Becoming a Reflective Practitioner
Reflective practice is defined as “the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning” (Schön, 1983). Reflective practice assumes that individuals, as professionals and teachers, have a high level of commitment, ability, and insight to reflect on what they do, how they do it, and how they might change (Larrivee, 2000). The focus is on self-direction and self-evaluation to seek improvement and increase effectiveness. Reflective practice is a tool that can provide you with the information necessary to guide action towards personal growth and development.
Reflective practice has become a guiding philosophy across several helping professions including science, nursing, medicine, law, and of course, teaching (Loughran, 2002). Helping practitioners are encouraged to question and investigate all aspects of their role to develop an enhanced understanding of their profession, sustain competence, and exercise good judgement in their day-to-day practice (Day, 1999; Smyth, 1992). In the field of teaching, reflective practice has become the gold standard following work by Schön (1983, 1987, 1992), who first linked the concept of reflection to teaching practice. Following Schön, the literature has proliferated, reaffirming the centrality of reflection to good teaching practice (Brookfield, 1995, 2005; Valli, 1992, Zeichner & Liston, 1996; Karnieli, 2020; McLeod et al., 2020; Contreras et al., 2020; Greenberger, 2020; Ruffinelli et al., 2020).
So why is reflective practice in teaching so important? As a faculty member, you are responsible for preparing a diverse student body for a demanding and dynamic workplace environment. To help students stay current (or ahead of the curve), you need to critically examine your values and biases, how your teaching can support change, how you can provide a quality learning experience, and ways you can show respect for difference (Zeichner & Liston, 1996). Reflective practice can help keep your biases in check, problem-solve, and question McLeod et al., 2020 the structures that may support or hold back students (Jay & Johnson, 2002). Reflective practice among educators has also been shown to have a direct impact on preparing students for the ‘real world’. Mann and colleagues (2007) found that learning environments can have an inhibiting or encouraging effect on supporting reflection and reflective thinking among learners. An important factor to creating a supportive environment was the behaviour of the mentor or supervisor and their ability to model self-reflection. If your primary role as a faculty is to prepare students for a workplace environment that will likely demand them to be reflective practitioners themselves, as an educator, you need to role model these skills within and beyond the classroom environment.
How to Engage in Reflective Practice
By its very nature, self-reflection is an individual activity. However, self-reflection can be further enhan