Activity 3 - Response's to Finlay's (2008) Article

Purpose of the article

This article by Finlay, "Reflecting on Reflective Practice" (Finlay, 2008), explores the ideas and debates around reflective practice, how it is currently used in professional practice and some suggestions for "effective reflective practice involving critical reflection for educators" (p.2).   

Reflective practice is complex 

Finlay acknowledges that there are many different meanings of reflective practice and that it means different things to different groups and in different contexts (p.2).  She points out that reflective practice does not work if not applied effectively (p.10) and that it is hard to apply and teach it properly as there is a "lack or consensus and clarity" (p.7) around the concept of reflective practice and a number of different versions and models of reflective practice.

Reflection ‘in’ and ‘on’ practice

An interesting point from this section is the concept by Schon (1983) about the two types of reflection: "reflection-on-action" (thinking after the event) and "reflection-in-action" (thinking during the event) (p.3).  I agree with what Schon says in terms of reflective practice developing more from an "reflection-on-action" type of reflection to "reflection-in-action" as teachers gain experience and confidence in teaching.  I can relate to this.  I remember initially as a new, inexperienced teacher that my reflections were largely retrospective and often occurred after a lesson, or at the end of the day when I was reflecting on what had happened during the day, what went well and what didn't go so well.   As I have become a more experienced teacher, I have have definitely become more of a "reflection-in-action" type of teacher in that I get a sense with how the lesson is going while I'm teaching and can adjust accordingly.  

When planning I ask myself similar questions to those outlined by Grushka, Hinde-McLeod and Reynolds in their ‘reflection for action,' particularly what is the purpose of the lesson - if I am not clear on that then my students won't be (p.4).

Reflection, critical reflection and reflexivity - a continuum  

The continuum (p.6) that Finlay suggested to differentiate between these three concepts, reflection, critical reflection and reflexivity, is very effective.  It gives a clear distinction between the three concepts.  

Whilst I have always know about the concepts of reflection and critical reflection, reflexivity is a new term for me but is not a foreign idea.  Personally whilst I know I am not a very effective critical reflector, I often think in terms of how I myself affect a situation or event.  

Critiquing reflective practice

It was interesting reading this section as many of the points made highlight my concerns with reflective practice, in particular the following aspects:

1. Time poor - As a busy teacher with many added responsibilities it is often hard to find the time to reflect effectively.  I have to balance my life/work balance and sadly the time to reflect often suffers.
2. Ethical concerns/Pedalogical Concerns - This is not so much a concern for me but as a Tutor Teacher and Associate Teacher I often notice that reflections made by my trainees etc can sometimes be forced and contrived.  I worry that they may not be getting as much out of these as they could be, and that the expectations of constant reflection can lead to apathy and indifference.  As Finlay points out "when required of individuals through learning and assessment exercises, reflections can end up being superficial, strategic and guarded" (p.14).

 Nurturing effective reflective practice

This section is of particular interest to me in terms of teaching and engaging students in effective reflection.  At my school active, regular reflection is an integral part of our teaching and learning.  It is an expectation that students reflect on a number of pieces of "evidence" of their learning and publish this in their learning blogs.  Students are expected to use their reflections and observations to inform next learning steps.  

At our level (primary) they are introduced to fairly simple reflection models initially (written and self/peer assessments), but as Finlay points out as the students become more confident, they are encouraged to think more deeply and critically (p. 16).  After reading this article and reflecting on how we are getting our students to reflect in our school, I think we are probably limiting our students to one or two particular styles of reflection, particularly retrospective, and written relfections, rather than promoting a range of reflective strategies to avoid boredom and complacency (p.17) and make the reflections more effective.

Conclusion

Overall this article has given me a lot to think about in terms of reflective practice.  It is clear that there is not a lot of consensus and clarity as to what reflective practice is and how it should be taught/used effectively.  As an educator, I know that reflection is an intrinsic part of teaching and learning to enable me to become a better teacher and learner!

References

Finlay, L. (2008). Reflecting on ‘Reflective practice’. Open University, Practice-based professional learning centre. Retrieved June 16, 2015, from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/files/opencetl/file/ecms/web-content/Finlay-%282008%29-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf

Activity 2: Reflection on Learning and Practice

What have I learned from this course?

As a person who is always keen to learn new ways of doing things and how I can be a better teacher, I was really excited to embark on this course this year. I was looking forward to learning new things to share with my students and colleagues, being challenged, meeting like-minded teachers and having fun... and this course has really delivered all of these things.  

Three things I learnt about myself as a learner:

Learning Modality
Whilst I always thought of myself as more of a visual learner, I have found that I enjoyed the combination of learning approaches provided during this course - visual, auditory and kinesthetic (Powell, 2013, p.62).  In particiular, the kinesthetic approach (which I usually cringe at the thought of) of being able to try out new things during the hands-on sessions in the course, such as the 3D printing, making videos, performing skits, whilst was uncomfortable at times, was also a lot of fun and I felt proud and accomplished when I rose to the challenge.

Collaboration
I have also enjoyed being able to collaborate with others on tasks and assignments.  This learning style, although one that I use in all the time in my classroom, is a very different approach to the learning and teaching that I grew up with in school and university.  It is great to be able to be the student and appreciate how effective for learning it is.  To be able to discuss concepts, issues, tasks, problems etc with my colleagues has been a powerful way to learn and it has been invaluable listening to different perspectives and reasonings (Hargreaves, 2007 p.188).


Assessment and Reflection
I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to present assignments in a different way other than the traditional essay.  As a visual learner, it is much more satisfying for me to be able to put my thoughts and findings together in a visual way with images, tables, animations etc.  It has helped me with my learning and absorption of the information and concepts we have learnt about.  It has underlined to me that this type of assessment is a valid and valuable way to assess students in the 21st Century.  I have also become more reflective, although this is one of my biggest challenges.  As a teacher I am always reflecting, however I am not so good at analysing these reflections and taking 
                            action.  I still have a long way to go but this course has forced me to 
                            acknowledge and face this weakness.  

Changes in my Practice.

Taking more risks
I have never been afraid to take risks in my teaching.  I have often put my hand up at school to trial new things, eg trialling iPads when they first came out, using blogs as a platform for e-portfolios, running a classroom as a MLE, but this year I have been inspired, partly by things I have seen on this course to try new things and take more risks.  The biggest risk for most teachers is to let go of the learning control in the classroom.  This is what we have been doing in our classroom for the last term and a half - we have been running a SDL (Self-Directed Learning) programme.  It jas been very challenging for both students and teachers but it has also been very liberating and exciting. Looking                             more deeply into teaching approaches such as the Flipped Classroom, Blended 
                            Classroom, Inquiry-Led Leanrning etc has really informed my practice and led 
                            me to experiment with some opf these concepts, especially the Flipped 
                            Classroom (Bergman & Sams, 2012).

  Awareness of Mindsets
  This year I have been introduced to Carol Dweck's concept of Growth Mindsets     (Dweck, 2006), initially through a collegue at school and then through this 
  course.  It is a concept that has really appealed to me as I have had a number 
  of very capable students over the years who have been limited by, what I now 
  know is, a fixed mindset. Being aware of this and sharing this concept with the 
  students has been a big aha moment for me and will hopefully help those fixed 
  mindset students become more able to take risks, persevere and develop as 
  learners.

   

 Awareness as a Leader Over the last few years I have been taking on more leadership roles in school 
 and this has led to some leadership PD, but not alot. I think this is a failing in    our education system, that we are putting people in leadership roles but not  necessarily giving them enough PD and assistance to help them in these roles.  I enjoyed the leadership aspect of this course.  It has made me analyse and  reflect on my own leadership style and the type of leader I want to be.    


References

Bergmann, J. & Sams, A. (2012). Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day.
Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education. https://books.google.co.nz/books?isbn=1564844684

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York, NY: Random House.

Hargreaves, E. (2007). The validity of collaborative assessment for learning.Assessment in Education, 14(2), 185-199.

Powell, S.D. (2005). Excerpt from Introduction to Middle School. 
                 Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/learning-modalities/

Activity 1: Welcome to my Reflective Journal

My teaching journey began 8 years ago, when after moving to a small rural town for my husband's new job with a 3 and a half year old and a 3 week old baby, I decided that wasn't enough and I wanted to be a teacher.  So I jumped in feet first...one year of hell, training on-line, fitting three practicums around two young children and seemingly endless assignments later, I graduated to become a brand new beginner teacher.  Best decision of my life I have to say.

I spent 18 months teaching a small rural town before moving back to Auckland and finding a job at Elm Park School (EPS) in Pakuranga.  During my time at EPS I have had many opportunities to extend myself as a learner and teacher.  I have been an ICT Lead Teacher for the last five years and been lucky enough to attend ULearn (2015) for three years in a row amongst other PD.  This really opened my eyes up to the world of the possibilites of ICT in education, different ways of teaching and learning in the 21st Century and motivated me to try and trial new things in my classroom.  It has led me to facilitate an enrichment group of Year 5/6 students in our school showing a particular interest and talent in ICT.  I run the Digikids group for an hour once a week.  We explore and investigate a range of ICT activities, gadgets and tools that they wouldn't experience in their everyday classes, ie coding, movie making etc.  They are then able to share this with their teachers and classmates.  

Over the past two years, a colleague and I decided to start a Modern Learning Environment, or according to the latest label, Innovative Learning Environment (ILE) .  Our Prinicpal was very open and supportive of the idea and so we began.  We didn't let the traditional classroom setting in our school stop us.  We took a door between two classrooms off its hinges, threw out a whole heap of furniture, overhauled our planning and two years later we are still going strong.
 
This journey has led me to undertaking the PostGraduate Certificate in Applied Learning (Digial and Collaborative Learning) The Mindlab by Unitec (2015).   I have enjoyed the course so far, it has been challenging, motivating and intersting.   Now is the time to reflect and consolidate the things I have learnt through this blog!

References

Elm Park School. (2015). Retrieved September 23, 2015, from Elm Park School: http://www.elmpark.school.nz/
The Mindlab by Unitec. (2015). Postgrad studies. Retrieved June 23, 2015, from The Mindlab by Unitec: http://themindlab.com/postgrad-studies/
ULearn. (2015). Retrieved September 23, 2015, from ULearn: http://www.core-ed.org/events/ulearn-conference