Moon Reflective Practice Guide - University of Exeter lecturer. Part of the Higher Education guides,...

7/28/2019 Moon Reflective Practice Guide - University of Exeter lecturer. Part of the Higher Education guides, part 4

1/4

Guide for Busy Academics No. 4Learning through reflection

The Higher Education AcademyGuide for Busy Academics No.4Learning through reflection28/11/05

1


2/4

1. Introduction

Personal development planning (PDP) caninvolve different forms of reflection and

reflective learning. Much has been written andsaid about reflection in recent times, but itremains a somewhat mysterious activity or isit a capacity? This guide provides anintroduction to reflection and reflective learningin support of the development of PDP withinHE.

2. What is reflection?

A common-sense approach to reflectionsuggests that it lies somewhere around thenotion of learning. We reflect on something inorder to consider it in more detail eg Let mereflect on that for a moment. Usually wereflect because we have a purpose forreflecting a goal to reach. Sometimes wefind ourselves being reflective and out of thatbeing reflective, something pops up. Thenthere has been no conscious purpose as such

but there is a useful outcome and there mayhave been a subconscious purpose. It is alsoapparent that we reflect on things that arerelatively complicated. We do not reflect on asimple addition sum or the route to thecorner shop. We reflect on things for whichthere is not an obvious or immediate solution.Often the latter will be instigated by orassociated with a range of feelings and theexperience of such reflection may beemotional or spiritual. The experience may be

pleasurable or uncomfortable.

Generally reflection is a means of working onwhat we know already and it generates newknowledge. Consciously or unconsciously weput into the reflection process thoughts, ideas,experience, knowledge, theory and we mayseek new information. We draw out of it

something that accords with the purpose forwhich we reflected or new prompts for furtherreflection. On this basis, a simple definition ofreflection might be:

Reflection is a form of mental processing thatwe use to fulfill a purpose or to achieve someanticipated outcome. It is applied to gain abetter understanding of relatively complicatedor unstructured ideas and is largely based onthe reprocessing of knowledge, understandingand possibly emotions that we already

possess.

Reflection has a role in:

academic and non-academic learning

self development

critical review

considering our own processes of

mental functioning

decision-making

emancipation and empowerment and

so on.

There is a close relationship between reflectionand emotion or feelings and many wouldsuggest that the use of reflection in academiccontexts provides an appropriate channel forexploration or expression of this humanfunction. Self-awareness and control ofemotions is an important factor in academic

performance and PDP provides opportunitiesfor emotional engagement with subjectlearning.

3. Reflection and learning


2


3/4

Reflection is not just an add-on-extra toacademic learning, but it is an essentialcomponent of good quality learning and therepresentation of that learning. Reflectionseems to be a part of the kinds of learning in

which learners try to understand material thatthey encounter and to relate it to what theyalready knew. Relating new material to whatone knows already may mean reflecting onwhat one knows and modifying it (deepapproach). Reflection does not seem to havea role in the learning in which learners try justto retain new information without creating deeplinks with the new ideas (surface approach).Reflection will also be involved in the processof representing learning when, for example, alearners understanding is tested in a format

that demands reprocessing of the ideas (eg anessay). It is less or uninvolved in an approachthat requires reiteration of the responses in thesame format as the original knowledge. Soreflection is a fundamental feature of a deeperapproach to learning.

In addition to being a part of good qualitylearning, reflection also supports learning byproviding the right conditions for learning. Forexample:

being reflective slows down learning,

because it requires time for a learner toreprocess ideas.

it enables learners to feel that they

own their knowledge and understandingbecause they have been a part of itscreation.

ability in reflection often implies ability

in metacognition where the learner is

able to consider his/her own learningbehaviour, metacognitive ability isassociated with effective learning.

material on which we reflect is relatively

complicated or unstructured material. Itchallenges learners and when they are

challenged, they gain greater abilities indealing with difficult material of learning.

4. Reflection and PDP

Reflective learning will already be incidental inthe academic activities of most students butdeliberate strategies for its use will makestudents more conscious of it so that it canbecome an integral part of their approach tolearning. There are many vehicles forreflective learning in the curriculum:

learning journals, logs etc

the use of portfolios

reflection on work experiences

reflection on placement experiences

beyond the deliberate curriculum

in the context of peer and self

assessment

in the context of careers work,

counselling or student or personaldevelopment work.

5. Reflection as a strategy for studentlearning

There are some things to think about whenasking students to reflect. Some academiccolleagues may not understand what placereflective activities have within the curriculum.

Some students will not understand what youwant them to do. They will be unused to beingasked to process information that is not from abook or given by a lecturer and they may beuneasy about the use of the first person in anacademic context.


3


4/4

Moon Reflective Practice Guide - University of Exeter lecturer. Part of the Higher Education guides,...

Documents

Transcript of Moon Reflective Practice Guide - University of Exeter lecturer. Part of the Higher Education guides,...