Do I really need to become a reflective practitioner?

The driving question addresses whether each practitioner needs to reflect on their work, in order to improve on the efficiency and quality of their performance in a classroom.

My immediate thought process of this follows that all teachers should have a reflective practice in some way. Either by simply evaluating their actions after the fact or by following a reflective scaffold. Gibbs’ (1988) reflective cycle dictates a step-by-step process that allows evaluation to come to play in the reflection of a practitioner.

Gibbs’ (1988) plan, integrates stages of reflection and is the process of “learning by doing” (Gibbs, 1998, p.1). It provides clearly thought out steps and allows the user to synthesise their own thoughts. The cycle provides the stages of description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan, to keep the process relevant and on course for the user. Being able to synthesise one’s thoughts and critically analyse their own actions allows teachers to improve and “develop a sense that they can become challengers who take initiative” (Thompson & Thompson, 2018, p.11). Taking this initiative as a teacher to further their own work is necessary for the improvement of practice.

Gibbs’ (1988) reflective cycle addresses the ‘how’ to reflect but does not explicitly address the why. However, through my own research, I found that teachers need to be reflective practitioners not only for their own practice but also so that the students who are growing up in a “revolution in digital technology” (Benade, 2015, p. 42) are able to adjust to the new “flexible learning spaces” (Benade, 2015, p. 42) and procedures that are now in place. The workplace that students will go into in the twenty-first century “reflects fluidity, unpredictability and complexity” (Bolstad & Gilbert, 2012, p.126), this need for reflective practice is evident in such a technologically driven workforce that is changing so rapidly.

Gibbs’ (1998) reflective cycle is an aged principle that still holds utmost relevancy today. Reflection relates heavily to action and is an evidence-based practice that allows practitioners to plan ahead so that when an issue takes place a second time, they are able to generally strategise and anticipate difficulties. This allows the teacher to have greater confidence in instances such as behavioural control in a classroom (Thompson & Thompson, 2018). The action comes both before and after the incident, with reflective practice aiding the choice of consequences and management.

For both students who are studying for the evolving workforce, and teachers who are training the minds of the future, reflective practicing has a place of necessity in our changing society. Without reflective practice, growth might be stunted in a teacher’s practice, as new techniques, studies, and data are continuously being brought to the forefront of education.

My findings have led me to the conclusion that I must implement reflective practicing into my own practice as a beginning teacher. I can utilise both in-action and on-action reflective processes to better my practice. Gibbs reflective cycle, or even reflective blogging, might be tools that could be of use. After employing these strategies, through research of alternate measures, I will be able to action more useful management, behavioural, educational, and organisational skills in the classroom.

References

Benade, L. (2015). Teachers’ Critical Reflective Practice in the Context of Twenty-first Century Learning. Open Review Of Educational Research, 2(1), 42-54. https://doi.org/10.1080/23265507.2014.998159

Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Hipkins, R., & Boyd, S. (2015). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective. (1st ed., pp. 121-135). Ministry of Education.

Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. Oxford: Oxford Further Education Units.

Thompson, S., & Thompson, N. (2018). The critically reflective practitioner (2nd ed., pp. 11-39). Palgrave.