Activity 1: My reflective practice - Week 17

How am I presently reflecting?

My current practice of reflection is based mainly on our Arahunga weekly reports that we use to record and reflect upon the teaching and learning that has taken place with our students that week.  The specific reflective components of the reports are “reflections” and “follow up” sections which allow me to reflect and state further actions based on those reflections. According to the Hull University, reflective writing video (2000), my present practice is focusing mainly on descriptive reflection.  I need to spend more time focusing on the "how", "why" and "so what now" facets of the reflection.   I am also reflecting through weekly private reflections on my learning in the Mindlab course. Using  Zeichner and Liston's 5 levels of reflection (cited in Finlay, 2009, p.4), I am only presently reflecting on a surface level of the first four levels (Rapid Reflection, Repair, Review Research). Although I am reflecting on the content, I am not taking it that step further by critically examining my own practice and theories in the light of academic theories. When I do this, I will move more into the Retheorizing and Reformulating level of reflection.

Why am I reflecting?

“Unless teachers develop the practice of critical reflection, they stay trapped in unexamined judgments, interpretations, assumptions, and expectations. Approaching teaching as a reflective practitioner involves fusing personal beliefs and values into a professional identity” (Larrivee, 2000, p.293). As professionals, the reflective practice allows us to stand tall in our own mana because we have reflected on the beliefs and values that inform our practice. We have considered the research, collaborated with peers, analysed the results to make changes to our practice that is informed and meaningful.

How will I reflect in the future?

Looking back of the many complex and varied models of reflective practice in this week's course notes I have been compelled to review my present reflective practice.  Transforming my current reflective practice into a living and evolving process. The “developmental process of paying attention to and learning through everyday experiences, with the goal of realizing a vision of practice as a lived reality.” (Johns 2007).

So what has changed?

To reflect in a structured way as described in (Quinn, 2000) using Retrospection, self-evaluation and reorientation. Although this framework is effective, it needs to be adapted to bring it more into a 21st-century perspective.   I will, therefore, interweave this though with two further dimensions.  The first will be to collaborate.  To actively seek the perspective of my peers in relation to my reflection through blogging. Yang (2009) suggests that blogging is useful for linking with others that have encountered similar struggles. The second will be to use my newfound research skills and academic networks to further inform my reflections by linking into research and evidence-based literature.

References

Finlay, L. (2009). Reflecting on reflective practice. PBPL. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/files/opencetl/file…

Johns, C. (2007) Reflective practice, effective practice, Reflections on Nursing Leadership accessed on 10/1/08 http://www2.nursingsociety.org/RNL/3Q_2007/features/feature3.html

Larrivee, B. (2000).Transforming teaching practice: becoming the critically reflective teacher. Reflective Practice, 1(3), 293-307.

Quinn, F.M. (1988/2000) Reflection and reflective practice.In C.Davies, L.Finlay and A. Bullman (eds.) Changing practice in health and social care.London: Sage. (Original work published in 1988 and reproduced in 2000).

SkillsTeamHullUni. (2014, March 3). Reflective writing.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoI67VeE3ds

Yang, S., H. (2009). Using blogs to enhance critical reflection and community of practice. Educational Technology & Society, 12(2), 11-21.