Do I really need to become a reflective practitioner?

To put it simply, yes. Being a reflective practitioner is fundamental to becoming successful. The skill of reflection and incorporating it into your life lets us critically analyse and understand our decisions altering our perspectives and helping us become more efficient.

According to Heery and Noon (2017), a reflective practitioner;

“is a member of a profession or occupation who reflects on their work activity, in order to identify their strengths and weaknesses and develop new and more effective means of performing their work role.” (p.29 )

Gibbs’ (1988) diagram clearly depicts the core steps of critical reflection:

Gibbs’ (1988) Reflective Cycle

Critical reflection is paramount, but it seems many people's views are too simplistic in nature. It’s not just stopping occasionally to think about our actions. As Thompson and Thompson (2018) highlight, many believe the practice is important, but few understand its complex nature enough to incorporate it into their lives, those who research thoroughly, intertwine it to their lives becoming habit (p.3-7). Therefore, we need to fully understand what it is before we embark on this journey.

“Critical reflection is ... fraught with danger for the naive practitioner” (Johns & Burnie, 2013, p.41)

It would be foolish to think that you must to do this alone, dialogue between practitioners -not only provides a friend to talk with- but allows for a completely objective view of your behaviour.

“It would indeed be a mistake to adopt too individualistic an approach … there is much to be gained from people working together towards shared aims.” (Thompson & Thompson, 2018, p.7)

While researching to create this blog, my stance regarding its importance only grew. When I become a teacher I hope that I apply what i’ve learned there as well, but I should not be too individualistic in my approach. It would be wise to collaborate with other teachers and co-workers to maximise efficiency in the classroom and at home, allowing me to evolve as a teacher and person based on a critical reflection of myself.

References:

• Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford Further Education Unit.

• Heery, E., & Noon, M. (2017). Reflective practitioner. a dictionary of human resource management (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

• Johns, C., & Burnie, S. (2013). Becoming a reflective practitioner (4th ed.). Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Incorporated.

• Thompson, S., & Thompson, N. (2018). The critically reflective practitioner (2nd ed.). London, England: PALGRAVE.

For a deeper insight into the workings and importances of being a reflective practitioner in the workplace look to these works:

• Parsons, R., & Brown, K. (2002). Teacher as reflective practitioner and action researcher. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning

• Wyatt, M. (2010). One Teacher's Development As a Reflective Practitioner. Asian EFL Journal,12(2), 235-261

• Thompson, S., & Thompson, N. (2018). The critically reflective practitioner. 2nd ed. London, England: PALGRAVE