Reflecitve practice Flashcards
General definition of reflective practice
In general, reflective practice is understood as the process of learning through and from
experience towards gaining new insights of self and/or practice (Boud et al 1985; Boyd
and Fales, 1983; Mezirow, 1981, Jarvis, 1992).
It also tends to involve the individual practitioner in
being self-aware and critically evaluating their own responses to practice situations.
The point is to recapture practice experiences and mull them over critically in order to
gain new understandings and so improve future practice. This is understood as part of the
process of life-long learning.
Reflective practice as professional bedrock (basis)
“Reflecting on performance and acting on reflection is a professional imperative.” McKay (2008, Forthcoming)
First recognition of ‘reflection’ + bases for reflective practice
Dewey (1933) was among the first to identify reflection as a specialised form of thinking. He considered reflection to stem from doubt, hesitation or perplexity related to a directly experienced situation.
+ he separated doing routine actions and moved into doing reflected actions ==> we learn from ‘doing’
This prompted purposeful inquiry and problem resolution (Sinclair, 1998).
Schon’s (1983) The Reflective Practitioner
First seminar paper on how reflective practise is professional
His work is considered ‘canonical’ by some because of it being applied in professional training and education.
Reflection-on-action
Thinking after the event
Reflection-in-action
Thinking while doing
Atkins and Murphy’s (1993) 3 stages of reflective process
reflective practice in health care
- The professional becoming aware of uncomfortable
feelings and thoughts. - Critical analysis of feelings and knowledge
- The development of a new perspective.
Grushka, Hinde-McLeod and Reynolds (2005) (education field)
- Reflection for action
- Reflection in action
- Reflection on action
Good for teachers, technical, practical and critical questions
Zeichner and Liston (1996)
5 levels or RP in teaching
- Rapid reflection - immediate, ongoing and automatic action by the teacher.
- Repair – in which a thoughtful teacher makes decisions to alter their behaviour in
response to students’ cues. - Review – when a teacher thinks about, discusses or writes about some element of their
teaching. - Research – when a teacher engages in more systematic and sustained thinking over
time, perhaps by collecting data or reading research. - Retheorizing and reformulating – the process by which a teacher critically examines
their own practice and theories in the light of academic theories.
Criticism of reflective practice from Schon’s (1983)
- Eraut (2004) faults the work for its lack of
precision and clarity. - Boud and Walker (1998) argue that Schon’s analysis ignores
critical features of the context of reflection. - Usher et al (1997) find Schon’s account and
methodology unreflexive - Greenwood (1993) targets Schon for
downplaying the importance of reflection-before-action - Ekebergh (2006) uses phenomenological philosophy to argue that it is not possible to distance oneself from the lived situation to reflect in the moment (reflection-in-action)
Reflective practice model (Eby, 2000)
Synthesis of reflection,
self-awareness and
critical thinking
Reflexivity
Reflexive practitioners should engage in critical self-reflection where they critically reflect on the impact of their background, assumptions, positioning, feelings, and behaviour while also attending to the impact of the wider organisational discursive, idealogical and political context. = think how your own bubble affects your and your views and behaviours + put it into wider context of your culture, time you were born, politics etc.
What distinguishes critical reflection from other forms of reflection
(1) its concern to question assumptions;
(2) its social rather than individual focus;
(3) the particular attention it pays to the analysis of power relations;
(4) its pursuit of emancipation (Reynolds, 1998).
Quinn (1988, 2000)
3 fundamental processes mentioned by models of reflective practice
- Retrospection
- Self-evaluation
- Reorientation
Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning cycle
A four stage process that describes how we acquire and embed new knowledge. The theory embraces the idea that we change as a result of experience, reflection, conceptualisation and experimentation. Closely follows Schon's reflection-on-action 1. concrete experience (EXPERIENCING) 2. reflective observation (REFLECTING) 3. abstract conceptualisation (THINKING/THEORISING) 4. active experimentation (TESTING/ACTION)
Gibbs’s (1988) model of reflection
Built from Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning cycle; proposes that theory and practice enrich each other in a never-ending cycle.
Describe- What happened?
Feelings- what are you thought and feelings about this?
Evaluation-What was good and bad about it?
Analysis- what sense can you make of this?
Conclusion- what else could you have done?
Action plan- what would you do if that happened again?
There are many models of reflective practice…
Different models are needed, at different
levels, for different individuals, disciplines and organisations, to use in different contexts
Models need to be
applied selectively, purposefully and flexibly.
(Brookfield, 1994, 1995)
Critique of reflective practice: bias
Cultural and personal risks involved, not every professional is benefiting from reflective pracitce the way theories assume.
Boud and Walker (1998)
Critique of reflective practice: mundane
Practitioners see reflective practice more as a recipie-following checklist. Some people ritualise reflection leading to a flase belief that it’s linear and not complex.
Ethical issues of reflective practice
Confidentiality, right to privacy, informed consent, prefessional relationships (conflict of interests)
+ self-evaluation can be easly mistaken for self-crituque/rejection and constant need for imporvement = never feeling good enough (Quinn, 1988/2000)
support in reflective practice would be good
Professional concerns of reflective practice
- The process of reflection should not overwhelm actual practice.
Conceptual issue of reflective practice
- It can be understoond in a varety of ways,in
a very personal or social way (Finlay, 2003).
Is reflective practice hard?
Yes, it is harder than it seems. Hard to do and to teach how to do it effectivelly.
It also requires a lot of practice a application in correct situations
How to do reflective practice well?
- Teach students how and why to be motivated to do reflective practice, give examples of when professionals used r.p. and how they benefited from it.
- Treat all the models are a range of tools rather than 1 correct recipie. They shoudl also be encouraged to try the models (Hobbs,
2007) . - Have sufficient time to engage in different types of reflection (verbal, formal, informal, written, group etc.)
