Teachingreflection Uclan
Teachingreflection Uclan
Teachingreflection Uclan
Teaching Reflection
Author: Helen Day, Centre for Employability through Humanities, HFDay@uclan.ac.uk
What is reflection?
Reflection is an activity in which you: recapture your experience, think about it (alone or with others), evaluate it, and then act upon the evaluation (CfE, 2006). However these processes doesnt necessarily happen in order. You could experience all of these processes in the act of writing one sentence. Reflection works best when you think about what you are doing before, during and after your experience. Tip: It isnt easy it takes time and practice and some people will take to it more easily than others.
Why reflect?
Reflective learning requires that you think through issues for yourself, ask questions and seek out relevant information to aid your understanding. The CfE argues that the experiences, incidents or ideas most worthy of reflection are usually those that provoke feelings of discomfort, pleasure or confusion. In fact it has been said that we learn the most when we deliberately take ourselves out of our comfort zone. Benefits of reflection Reflective learners are more likely to develop a deeper understanding of their subject and therefore to achieve better grades. They tend to be motivated and pro-active and know what they are trying to achieve, are able to identify, explain and address their strengths and weaknesses, understand new concepts by relating them to previous experiences and use their existing knowledge to help them to develop their understanding of new ideas.
Apart from the fact that it is an essential piece of coursework, a learning journal is important because it:
Provides a live picture of your growing understanding of a subject or experience (gives it shape and colour etc.) Demonstrates how your learning is developing Keeps a record of your thoughts, emotions and ideas throughout your experience of learning Helps you identify your strengths, weaknesses and preferences and skills in learning Allows you to develop skills at self-evaluation Often leads to an increase in confidence and self-esteem
1. What new knowledge, skills or understanding have I gained during the process of writing my journal? 2. How can I use this knowledge, skills and understanding in the rest of my degree and beyond? 3. Has this module helped me think about my future career? 4. How would I explain what I have done to an employer when I leave university? 5. Tip: Self-Evaluation - Have I succeeded in this module according to my own criteria?
Negotiating conflict Technical, bureaucratic an other organisational processes How to abolish barriers caused by history, cultural differences, race etc.
Strengths, Weaknesses and Skills Over time you should return to the notion of your own strengths and weaknesses, noting how you have made use of your strengths or developed your weaknesses. Tip: You also need to update your skills profile and evaluate this against your original skills audit (this is your baseline from which you can be measured). This means thinking about, for example, whether you have improved your research skills or organisation skills etc. and how you did this. Personal Attributes and empowerment Many students find that this kind of project increases their self-confidence and develops other personal attributes such as sensitivity towards others. You need to reflect on incidents or moments in which you think you have developed as a person. Many people also find that writing journals can be empowering as they take responsibility for their learning. Learning of others In order to consider the needs of others and to learn to see events from various perspectives it would help to reflect on how other people learn. Perhaps you could write up a discussion between your group about how you see each others roles and responsibilities. Working with others Employers are always keen on employing those who work well with others and demonstrate responsibility towards others. Tip: You should evaluate whether you have changed your team role during this project (this requires you to return to your baseline team role assessment) and why this might be. Also of importance is how you develop your relationship with your peers, your tutor and, crucially for this project, how you interact with members of the public such as curators etc. It Tip: it would be particularly useful to reflect on how you have negotiated differences of opinions and raised sensitive issues (if there is a conflict this would be a good use of a critical incident learning log). What language did you use, for example, and did you choose particular settings for debates? Have you become a better facilitator (helping others develop)? Highs and lows It is important to congratulate yourself when you feel you have achieved your learning goal or when you have unexpectedly progressed. Equally you should record when things have not gone well and try to understand why this has happened since we often learn more from such events. Recording highs and lows will allow you to see how your confidence and self-esteem has developed as well as how you have dealt with problems and setbacks. Reviewing the journal itself It is important to revisit earlier parts of your journal regularly and consider how you have progressed since that time and how you have developed as a learner. You might also want to consider whether your writing style or the way you keep your journal has changed.
document. You might also want to consider recording some of your experiences and thoughts verbally. Setting aside time to write It is up to you to decide whether you want to set aside time to write every day, every few days, every week or to be guided by your thought processes (i.e. whenever you have an idea). The advantage of setting aside regular time to write is that the act of writing will help clarify your ideas and may even allow you to be more creative. Sometimes you will write a lot, sometimes only a few lines. Reflecting on the activities of a day or a specific event will give you time to review the experiences and activities of the day while they are still fresh in your mind. It is also an opportunity to note down any questions you have and anything you havent understood and to determine to follow this up the next day or to ask the tutor. This will help you become more autonomous as a learner; by taking control of the learning process for yourself. Sharing You might consider sharing your journal with a critical friend. Ideally this would be another student from the module. The main job of a critical friend is to ask probing questions to help you improve your writing and learning i.e. Why did you do that, feel like that? What could you do to resolve this problem? How could you express this in a clearer way? etc. S/he shouldnt criticise your journal but offer constructive feedback in a helpful and friendly manner. You may want to set up a dialogue in your journal with your critical friend by asking them to write comments in a different colour next to or after your entries. Being a critical friend and learning to take and respond to peer feedback is a skill in itself and will add to your profile. Visuals Theorists like Tony & Barry Buzan, authors of The Mind Map Book (2005) argue that our brain makes more connections when we display and record material visually than when we use list or narrative format. This may or may not be the case but you may find it useful to use mindmaps, different colours, photos, drawing and diagrams in your journal. You can also use it like a scrapbook by placing photos of statues or places you have visited, e-mails from clients, maps, guides etc from your travels. If you do this make sure you reflect on them by providing annotation or a commentary so that you are using them as a learning experience.
The following will be taken into consideration when marking your learning journal and will form the basis of your feedback: Framework for Feedback and Marking Criteria 1. Critical regard for evidence Descriptive writing and communication: accuracy of events and experiences plus fluency and creative use of language 2. Reflection on a range of experience communicated effectively Reflection on events, self, task and subject matter Reflection focused on events or incidents Reflection on personal experience and that of others Reflection on the manner of reflection and the nature of knowing Action planning for future similar incidents
3. Chaining of events and levels of interpretation (including looking from the inside out and outside in) Understanding through interpretation of events and experiences (involves standing back, ability to see events from another point of view) One event/one perspective One event/multiple perspective Several events/multiple perspective Chaining of events/perspectives Responding to peer review 4. Locating personal biography in social/historical/economic/political structures Critical Reflection: linking perspectives to historical, social and cultural processes and events as well as to theories and ideas about learning Effective links between practice and theory and personal development Locating analysis in wider context Consideration of moral / ethical issues 5. Thoroughness of analysis and development of themes Processes including organisation and use of visuals painstaking analysis complexity and questioning talking of feelings creative format and themes 6. Impact of reflection on learning and change Outcomes: Self confirming Practical learning Self-evaluation Resolution coming to terms Transformation Thanks to Shriel and Jones work on assessing learning journals
Bibliography
Buzan, Tony & Barry Buzan, The Mind Map Book, London: BBC, 2005 Learning Journals, Student Learning Advisory Service, University of Kent, 2006 < www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/learning/value/journals.pdf> Learning Journals, Study Skills Advice Sheet, University of Worcester, 2006 <www2.worc.ac.uk/studyskills/pdf/learningjournals.pdf> Moon, Jennifer, A. Learning Journals: A Handbook for reflective Practice and Professional Development, Second Edition, London: Routledge, 2006 (earlier edition in library) Reflection, Student Employability Site, centre for Employability, University of Central Lancashire, 2006 http://www.uclan.ac.uk/facs/class/cfe/eggs/reflection.htm
Shiel, Chris & David Jones, Reflective Learning and Assessment: a systematic study of reflective learning as evidenced in student Learning Journals Reflection on teaching: Impact on Learning BEST Conference, 2004 <www.business.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/reflect/conf/2003/shiel/index.html>