Key elements of an effective reflective practice

“One of the hardest things teachers have to learn is that the sincerity of their intentions does not guarantee the purity of their practice” (Brookfield, 1995, p. 1).

Reflection is the process of scrutinizing experience (Kolb, 1984). To effectively reflect on your teaching, it is recommended that you do so from different perspectives – this is the core process behind reflective practice.

Reflect on the following as it relates to your teaching practice. Review:

• your teaching from the perspective of colleagues, students, the institution, society, and more;
• the content of what you are teaching. What is left out?;
• the pedagogical strategies you use to teach. Why do you use these strategies? Are they effective and support student learning?; and
• your assessment process and plan. Is it designed for you or for students?

Strategies to begin a reflective practice

1. Keep a journal or teaching log. This can be a weekly or bi-weekly exercise or after every time you teach. Record what you noticed and felt went well and where there was tension.
2. Start a teaching/learning audit. For example, periodically ask yourself questions, such as “Compared to this time last term/year, I now know that…”; “The most important thing I learned…”
3. Think about teaching role models. Are there instructors from your past or colleagues with whom you work or have worked with that you admire? What did they do that impressed you?

Strategies to deepen your reflective practice.

All reflection is useful, but some remains at the causal level if you do not push yourself. To go deeper:

• reflect on the underlying processes connected to the causal;
• consider how power frames educational processes and interactions; and
• lastly, due to what you have learned through critically reflecting on your teaching, what are you going to change?

Techniques for connecting your reflections to your teaching

Just having knowledge about teaching does not make someone a better teacher; it has to be linked to experience (McAlpine & Weston, 2000).

You can include your reflections in your teaching dossier/portfolio. You may not want to include all of them; you can be selective. By including them, it shows your commitment to enhancing your teaching, your willingness to change, your rationale for doing what you do, that your decisions are informed by your reflections, and your dedication to support student learning. Then, when crafting your teaching philosophy statement, you connect your reflections to the evidence that represents your teaching.

References

Brookfield, S. D. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

McAlpine, L., & Weston, C. (2000). Reflection: Issues related to improving professors’ teaching and students’ learning. Instructional Science 28, 363-385.

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