What is reflective practice?

Important lessons that only come about through practice and reflection also come clear.

2nd year student teacher Flinders University 2005

Historical background

Reflective practice is seen by many teacher educators to be at the very heart of effective teacher preparation programs and the development of professional competence. Loughran (2002) writes, It is through the development of knowledge and understanding of the practice setting and the ability to recognize and respond to such knowledge that the reflective practitioner becomes truly responsive to the needs, issues, and concerns that are so important in shaping practice(p.9). According to philosopher and educator John Dewey (1933), we begin to reflect on a complex situation when we face that situation and ask ourselves what needs to be done. Deweys ideas and the idea of professional reflective practice were developed in the 1980s with the emergence of Schons (1983) concept of reflection-in-action. According to Schon (1983), reflection-in-action is a rigorous professional process involving acknowledgement of and reflection on uncertainty and complexity in ones practice leading to a legitimate form of professional knowing (p.69). Since the 1980s, the development of reflective skills has been widely adopted in a range of higher education and best practice professional settings including education, health sciences and leadership. Whilst most educators in higher education would agree that it is important for learners to develop these skills, there has not always been agreement on the definition of reflection or exactly what constitutes reflective practices in a higher education context.

Contemporary teacher education programs Whitton, Sinclair, Barker, Nanlohy and Nosworthy are contemporary Australian researchers and educators who work with pre-service teachers and who draw on Deweys writings for their definition of reflection by emphasising the importance of an attitude of inquiry and open-mindedness, responsibility and whole heartedness (as cited in Whitton et al 2004 p.220). According to Whitton et al (2004), reflection is a threefold process comprising direct experience, analysis of our beliefs, values or knowledge about that experience, and consideration of the options which should lead to action as a result of the analysis. Graham and Phelps (2003) also work in teacher education and they invite educators to consider the discourse of reflection in relation to meta-cognition. Meta-cognition is an important skill for tertiary learners, as it cultivates the necessary self regulation to activate and sustain cognitions, behaviours and affects, which are systematically oriented to attainment of their goals (p.15). For student teachers in particular, having the skills of meta-cognition means that they can self-monitor and self-evaluate when engaging with new and complex knowledge, when struggling with values and beliefs clashes (Rigney, Rigney, & Tur 2003), and during the theory/practice integration process generated by the teaching practicum.

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Professional reflective practice Walkington (2005) also works with Australian student teachers and writes that reflection on ones own perceptions, beliefs, experiences and practices is a core activity for all teachers - pre-service and in-service, in schools and universities (p.59). According to Walkington, reflective practice can be facilitated and indeed modelled by lecturers, mentor teachers or skilled peers who demonstrate the skills of critical questioning, comparing and contrasting theory and practice, and who challenge the assumptions of the beginning teacher. Professional reflective practice is a complex and intellectually challenging activity (Moran and Dallart 1995 p.22). It also takes time, continuous commitment and requires skilled support to develop. Ideally it leads to new action or an informed affirmation of ones existing actions. According to Jarvis (1992) as cited in Graham and Phelps (2003), reflective practice is more than just thoughtful practice, it is the process of turning thoughtful practice into a potential learning situation (p19). Despite the differences in defining and implementing the process of reflection, it is clear from the literature that challenging and affirming our learner and teacher identities through reflective practice is crucial for our journey of professional self-discovery.

References

Dewey, J. (1933) How we think. Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, Graham, A., & Phelps, R. (2003, January). Being a teacher: Developing teacher identity and

enhancing practice through metacognitive and reflective learning processes, Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 27(2), 11-24.

Loughran, J. J. (2002 January February). Effective reflective practice: in search of meaning in

learning about teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53 (1), viewed 16 January, 2006, (online Gale Group/Expanded Academic ASAP Plus)

Moran, A. & Dallart, J. (1995). Promoting reflective practice in initial teacher training.

International Journal of Educational Management. 9 (5), 20-26. Rigney, D., Rigney, L-I., & Tur, S, U. (2003). Training teachers for reconciliation: A work in

progress. Conference Paper No.089, Australian Curriculum Studies Association Conference, Adelaide, South Australia. Retrieved November 29, 2005 from http://www.acsainc.com.au/content/ulalka_tur_-_training_teachers_for_reconciliation.pdf

Schon, D. (1983) The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action, New York:

Basic Books. Walkington, J. (2005, March). Becoming a teacher: encouraging development of teacher

identity through reflective practice. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education. 33 (1), 53-64.

Whitton, D., Sinclair, C., Barker, K., Nanlohy, P., & Nosworthy, M. (2004). Learning for

teaching: Teaching for learning. Southbank, Victoria: Thomson Learning.

http://www.acsainc.com.au/content/ulalka_tur_-_training_teachers_for_reconciliation.pdfhttp://www.acsainc.com.au/content/ulalka_tur_-_training_teachers_for_reconciliation.pdf