Reflective Practice in a Teachign context

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Access to Teaching (HE)                                                                              Preya Kamothi

Reflective Practice in a Teaching Context

The purpose of this essay is to look at reflective practice and what skills are needed for teaching. The essay will also outside my experience of working as a teacher at my placement.

Reflective practice is a concept that is used in education studies; it involves the learner considering incidents from their life experiences and thinking about what they are learning. As defined by Schon (The Reflective Practitioner in 1983), reflective practice involves thoughtfully considering one's own experiences in applying knowledge to practice while being coached by professionals in the discipline. Schon (1983) suggested that the ability to reflect on action as a process of learning was one of the most important factors in a professional practice.

Reflective practice is applied in a cyclical or spiraling process where teachers monitor their own teaching continuously which clearly requires a good attitude of open-mindedness and responsibility. It is also enhanced through communication and feedback from colleagues. Learning is all about change which we see through experience by reflecting on what we have learnt and how we have changed, as defined by Kolb (1984).         

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The importance of reflecting on what you are doing, as part of the learning process, has been emphasised by many theorists. Reflective Observation is the second stage by Kolb (1984). The other stages include concrete experience, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation.

The ability to reflect while doing something (in) and after you have done (on) it has become an important feature of educational practices, and it is highly encouraged. It can be argued that reflective practice needs another person as mentor, because it can be very difficult for one to criticise them selves or to realise that something can ...

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