Reflection

Reflection is a pedagogically and theoretically contentious concept in Higher Education.

It incorporates multiple approaches that are open to interpretation and quite context
specific. That said one thing most will agree upon is that it is a necessary part of quality
practices in Higher Education which should happen at multiple points in the learning and
teaching cycle (developing outcomes, constructing Unit of Study outlines, choosing
learning and teaching methods, assessment, and evaluation). In this very brief
introduction we have drawn out some starting concepts and ideas for your benefit, as
well as a list of useful references.

What is reflection?

In simple terms reflection is a form of conscious response (some say a processing

phase) to a situation or event, and the experiences within that situation or event. In our
case this involves, but is not limited to, a learning and teaching situation/event, and can
include all manner of formal and informal occasions that are often quite complex (for
example: lectures, field trips, laboratories, practicum placement, tutorial, participation in
an assessment task, group work, unplanned occurrences, responses to student or staff
comments, world events, personal or internal feelings). For the teacher and student
these responses will include what they think, feel, do and conclude both at the time
and/or after the experience. In this respect reflection is an active and aware process that
can occur anytime and anywhere. It functions to help us, or our students, to re-capture,
re-live, make sense of, think about, contextualise, and evaluate an experience in order to
make decisions and choices about what we have experienced, how we have
experienced, and what we will or won’t do next.

Following Boud, Keogh and Walker (1985) in this Guide we view reflection in the
learning and teaching context as:

a generic term for those intellectual and affective activities in which individuals
engage to explore their experiences in order to lead to new understandings and
appreciations. It may take place in isolation or in association with others. It can
be done well or badly, successfully or unsuccessfully. (p 19)

In the literature reflection is consistently cited as ‘good’ pedagogical practice and

professional development. It is also intrinsically linked to scholarly teaching and the
scholarship of teaching at the University of Sydney, and is further a requirement for
promotion.

Critical reflection

Some use the terms reflection and critical reflection interchangeably. Those, for
example, writing in the tradition of Freire (1972, 1974) advocate a kind of critical
reflection which is more cognisant of the various socio-cultural factors and subjectivities
which impinge upon teachers and students. The practice of reflection as viewed as
ideologically transformative.
Brookfield (1995) suggests that teaching is not an innocent practice and further that
becoming aware of our own assumptions about what we do and how we do it is both a
puzzling and contradictory process. He further states that reflection becomes critical
when its purpose shifts to firstly understanding “how considerations of power undergird,
frame, and distort educational processes and interactions”, and secondly, to unearthing
and questioning “the assumptions and practices that seem to make our teaching lives
easier but actually work against our own best long-term interests” (p 8) For example:
assumptions about our work, our life, university life, students, learning and teaching,
working in groups, society, knowledge, discourse, and power.

Becoming a critically reflective teacher

Whilst understandings and practice of reflection may show some commonality across a
range of disciplines and contexts, the addition of the qualifier critical to reflection often
signifies a deeper consideration and focus upon:

• recognizing and appreciating difference and diversity from a number of angles

(for example race, ethnicity, gender, class, culture, religion, disability, age) and
how these factors impact on learning and teaching
• challenging and dealing with the taken for granted assumptions about teaching,
learning, learners, and the learning environment
• identifying and negotiating how power operates in an always contested learning
and teaching context
• nurturing, facilitating and enabling a learning and teaching environment which
challenges students to think critically and morally about a variety of issues
• initiating socially engaged lifelong and transformative learning

Reflective practice is more than thinking about the nuts and bolts of teaching, it involves
evaluating the processes of teaching and learning, and questioning why we do
something rather than how. Importantly it involves learning from this process and
initiating change when and where required. This is an iterative process with infinitely
connected lines and loops.

In this Guide we wish to challenge you to become a critically reflective teacher. This
involves sitting back and reflecting upon your own teaching and personal assumptions
against your experiences and knowledge of educational theory and pedagogy. So it
involves you also being a critically reflective learner. It also involves teaching students to
become critically reflective. The process of comparison involved in critical reflection
should be able to highlight any differences between theory and practice, and thereby
signal points of re-adjustment and open up avenues for transformative educational
change and lifelong learning.

The challenge presented by turning back onto ourselves in order to effect change and
facilitate deeper approaches to learning and teaching need not be an onerous one. But it
does insist that we carefully consider our various effects upon the learning and teaching
context, and our responsibilities to learners, university life and society.

The student perspective

Ramsden (2003) suggests that, "good teachers are always evaluating themselves" and
further that
 the lessons learned about effective teaching from an examination of how
students perceive it should be applied to the process of evaluating and improving
instruction….there is an exact parallel between (the satisfactory methods widely
used for) measuring teaching quality and unsatisfactory ways of assessing
students. (Ramsden, 2003: 219)

This brings to the fore an essential question: What has been the effect of my teaching on
the quality of my students' learning?

Critically reflective teachers are always thinking about how they influence and effect the
learning and teaching environment, and importantly upon the likely effects of their
teaching and presence upon the quality of their students' learning. A critically reflective
educator will ‘frame’ their reflections from a student perspective and will embark upon a
deliberate process of gathering information and evidence, and finding out how students’
are experiencing learning and teaching. Both evaluation and reflection are more
productive when reinforced by evidence.

Thinking about learning from the students’ perspective requires us to:

• appreciate how students perceive our intentions as teachers and assessors

• understand the institution's intentions towards us in terms of evaluation
• design and use methods of assessment that will contribute to deeper student
learning
• choose evaluation methods which contribute to the development and
improvement of learning and teaching

Facilitating student reflection in group work

Some people are better reflectors than others and neither staff nor students possess
innate skills to reflect. Many people when asked to reflect will simply describe what has
happened, others will delve deeply into their own feelings and responses to given
contexts thus engaging in more critical forms of reflection. There are also issues related
to language ability, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status which may enhance or
limit a persons reflective ability, desire or confidence to reflect.

Although we would like to assume that all staff and students can or do reflect critically,
regularly, and effectively upon their learning and teaching contexts their ability to do so
will vary greatly. We should not expect all students to be able to reflect when asked to do
it, nor will they all be able to do it in the ways that we would like them to. Many will enter
with limited skills and abilities and will require guidance to become a good reflector, just
as some of us may require additional guidance on reflective practices. Teaching
students how to reflect is consistently neglected in theoretical literature on reflection
because it assumes that we all know how to reflect. Below we offer many resources and
additional readings in order to further develop reflection skills, as well as some ideas for
helping students to reflect, and a list of learning, teaching and assessment methods
commonly used to facilitate student reflection.

Tips on starting to reflect

If you desire to either more effectively or consciously reflect upon your own teaching
practices and contexts OR wish to provide learning and teaching and/or assessment
opportunities that require students to reflect upon their own learning or professional
experiences and contexts, then you should:

• consider your own ideas, beliefs, and values about reflection, as well as your
current level of reflective skills and abilities
• avoid assuming that everyone knows what reflection is or how to do it
• research, gather information, appreciate and understand the diverse definitions,
purposes, practices, processes and desired outcomes of reflection in the learning
and teaching contexts (for both teachers and learners, and others such as
employers, peers, managers)
• develop a clear picture of how reflection can enable you to continuously monitor
and evaluate your teaching, and your learning and teaching environment
• commit to an ongoing and strategic process of personal and professional
reflection, and do it! (use formal and informal methods)
• clearly explain the what, why and how of reflection to students
• facilitate teaching and classroom procedures and practices which allow students
to learn how to develop skills in order to become reflective (practice, practice,
practice!)
• regularly reflect upon your own work, teaching styles and methods, assumptions
about students, the learning process (and the like)
• reflect upon and evaluate the effectiveness of your reflection and evaluation
schedules, methods, and purposes

Basically, if you would like to develop more reflective skills in yourself or your students,
then you will have to learn to, teach students to, and then practice, practice, practice!

Questions to ask yourself in order to guide reflection

The reflective teacher develops many questions to choose from to serve as objects of
reflection. Such as …

• What is it about my work and the learning and teaching context that I want to
know about?
• How do I find out about these things?
• Who will I ask about these things?

Critical reflection: learning and teaching practices/methods

The literature on reflection is extensive with many authors defining, explaining, using and
advocating a diverse range of constructivist approaches that appear to have the
worthwhile intention of drawing theory into practice (Donaghy and Morss, 2000; Fisher,
2003; Hankes, 1996; Jones, 2004; McCollum, 2002; Moore, 2004; Price, 2004; Rodgers,
2002; Spalding and Wilson, 2002). There is an assumption within the literature that there
are different levels of reflection and different learning and teaching practices that may
develop deeper understanding. The table below highlights a variety of quite specific
reflective strategies and methods expressed in the literature. From their different
disciplines and contexts, the authors of this work discuss the use of reflection either to
engage their students in deeper learning or to cultivate their capacity as enabled, self
aware practitioners in their professions (see also Fisher, 2003; Gay and Kirkland, 2003;
Jones, 2004; Larrivee, 2000; Spalding and Wilson, 2002; Vavrus, 2002).

Writing Questioning
Collaborative journaling Practical inquiry
Diary Critical incident analysis
Personal journals Developing higher order skills
Narrative Teacher directed/led
Biography Guided reflection
Autobiography Values clarification
Creative writing Problem solving
Discourse analysis Childhood memory work
Reflective writing (free, independent, open Reflection through spirituality
ended, focussed, supported) Encouraging voice
Portfolio Reading
Action research Student-created case studies
Questionnaire Stimulated recall using video and
Talking audiotape
Role simulations Other
Debates Artifact collection
Discussion (understandings and practices) Action learning
Metaphor use
Peer/work Self (student/teacher)
Peer coaching/mentoring Auto-ethnography
Peer observation and feedback Self assessment, Self reflection
Work based learning Reflecting aloud
Systematic observation Self disclosure, confession
Making time to reflect

ADDITIONAL READING

Reflection and critical reflection

Particularly concise and useful starting texts for developing critical reflection in Higher
Education are marked with an asterisk *

Arroyo, S. J. (2002). Resistance, responsibility, or whatever: the “work” of a post-critical

pedagogy. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Conference on College
Composition and Communication (53rd, Chicago, IL, March 20-23, 2002).

* Biggs, J. (1999). Teaching for quality learning at university: What the student does.
Buckingham and Philadelphia: SRHE & Open University Press.

* Boud, D (1985). Promoting reflection in learning: A model. In Boud, D., Keogh, R. &
Walker, D. (Eds). Reflection, turning experience into learning. London: Kogan Page.

** Brookfield, S. D. (1995). Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass.

Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2000) Research Methods in Education. (5th Ed).
London and New York: Routledge, Falmer.

Curzon-Hobson, A. (2003). Higher Learning and the Critical Stance. Studies in Higher
Education, 28 (2): 201-212.

Dewey, J. (1910). How we think. London: Heath.

Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Freire, P. (1974). Education for critical consciousness. London: Sheed and Ward.

Hankes, J. E. (1996). Reflecting on the history, ethics, and application of teacher

reflection. Opinion Papers, (120).

Hatton N. and Smith D. (1995) Reflection in Teacher Education: towards definition and
implementation. Teaching and Teacher Education, 11(1): 33- 49.

McArdle, K. and Coutts, N. (2003). A strong core of qualities- a model of the professional
educator that moves beyond reflection. Studies in Continuing Education, 25(2): 226-237.

Moore, T. (2004). The critical thinking debate: how general are thinking skills? Higher
Education, Research and Development, 23(1): 4-18.

Phillips, V. and Bond, C. (2004). Undergraduates’ experiences of critical thinking. Higher

Education, Research and Development, 23(3): 277-294.

Phuntsog, N. (1998). The magic of culturally responsive pedagogy: in search of the

Genie's Lamp in multicultural education. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the
American Educational Research Association. San Diego, CA, April 12-17.
Press.

Prosser, M. and Trigwell, P. (1999). Understanding teaching and learning: the

experience in higher education. Buckingham and Philadelphia: SRHE & Open University
Press.

* Ramsden, P. (2003). Learning to teach in higher education. (2nd Ed). London:

Routledge.

Rodgers, C. (2002). Defining reflection: another look at John Dewey and reflective
thinking. Teachers College Record, 104 (4) June: 842-866.

** Rowland, S. (2000). The enquiring university teacher. Buckingham: The Open

University Press and the Society for Research in Higher Education.

Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Smith & Hatton

Tapper, J. (2004). Student perceptions of how critical thinking is embedded in a degree

program. Higher Education, Research and Development, 23(2): 199-222.
Vavrus, M. (2002). Connecting teacher identity formation to culturally responsive
teaching. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association of
Multicultural Education. Washington, DC/Arlington, VA, October 30-November 3.

Methods of practicing and/or teaching how to reflect

Donaghy, M.E. and Morss, K. (2000). Guided reflection: a framework to facilitate and
assess reflective practice within the discipline of physiotherapy. Physiotherapy Theory
and Practice, 16: 3-14.

Howard, T. C. (2003). Culturally relevant pedagogy: ingredients for critical teacher

reflection. Theory Into Practice, 42 (3), Summer: 196-202.

Jones, A. (2004). Teaching critical thinking an investigation pf a task in introductory

macroeconomics. Higher Education, Research and Development, 23(2): 167-181.

Larrivee, B. (2000). Transforming teaching practice: becoming the critically reflective

teacher. Reflective Practice, 1(3): 294-307.

McCollum, S (2002). The reflective framework for teaching in physical education: A

pedagogical tool. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 73(6), 39-42.

Milner, H.R. (2003). Reflection, racial competence, and critical pedagogy: How do we
prepare preservice teachers to pose tough questions? Race, Ethnicity and Education, 6
(2): 193-208.

Price, A. (2004). Encouraging reflection and critical thinking in practice. Nursing

Standard, 18(4), 46-52.

Risko, V., Vukelich, C & Roskos, K. (2002). Preparing teachers for reflective practice:
Intentions, contradictions, and possibilities. Language Arts, 80(2), 134-144.

University of Technology Sydney, Institute for Interactive Media and Learning. Unit 7:
Helping students to reflect on the group work experience: how can I help my students to
reflect? Available at www.iml.uts.edu.au/learnteach/enhance/groupwork/Unit7.html
accessed 7/11/05.

Whipp, J.L. (2003). Scaffolding critical reflection in online discussions. Journal of

Teacher Education, 54 (4) September-October: 321-333.

Methods for facilitating student reflection processes

Boud, D. (2001). Using journal writing to enhance reflective practice. In English, M.L. &
Gillen, M.A. (Eds). Promoting journal writing in adult education. San Francisco: Jossey-
Bass. (create PDF link)

Carter, C.W. (1997). The use of journals to promote reflection. Paper presented at
annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL, March
24-28.
Clifford, V. (2002). Does the use of journals as a form of assessment put into practice
principles of feminist pedagogy? Gender and Education, 14 (2): 109-121.

Fisher, K. (2003). Demystifying critical reflection: defining criteria for assessment. Higher
Education, Research and Development, 22(3): 313-323.

Gay, G. & Kirkland, K. (2003). Developing cultural critical consciousness and self-
reflection in preservice teacher education. Theory into Practice, 42 (3), Summer: 181-
187.

Gordon, R, & Connor, R. (2001). Team-based learning in management education. In

Boud, D., Cohen, R. & Sampson, J. (Eds). Peer learning in Higher Education: learning
from & with each other. London: Kogan Page.

Hammond, M. & Collins, R. (1991). Self-directed learning: critical practice. London:

Kogan Page.

Moon, J. (1999). Learning journals: a handbook for academics, students and

professional development. London: Kogan Page.

Risner, D. (2002). Motion and marking in reflective practice: artifacts, autobiographical

narrative and sexuality. Reflective Practice, 3(1): 5-19.

Spalding, E. and Wilson, A. (2002). Demystifying reflection: a study of pedagogical

strategies that encourage reflective journal writing. Teachers College Record, 104 (7)
October: 1393-1421.

Yokley, S. (1999). Embracing a critical pedagogy in art education. Art Education, 52 (5)
September: 18-24.