Summary Post

Schoe (1983) contends that reflective practice uses many methods for one to understand the difficulties of decision-making in the organization. What’s more, Cooper et al (2017) believes that reflective practice is a core competency and is necessary for effectiveness within the organization. As such, organizations who employ critical reflective practice will see to the goals being met which will lead them to be successful.

This course has lead me to the realization from sitting in the student’s seat that there is a need for further development as a teacher. Being unsure, unclear, not confident and frustrated are all signs that my knowledge, skills and attitudes must be developed further. I have knowledge in understanding the key terms associated with reflective practice; I am aware of the core values or standards of reflective practice, but there is still a necessity for me to acquire a greater understanding of how to effectively integrate technology into reflective and reflexive practice. Though there is some knowledge there is still a need to know when and how to use them to be a teacher, whether in the classroom or the workplace, with reflective practice.

Critical reflective thinking maybe considered as my strongest skill as I am able to self-assess, self-correct, monitor and problem solve. An example of my critical reflective thinking is, I was faced with a dilemma where an employee had forwarded some documentation to be checked and approved, when I saw it my first reaction was, “seriously after all this time and you still can’t get it right”, but knowing that this is not the correct way to proceed with it, I went away to reflect on why it maybe that it was presented this way and what can I do differently to ensure it does not happen again. Well, I must say that days later I had not spoken to the person, but eventually I did and informed her of what is expected informally, I further intend to guide her as she continues to do the job assigned.

They were many lessons learnt and benefits to be derived from this course. One of the things that stood out to me most is that one of the primary task of being an effective teacher is to unlock the potential of others, the butterfly story demonstrates that sometimes we have to step back and let others do what they need to do. In practicing effective reflective-reflexive practice this is one of the things I intend to do by having my employees prepare action plans to be used to guide the process and see the weaknesses and areas where there is a need for improvement in an effort that we can be successful within the organization.

At the beginning of this course we were asked to conduct a VARK test and the BIG 5 personality test. What I have gathered from this exercise is the fact that we need to understand that everyone learns differently and as such we must be able to understand their needs and be able to effectively cater to everyone. Additionally, people come with all types of personalities and therefore we need to “know” who is who and how to treat each person. This is especially way beyond reflective practice whether in the organization or the classroom.

I clung to the Kolb’s Experiential Model as I saw how it was beneficial for me in the organization as we could engage in the entire cycle before completing our reflection and putting plans in place to improve. However, my colleague, Raylene was quick to point out that perhaps another model could also be used in my instance. This led me to realize that not all models would fit a particular situation and in some instances more than one model can be used. To emphasize this point further as I created my lesson plan for my grade 5 students, though Kolb’s Model is considered my favorite model, it is not quite relevant for children at that age and so I leaned towards the Rolfe’s Model as a guide to their reflections.

When I commenced my journey, there was little technological competency and I had no idea what were some of the tools, let alone technology, that could be used to promote reflective/reflexive practices in education. As I extended my knowledge, by putting myself to the test, I came up with many ways of allowing for critical thinking to be present. The “Hmmm” board and the Reflection Wheel are two of the tools which can be used for younger children for them to discuss their feelings and their thoughts. What I have learnt as I interacted with my colleagues is that they are many and depending on the audience targeted they can be retrofitted to suit. One such that I will take away is that of blogging, no longer will I frown on it as being something that a “geek” would do but see the benefit of how it can allow for others to share their experiences and knowledge with others.

As I took a look at the technology, I see how the Edmodo tool can be used not only for younger children but it is well suited for all ages. Even though Michael, provided us with a good explanation on how twitter can be used and Lorraine as she demonstrated the benefits of Instagram, I am still unsure and that would be as a result of me not changing my mindset on what I perceive their purpose to be, that of informal interaction. Flipgrid, Vlog and Wikis are some of the technology used by my colleagues that I will definitely investigate further as I attempt to broaden my scope of all types of technology that can integrate reflective practice. One of the reason this is especially important to me, is recognizing the climate we are currently in and the fact that the teachers are so lost as to how to use the recommended Google Classroom, even though it is not for reflective purposes, it has led me to believe that you must be well versed in numerous ways of getting the tasks done, noting further that all students are different and learn differently. I believe that reflecting is continuous and as such moving my competencies from emerging to transforming will occur overtime.

They were two highlights for me in this course, creating the lesson plan and engaging in the group presentation as we contributed to the development of our very own model. As I speak about the lesson plan, I see why it is absolutely necessary that you prepare these as this can act as a guide to what is expected of you and how you will get these things done. Funny enough, for me this lesson plan can then be used to aid in reflection at the end of the course, as you revisit based on results coming from students, that is, if there is a need to add more assignments or perhaps “cut” back on the number that is given. What’s more, I am extremely proud of the video which I created to demonstrate the lesson plan. My proudness comes as I was able to utilize technology to complete the said assignment. One may laugh and say “ammmm” what about it, but the fact that I was able to use something more than power point is in fact a great accomplishment for me. The model that was created by my group was done after extensive review of various models, considering the target audience and what it is that we would want them to reflect on. I thoroughly enjoyed working with my group members, Michael, Raylene, Lorraine and Janine in developing the below model.

At the end of it all I understand the importance of reflecting and how it is critical for the success of any organization and I plan to adopt it not only professional but personally in making changes based on what went before.

I will not let my life happen to me, I will happen to my life. – I will ARRIVE.

Cooper, L and Trubanova Wieckowski, A (2017). A Structured Approach to Reflective Practice Training in a Clinical Practicum – Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Training and Education in Professional Psychology 2017, Vol. 11, No. 4, 252-259

Schoe, D (1983): The Reflective Practioner. New York, USA