importance of reflection
hi, i have been doing my research on this last question and i have have shared my views bellow:
Importance of reflection in relation to professional development
Reflection in this context may be described as a form of training method that progresses a learner’s mind by encouraging the independent acquisition of knowledge. It involves the practitioner in a critique of his/her practice, it enables him to learn front the past, deal with the present and forms the basis of future planning and development. It helps teachers to maintain their effectiveness by building their capacity to focus on childcare and development.
Reflective learning is important to practitioners because it provides an effective way to learn and develop the skills required in childcare. This primarily because it allows the practitioner to learn from their past by recollecting what has transpired in the course of their activities. Reflective learning can come in the form of self and peer assessment where the individual looks back on what has happened in the past and allowing friends to observe and give feedback to the practitioner.
Another positive aspect of reflective learning is that, It allows the practitioner to create a reasonable and sensible assessment of his/her personal work. This can form the basis for new thinking which will result in the delivery of improved quality childcare methods. It also provides a procedure for measuring and evaluating ones teaching performance, improving the gains and making the necessary corrections and adopting the concepts of new teaching methods.
Two theorists throw more light on the importance of reflection in relation to professional development.
David Kolb’s Learning Cycle
David Kolb explains extensively in his learning styles theory published in 1984 in which he expressed his concerns about what happens during a learner’s internal cognitive process. From this he developed the learning styles theory. In his work he opines that there is a learning cycle that provides the opportunity for people to reflect on their learning and development. He broke these into four processes which he argues could take place for effective learning.
These four processes are:
Concrete experience – This describes when a new experience is encountered or an existing experience is being emphasised. In a nursery setting an example of this could be using a pencil for the first time or helping him to hold it better.
Reflective observations – This also describes an observation and reflection of the above experience.
Abstract conceptualisation – Here, reflecting on the above experience will then give rise to a new idea. Alternatively, he could develop new thinking about an existing concept in relation to what has just been experienced.
Active experimentation – The learner implements his new ideas onto the situations around him to see what will happen.
Kolb highlights in his work that learning is an integration of these processes and each of the stages mutually supported each other.
Gibbs Reflective Cycle
Another theoretical perspective to consider in this context is Gibbs Reflective Cycle. Building on David Kolb’s work, Gibbs developed a different approach which in his view could help people to reflect on their responses to different situations and come to the conclusion on what to do to expect a different outcome.
Gibbs theory of reflection allows for evaluation of the acquired experience which ultimately helps the practitioner to reflect and make use of the acquired experiences to examine his practice. This ensures that the practitioner has actually reflected on his experience and used it to inform his future practice.
In summary, Gibbs theory encourages the reflective practitioner to examine his own practice and plan what he could change in future to make an improvement.
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