Learning Helpful Reflective Practices

by Michelle Head, CETL Scholarly Teaching Fellow for Reflective Practices

This article is part of the larger, Reflective Practices for Teaching.

Lifelong learning is a transformative process, and therefore reflection plays a critical role in becoming a lifelong learner. Through the process of reflection, the learner compares their experiences to the values, norms, and expectations that surround them.

Reflective learning processes include (Archer, 2007; Grossman 2008):

  • Recognizing issues or critical instances
  • Reflecting on one’s capabilities and desires in relation to an issue
  • Weighing up contributing social cultures
  • Thinking creatively and critically about an issue
  • Making informed decisions
  • Taking the appropriate actions

When considering learning in the classroom, Novak describes that meaningful learning occurs in three domains: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Therefore, reflection may be used to support learning in each domain.

Focus: How students think and process the content in a course

Reflection related to:

  • Critically thinking about the content,
  • connection between topics,
  • or determining how you came to understand the content and what gaps in your understanding exists (metacognition).

Focus: Kinesthetics, haptic, or tactile motions that are related to the learning process

Reflection related to:

  • Reviewing an active process to determine how the learner may improve their performance,
  • or reviewing an active process to determine how they responded to an event physically. 

Focus: Feelings and emotions associated with the content that is being learned

Reflection related to:

  • The learner considering how an experience made them feel.
  • Feelings that are often a result of how the learning experience called to question the student's values, assumption, and other person attributes.

 

Describing Types of Reflection

Different types of mirrors have been used as an analogy to describe types of reflection a learner can engage in (Bassot, 2016) and provide some examples of how you may ask your students to reflect.

  1. Bathroom Mirror – When you look in a mirror you reflect on what you see, and based on your appearance decided whether you take action.
  2. Full-length Mirror – This mirror allows us to see a full-view of ourselves and see how parts of our outfit go together. Reflection analogous to this allows the learner to take a holistic approach, looking at the whole as well at the parts.
  3. 360° Mirror – This mirror allows us to see ourselves from different angles and giving us views we don’t normally see. This time of reflection considers views of others that are important when reflection on the whole picture.
  4. Driver’s Mirror – This mirror is used to allow the driver to see behind them. Likewise, this reflective practice allows the learner to look back on experiences that happened, to inform how to move forward.
  5. Wing Mirrors – This mirror allows one to see what is just over their shoulder and therefore reflection of this type allows the learner to consider feedback from others, since the learner cannot see it themselves.
  6. Magnifying Mirror – This mirror, often found in bathrooms, allows us to get a closer look at our face. Analogous to this is a reflective practice that allows the learner to closely examine an incident, often referred to as a critical incident, so that mistakes and pitfalls are avoided in the future.
  7. Funfair Mirrors – These mirrors distort what we see. In the same way learners may have a distorted view of their practice. This type of reflection considers feedback to get an accurate view of themselves.
  8. Shop Windows – Although not mirrors, they allow us to see our reflection as we walk by. Reflection in this way allows us to think while doing other things, or reflection-in-action as Shon described it.

References

Archer, Margaret. 2007. Making our way though the world: Human reflexivity and social mobility, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Bassot, B. (2016). The reflective practice guide: An interdisciplinary approach to critical reflection.

Grossman, R. 2008. Structures for facilitating student reflection. College Teaching, 57(1): 15–22. doi:10.3200/CTCH.57.1.15-22

Novak, J. D.; Gowin, D. B. Learning How to Learn. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984.

Bassot, B. (2016). The reflective practice guide: An interdisciplinary approach to critical reflection.

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