CE-ELM, Mombasa Starters Reflective Practice 11 th April 2011

Reflective Practice CEP:ELM Mombasa April 12, 2010

Objectives of the Session  Understand the concept and importance of reflective practice;  Understand the implications of reflective practice for one’s own professional dev’t & school improvement as a whole;  Engage in self-reflection by writing a reflective entry in a journal.

What is reflection?  A cognitive (thinking activity) - involves carefully thinking back over an event, incident or everyday experience.  May occur in any situation in your private or professional life  provides new understandings of the self, the action situation, the taken-for- granted assumptions of one’s work and leads to the development of the commitment and skill to take informed action.

What is reflection? (cont.) Reflection is a thoughtful consideration of an experience that has occurred with the intention of understanding and learning from it in order to change or improve future actions.

What is reflective practice?  When reflection is incorporated into your professional work.  A process that is used to perform your work as a teacher, teacher educator or educational leader more effectively.

Benefits of Engaging in Reflective Practice  Develops a deeper understanding of one’s professional practice;  Helps one develop a professional philosophy that can be validated by self;  Questions taken for granted assumptions (traditions);  Enables one to acknowledge diverse ways of engaging in classroom/leadership practices;  Professionalises teaching – teaching is not a simple routine activity  Leads to continuous self-improvement

Characteristics of a reflective practitioner Reflective practitioners possess several attitudes and skills:  Introspection – looking inwards at oneself; why did I do what I did? For what purpose? Whose gain?  Open-mindedness – a desire to listen to more sides than one; possibility of error even in beliefs dear to us

Characteristics of a reflective practitioner (cont.)  Willingness to accept responsibility – facilitated by 3 kinds of consequences:  Personal – effect on students’ self concept  Academic – effect on students’ intellectual development  Social and political - effects on the life chances of all the students Key Qn: Are the results good? For whom? In what ways?

Characteristics of a reflective practitioner (cont.)  Wholeheartedness – regularly examining one’s own assumptions & beliefs, results of actions and approach to situations with the belief that one can learn something new

Ways of Reflecting  Reflective conversations  Writing a reflective journal

Why journal? Generally, a journal is a tool for improving one’s personal and professional life:  It helps one cope with otherwise difficult situations by enabling one to develop coping strategies;  Helps one to maintain a healthy perspective regarding daily events – anxiety buffers;  Gives one an opportunity to slow down;  Enables us make better decisions and therefore develops our professional confidence;  Provides one with opportunities to think creatively – step out of the box

Writing in a Reflective Journal  Choosing Materials and Medium  Making Time to Write  Writing in your Journal Describe Interpret Analyse Use critical incidents

Critical Incident Any experience you have which leaves you puzzled, perplexed, happy or sad - in short almost any occurrence that is significant in your professional work. It could be an incident involving students or parents, teachers or staff, teaching or leadership and management.

Writing in a Reflective Journal  Making Time to Reflect  Reflecting on Writing

Task - Questions for Reflection  Why did you decide to do this course?  What strengths will it help you build on and what limitations will it address?  How will it help you realize the hopes you have for yourself and your institution?  What important lesson did you learn today? Why?