The importance of reflective practice

in increased student learning.

8.6.2 The importance of reflective practice.

Many lecturers recognized the importance of reflection in learning from everyday experience. One lecturer described it this way “well, usually I go back over the day and reflect and think if I was to do that again I wouldn’t do it this way” (L3, Interview, November 2003). What was important was “the desire to reflect on what you’re doing and how you think about what impact, if any, it has on the students (L2, Interview, November 2003). Lecturer 2 thought of reflection as a form of self-evaluation:

There is no doubt that experience is the greatest lecturer tool and I think self-evaluation… They sit down and they look at themselves professionally and they say “that didn’t go well or I am not happy with that program, I am not teaching that well; how can I make it better?” (L5, Interview, November 2003).

Findings also revealed many widely varied aspects of lecturers’ learning. These can be grouped into three overlapping categories: individual activity (reflective practice); collaborative activity; and planned activity.

Firstly, lecturers often learn through their own, predominantly individual, activities. In particular they are constantly adjusting and modifying their practice, in response to reactions, interactions and activities in the classroom, and in anticipation of partly new situations. The lecturers in my study most frequently used the term ‘trial and error’. Much of the teacher thinking literature conceptualises individual learning as teacher reflection, often following Schon (1983).

In Eraut’s (1994) and Beckett’s (1996) terms, the former is part of ‘hot action’, as teachers make rapid professional judgements on the spot in responding to classroom

situations. The latter is part of ‘cold action’, as teachers think back about something that has happened, or plan ahead, for a subsequent lesson, assessment, curriculum unit, etc.

As well as on-going experience, many lecturers learn through the impact of imposed external change, such as of the new Education Act and new approaches to teaching and learning, or from acquiring and using new teaching materials. Sometimes this consists of modifying an existing lesson or course, sometimes in developing a completely new approach. But even, in the latter case, long-accumulated values, beliefs and practices influence what they do and how they learn. Feeding in to all of this will be ideas learned through reading, through use of the Internet, and through noticing things that are relevant for their work, in a wide variety of situations and contexts:

I gain ideas from such activities as visiting exhibitions or the other workplaces, or observing an interesting pattern of student learning in the campus (L3, Interview, November 2003).

Such individual teacher learning can be opportunistic, or even incidental. On the other hand sometimes there is a deliberate intention to learn something new.

I decided that I had to improve my teaching for a changing curriculum, then used a number of strategies to achieve this most of which involved me in ‘doing’. Such deliberate learning may focus on the practice of teaching, or on the further development of subject knowledge and expertise (L5, Interview, November 2003).

A number of lecturers stressed the value of reflection when discussing informal learning. Examples and anecdotes were offered by lecturers, which tend to be of more systematic form such as keeping reflective journals. A number of lecturers particularly stressed the value of reflecting jointly with others. However, several argued that to be most effective it was necessary to have a suitable framework against which to reflect. A

number of the techniques reported for enhancing reflection have advocates within the literature.

It is possible that the identification by lecturers of reflection as a discrete learning method in its own right may understate its importance. It seems likely that many of the other informal learning methods described above rely on reflection as a key element in turning an experience into learning.

feedback from students, colleagues. Several stressed the importance of deliberately seeking feedback, or of listening carefully to what people might be telling you indirectly or directly about your performance. The value of formal appraisals for providing feedback on “ how they were doing” and helping to identify further development. Some in this team, however, felt that a once a year appraisal, though useful, was not enough. What many seemed to seek was continuous feedback on “ how they were doing”

(Field notes, November 2003).

Lecturer 1 reported his learning as deriving from the student as his ‘main teacher’ through the ways they respond and interact. This, he felt, was something that could only be learnt through actual experience (Interview, November 2003).

Lecturer 2 noted that from reading the literature she had developed ‘decision’ and practice, which I saw as the “key to being a good teacher…. is to be very sensitive and recognise the problems I have had” (Interview, November 2003).

.

Read a bit of literature and watching how other people operate, is the main way I have learnt. Development from these

learning process, I could then implement things in my classroom(L3, Interview, November 2003).

In addition to the student in class, colleagues were the main resource in learning about the classroom situation. Lecturers also learnt from other people (fellow lecturers, student and people outside work). Sometimes this remains a fairly individual process, but often it can be better characterised by our third factor of learning.