1. CE-ELM, Mombasa Starters Reflective Practice 11 th April 2011

7. Reflective Practice CEP:ELM Mombasa April 12, 2010

8. Objectives of the Session  Understand the concept and importance of reflective practice;  Understand the implications of reflective practice for one’s own professional dev’t & school improvement as a whole;  Engage in self-reflection by writing a reflective entry in a journal.

9. What is reflection?  A cognitive (thinking activity) - involves carefully thinking back over an event, incident or everyday experience.  May occur in any situation in your private or professional life  provides new understandings of the self, the action situation, the taken-for- granted assumptions of one’s work and leads to the development of the commitment and skill to take informed action.

10. What is reflection? (cont.) Reflection is a thoughtful consideration of an experience that has occurred with the intention of understanding and learning from it in order to change or improve future actions.

11. What is reflective practice?  When reflection is incorporated into your professional work.  A process that is used to perform your work as a teacher, teacher educator or educational leader more effectively.

12. Benefits of Engaging in Reflective Practice  Develops a deeper understanding of one’s professional practice;  Helps one develop a professional philosophy that can be validated by self;  Questions taken for granted assumptions (traditions);  Enables one to acknowledge diverse ways of engaging in classroom/leadership practices;  Professionalises teaching – teaching is not a simple routine activity  Leads to continuous self-improvement

13. Characteristics of a reflective practitioner Reflective practitioners possess several attitudes and skills:  Introspection – looking inwards at oneself; why did I do what I did? For what purpose? Whose gain?  Open-mindedness – a desire to listen to more sides than one; possibility of error even in beliefs dear to us

14. Characteristics of a reflective practitioner (cont.)  Willingness to accept responsibility – facilitated by 3 kinds of consequences:  Personal – effect on students’ self concept  Academic – effect on students’ intellectual development  Social and political - effects on the life chances of all the students Key Qn: Are the results good? For whom? In what ways?

15. Characteristics of a reflective practitioner (cont.)  Wholeheartedness – regularly examining one’s own assumptions & beliefs, results of actions and approach to situations with the belief that one can learn something new

16. Ways of Reflecting  Reflective conversations  Writing a reflective journal

17. Why journal? Generally, a journal is a tool for improving one’s personal and professional life:  It helps one cope with otherwise difficult situations by enabling one to develop coping strategies;  Helps one to maintain a healthy perspective regarding daily events – anxiety buffers;  Gives one an opportunity to slow down;  Enables us make better decisions and therefore develops our professional confidence;  Provides one with opportunities to think creatively – step out of the box

18. Writing in a Reflective Journal  Choosing Materials and Medium  Making Time to Write  Writing in your Journal Describe Interpret Analyse Use critical incidents

19. Critical Incident Any experience you have which leaves you puzzled, perplexed, happy or sad - in short almost any occurrence that is significant in your professional work. It could be an incident involving students or parents, teachers or staff, teaching or leadership and management.

20. Writing in a Reflective Journal  Making Time to Reflect  Reflecting on Writing

21. Task - Questions for Reflection  Why did you decide to do this course?  What strengths will it help you build on and what limitations will it address?  How will it help you realize the hopes you have for yourself and your institution?  What important lesson did you learn today? Why?