constantly uses reflection to engage in their continuous learning. It is important for teachers to continue to reflect on their teaching skills on a daily basis because teachers provide students with the foundations of their education (Mainhard et al., 2018).

As a pre-service teacher, I believe that being a reflective practitioner is a necessity in not only in life but also in being a successful teacher. During my primary and high school years, I would continuously write in my diaries and journals. I would write in my diaries detailing every small detail of my day; from how I felt through to what I did.

Throughout high school, I started using journals. In these journals, I would write about the types of foods I ate and how much I ate. I also had separate journals for sports, where I would reflect on how I found trainings and how I could improve as an athlete.

I used these reflective pieces of writing to express my feelings and calm myself after a rough or stressful day. Reflective writing played a major part in my life in teaching me how

to deal with the world, which is why I believe that it is a necessary teaching skill for all educators.

According to Grant (2017), reflective learning is a critical skill to possess for all learners - whether students or teachers. Reflective learning forces the learner to question not only their work but also the environment and context of one's work. This enables teachers to expand their knowledge and how to deal with situations in different contexts.

A downside to reflective practice, especially when enforced in a classroom, is that the learners tend to put down what they think the teacher wants to hear - rather than their own reflections. By doing this, the learner is prohibiting themselves from:

- discovering more about themselves,

- learning new things,

- and how to enhance their academic knowledge.

As a pre-service teacher it is important that reflection is implicated in the classroom to my future students. Not only should reflective practices be put into place in a classroom setting for students, but should also be self-practiced. By being a reflective practitioner, I would be able to improve confidence of future students as well as being confident in how and what I teach.

Based off the my findings of the literature and research, I believe that it is important for myself and other teachers to become reflective practitioners. It would benefit both students and teachers.

References:

Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. Oxford: Oxford Further Education Unit

Mainhard, T., Oudman, S., Hornstra, L., Bosket, J., & Goetz, T. (2018). Student emotions in class: the relative importance of teachers and their interpersonal relations with students. Learning and Instruction, 53(1), 109-119. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.32.3.4

Grant, A., McKimm, J., & Murphy, F. (2017).

Developing reflective practice : a guide for medical students, doctors and teachers. Wiley Blackwell.

Rogers, R. (2001) Reflection in higher education: a concept analysis. Innovative higher education, 26(1), 37-55. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1023/A:1010986404527.pdf