The Significance of Reflective Practice to Academical and Professional Performance - Term Paper Example

Reflective Practice Reflective practice refers to the exercise of putting the mastery of reflection into action with the aim of improving expert practice. It is a valuable vehicle for learning. It is extremely beneficial in raising self-awareness while also developing critical and creative thinking. This paper aims at examining the notion of reflective practice and critically discusses its contribution to strategic learning. The paper defines reflective practice and provides the various existent models that have contributed to the understanding of the concept. Proper understanding of the idea of reflective practice results in the improvement of strategic learning by increasing the self-awareness of both the educators and learners. This paper shows how learning as a process can be fostered through reflective practice and how it contributes to the development of learning habits that offers meaning and seeks for connection to concepts. Introduction Reflective practice is a process by which one pauses and reflects on their practice, offering a critical look at their decision making while drawing on theory and relating it to what they do in their practice. The notion of reflective practice got initiated in 1987 by Donald Schon who argued that reflective practice requires thoughtful deliberation of one’s own experience as they make the link between knowledge and practice, under the direction of an experienced expert within their field (Murphy, 2011). Schon’s conception of reflective practice expanded on the works of John Dewey, an educational philosopher, who put forward the notion of reflection as a learning tool. Dewey described reflective thinking as thinking that has purpose and works towards a conclusion (Tarrant, 2013). The aim of the reflective practice model is to enable novices and learners within different academic disciplines to collate their own practices to those of experienced practitioners, thus enabling improvement and development. Critical analysis and evaluation reshapes one’s thinking on their existent knowledge and helps to generate new ideas and knowledge. Moon describes reflective practice as a set of abilities and skills that prove the taking of a critical stance, an induction to problem solving or mind state. From her definition, reflective practice involves eagerness to regularly evaluate and assess one’s practice in a bid to enhance new learning (Moon, 2006). With the introduction of reflective practice, many educational institutions began to incorporate the concept into their professional and education development programs. It helps to amalgamate theory and practice. Models of reflective practice The conception of reflective practice revolves around the notion of lifelong learning where an individual analyses their experiences in a bid to learn from them. The concept involves the applying the skill of contemplation with the aim of boosting professional practice. There are various models that have contributed to the understanding of reflective practice and which one can choose from: Schon model, Johns’ model for structured reflection, Gibbs reflective cycle, Rolfe’s framework for reflective practice, and Kolb’s reflective model (Tarrant 2013, p.86). In Schon’s model, he introduced three ideas which are: reflection in action, reflection on action, and ladders of reflection (Tarrant, 2013). Reflection in action allows for one to contemplate on their behavior as it occurs in a bid to maximize the immediate following action. Reflection on action allows for one to deliberate after an event, helping them to analyze, review, and evaluate the situation. Reflection on action allows an individual to gain understanding of an event for improved practice in the future. Ladders of reflection combines both action and reflection on action to create a ladder. This notion holds that both action and reflection are interlinked within a web of series where every action becomes followed by reflection and vice versa (McMillan & Weyer, 2014). They follow each other in a recursive manner. Within the ladder, the products of reflection provide the basis for objects of further reflections. Kolb’s reflective model focuses on experiential learning. It centers on the conversion of information into knowledge (Zwodziak-Myers, 2012). The conversion of information into knowledge happens after the event has taken place. The model postulates for an individual to reflect on the experience of an event to develop a broad understanding of the lessons encountered. The individual then tests their broad understanding on a new situation. This way, the knowledge gained from an event becomes unendingly applied and reapplied thus building on the individual’s prior knowledge and experiences. Gibbs’ reflective cycle employs structured debriefing to enhance the reflection encountered in Kolb’s experiential learning cycle. Gibbs’ reflective cycle involves six steps (Brockbank & McGill, 2007). The first step is to provide a description of what happened during the situation? The individual then identifies how they think and feel about the event. The third step is to evaluate if there were any positives or negatives learnt from the situation. The individual then analyses what sense they can make of the situation (Bolton, 2010). The fifth step is to come up with a conclusion on what else one could have done during the event. The final step is to draw an action plan of what one will do the next time. Gibbs model facilitates Kolb’s cycle because the action one takes at the end stage feeds back into the start stage, thus restarting the process again. Rolfe’s model employs three basic questions to reflect on a situation (Rushton & Suter, 2012). The first question is what? The question asks what the problem is. What was one’s role in the event? What happened and what were the consequences? The second question is so what? So what should the individual have done? So what was going through the individual’s mind? So what does the individual know about what happened? The third and final question is now what? No what does the individual need to do? Now what might happen now? Now what broader issues have been raised? Rolfe’s model underlines the third question as the most influential in reflective practice. Johns’ model for structured reflection provides a guide for analyzing a critical situation or for general reflection on experiences (Sherwood & Horton-Deutsch, 2012). The model offers a series of questions to that helps one to think through what has occurred. This model argues for the need for an apprentice to collaborate with a supervisor or tutor throughout the experience. John encourages that the student or apprentice should utilize a structured diary (McIntosh, 2010). The student should analyze the situation, which involves focusing on oneself and concentrating on one’s thoughts and feelings. One should then evaluate the situation and jot down the description of the situation centering on their feelings and thoughts; why one responded in the way they did, what one is trying to achieve, how others felt, if one acted in the best way, and if there were any ethical concepts. Contribution of reflective Practice to strategic learning After Schon’s expansion on reflection and his establishment of reflective practice, his ideas have been greatly instituted into higher education at the postgraduate and undergraduate levels. His concept has also become employed in a range of professions ranging from education to social and health care (Mcintosh, 2010). The establishment of Schon’s reflective principles witnessed a shift from the technical and simplistic view of teaching that was dominant in the 1980s (Bolton, 2010). Teaching and learning is complex and situation specific. Present day professional knowledge gets seen to come from sources outside the teacher as well as the teacher’s own interpretations of everyday experience. Education as a profession is based on communication. This calls for educators to become aware of their communication skills. Empowering educators provides the basis for true education reform and reflective practice offers the best accountability measure for teachers (McGregor & Cartwright, 2011). Reflective practices enable learning, renewal, and growth throughout the development of career educators. Supporting and encouraging reflective practice among educators and learners should be encouraged to improve the quality of education and strategic learning. Increasing evidence indicates that student learning is connected to staff learning. That is, as staff members learn and improve their instructional practice, so too do students benefit and show an increase in their learning. The desired outcome in education is to always increase student learning and their capacity to learn on levels that include their academic, social, and emotional well-being. High levels of student learning call for high levels of staff competence. Discussed below are ways that reflective practice stands to enhance strategic learning in educational institutions. Learning and teaching are complex processes and thus reflecting on different kinds of teaching helps to reshape current and past experiences, which leads to improved teaching practices. Reflection in action can assist teachers to make professional knowledge that they receive from their experience in the classroom (Lyons, 2010). Educators develop a greater variety of perspectives to draw on to address the multiple challenging and complex dilemmas associated with their practice. Reflective practice allows educators to commit to their students and their learning increasing efficacy (Bradbury, 2010). It allows educators to ask themselves whether they have supported student learning to the best of their ability or if they have offered the student with a start point in their learning. Reflective practice allows for teachers to modify their set of skills to cater to specific situations and contexts, allowing them to invent new strategies that are effective for learning among their students. This enables new knowledge and understandings that have immediate applications to practice to be created. Reflective practice also has massive benefits in raising self-awareness, which is a vital component of emotional intelligence. Reflective practice can assist students to develop their creative and critical thinking skills, which encourages their active engagement in the learning process (Thompson & Thompson, 2008). Students can actively engage in reflective practice by using reflective journals and self-evaluative tools. Keeping reflective journals creates a foundation for future action plans for improvement. Self-reflection forms allow for students to reflect in a balanced way by noting both their strengths and areas that require improvement. Students can also engage in peer learning through group discussions and supervision sessions where they discuss and interact with their fellow students. This assists them to identify there area of weakness and strength as well as engage with each other to find solutions to problems. Conclusion Reflective practice refers to an unending process that requires learners to consider critical situations in their learning and or life experiences. The concept, introduced by Donald Schon ensures that one critically thinks over their own experience and applies the knowledge obtained to practice while under the supervision of a professional in their discipline. Various models have contributed to further understanding of the concept over the years. Reflective practice in education is a vital tool for both students and educators in contributing to strategic learning. References BOLTON, G. (2010). Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development. New York: SAGE. BRADBURY, H. (2010). Beyond Reflective Practice: New Approaches to Professional Lifelong Learning. New York: Routledge. BROCKBANK, A & McGILL, I . (2007). Facilitating Reflective Learning In Higher Education. New York: McGraw-Hill International. COTTRELL, S. (2011). 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