Reflection On Reflective Practice

Introduction
For over a decade, there have been different definitions of reflection in relation to reflective practice (Dewey, 1938; Kolb, 1984; Schön, 1981; Pollard 2008; Moon 1999). From this it could be argued that reflective practice in its simplest terms is looking back on a situation either at the time or a later date to critically analyse that event in terms of what went well, what can be improved and the overall outcome of that situation.
Teachers have become comfortable with the idea of reflective practice through Donald Schon's (1983) compositions about reflective practitioners. Schön's work has been fundamental in a custom to learning supported by Dewey, and Piaget, each of whom upheld that learning is dependent upon the incorporation
Carrying out professional practice is unpredictable, and while both will need to carry out reflective practice, the novice practitioner should reflect on action taking time to think through situations where as a more practiced professional in reflection would be able to monitor and adapt their practice simultaneously (Schön, 1991). Although Schön’s work achieves the reflection process it could be argued that it does not take into account emotions therefore not providing a suitable outcome (Moon, 2008). Mezirrow and Associates (2000) argue that there is not enough emphasis on the role of emotions in models of reflection. This can cause a barrier to reflective thinking if the practitioner is unwilling to acknowledge these. It could be therefore argued that Boud’s method of peer assessment would be beneficial in this instance, in order to give the practitioner
It is an important concept for the professional practitioner to be able to reflect on their own actions. These go hand in hand with professional learning. (gtc, 2012)
Use of the phrase ‘reflection on action’ in the gtc model of professional learning, it would appear that the gtc have adopted Schön’s model overall. However, this may not be the case due to the process of reflection being specific to the individual (Kolb, 1984) and how the practitioner would apply their own situation to the model (Boud, 1995). There are a plethora of tools to allow the practitioner to engage in critical reflection. These include reflective journals, class evaluations and web portfolios. Moon (2008) suggests that the most obvious reason for teachers to reflect is because teacher educators “believe it to be a good thing”. I would disagree with this as gtc requires it as an expectation (3.4) as professional learning is fundamental to the Standards of Registration. Recent study carried out suggested that teacher education programmes should focus and emphasize on reflective learning in addition to encouraging the use of reflective journals for continuous professional growth (Essuman, 2015). Therefore it can improve pedagogical practice by gaining new knowledge from adapting and learning from a situation (Kolb, 1984) enhance problem solving skills, boost self-esteem