Reflective Practice
“Simply having experiences does not imply that they are reflected on, understood or analyzed critically. Individual experiences can be distorted, self-fulfilling, unexamined and constraining.” (Brookfield, 2015, p. 12)
The quote above, from page 12 of the third edition of Brookfield’s book, points out that teachers will not necessarily learn and grow with increasing experience, unless they challenge the values, beliefs, biases, knowledge and understanding that forms the basis of their teaching practice. As teachers, we must embrace the idea that we are learners. Every classroom experience, every student and every personal experience we have has the potential to change our perspective, to provide a lesson, to enhance our practice. To take advantage of the experiences that we are involved in every day, it is necessary to work hard to look at things in a different way, to question how it could have been done differently, to learn from our internal selves and from others. In order to free ourselves from the context that has ‘sculpted’ our experience, we must engage in a systematic process of critical reflection (Larrivee, 2000, p 296).
Boud and Walker (1998, p 194) point out that “it is common for reflection to be treated as if it were an intellectual exercise – a simple matter of thinking rigorously. However, reflection is not solely a cognitive process; emotions are central to all learning” (Fewings). This idea reflects my own initial response; when I first started thinking about reflective practice, it seemed like an obvious, simple practice that most people engage in quite regularly – we learn from our successes and mistakes and the experiences of others. We must, however, also broaden our approach to include other dimensions of being into our reflections – what is happening emotionally, spiritually and physically, in addition to the cognitive aspects? We must look holistically at ourselves, our students and the many contexts that we are operating in.
Spalding and Wilson (2002) assert that, “while thinking is natural for humans, reflective practice is a learned skill, and that our attitudes can either hinder or assist our reflective problem-solving efforts” (Guesdon). Reflective practice is a systematic process that we must study and practice in order to become more effective teachers. We must be open to challenging what we think we know, what we believe to be true, and what we expect from ourselves and others. According to Dewey (1933, p 16), the grandfather of critically reflective practice, “To be genuinely thoughtful, we must be willing to sustain and protract the state of doubt which is the stimulus to thorough inquiry.” (Guesdon).