This essay explores how reflective practices can help us to understand our actions and how we can improve upon these to ultimately make ourselves a better and more effective teacher. A reflective practice is a tool that can empower an individual through the process of focusing their thinking, therefore supporting self-knowledge and understanding (Sellars, 2014).
Reflective practice is a self-reflective process and Shepherd (2006) states that “in making sense of one’s situation, we are constructing our own experiences”. He introduces a technique to help with this; journal writing.
Keeping a journal in professional practice can become a means of reflection as you are able to look back at past events and are able to remember and gain understanding …show more content…
Schon (1983) acknowledges that a teachers previous experience during their time spent in a classroom can be exceptionally valuable during reflective practice.
However ‘Reflection-in-action’ is not the only theory of reflective practice that has been proposed. In 1991, Gore and Zeichner proposed that there were four different types of reflection during a teacher’s reflective practice.
Academic reflection would include reflection on whether the teacher had been organised and well equipped with any content needed to teach, whilst knowing the content being taught to the best of their ability, therefore evaluating the teacher’s skills. An example question asked during this type of reflection would …show more content…
By keeping a reflective journal throughout professional practice we can look back and view past experiences and how they were handled, initiating thought into how they can be improved upon. Through reflection-in-action, a professional teacher is able to continuously review their situation, allowing their previous experience and existing knowledge to inform what happens next, perhaps improving on the overall effectiveness. Finally, through the types of reflection proposed by Gore and Zeichner in 1991, a teacher is able to question themselves in different areas of their role, ensuring that they are completing their job to the best of their ability and are reaching their full potential academically and
Reflective practice is a self-reflective process and Shepherd (2006) states that “in making sense of one’s situation, we are constructing our own experiences”. He introduces a technique to help with this; journal writing.
Keeping a journal in professional practice can become a means of reflection as you are able to look back at past events and are able to remember and gain understanding …show more content…
Schon (1983) acknowledges that a teachers previous experience during their time spent in a classroom can be exceptionally valuable during reflective practice.
However ‘Reflection-in-action’ is not the only theory of reflective practice that has been proposed. In 1991, Gore and Zeichner proposed that there were four different types of reflection during a teacher’s reflective practice.
Academic reflection would include reflection on whether the teacher had been organised and well equipped with any content needed to teach, whilst knowing the content being taught to the best of their ability, therefore evaluating the teacher’s skills. An example question asked during this type of reflection would …show more content…
By keeping a reflective journal throughout professional practice we can look back and view past experiences and how they were handled, initiating thought into how they can be improved upon. Through reflection-in-action, a professional teacher is able to continuously review their situation, allowing their previous experience and existing knowledge to inform what happens next, perhaps improving on the overall effectiveness. Finally, through the types of reflection proposed by Gore and Zeichner in 1991, a teacher is able to question themselves in different areas of their role, ensuring that they are completing their job to the best of their ability and are reaching their full potential academically and