Assistant Principal / Leader of Pedagogy
Mr Stephen Chapman
O'Connor Catholic College
The Power of Reflection
This week, on Wednesday afternoon, the entire teaching staff at O’Connor met together to reflect on their learning during Term 1. In particular, each teacher looked back at their Learning Goal from their Professional Learning Plan (PLP) from the start of the year. They talked in groups of three about how they have gone so far with this learning goal. What have they tried? Did it work? What professional learning have they done? Most importantly, they discussed and wrote down what they were going to do next (in Term 2) to continue to move forward.
This type of reflection is one of the key aspects to learning, developing and improving. Many years ago, Educator and Philosopher John Dewey said it clearly.
(Msethnablog, 2017)
Don't be satisfied carrying on and doing things as you’ve always done them. Take the time to reflect in positive ways. Be smarter. Reflect to better face challenges, give yourself insight, and make each day more fulfilling. “Self-reflection is not a moment of judgment or criticism. It is a chance to improve your strengths, align your values and goals, and track your growth. By taking the time to do a little self-evaluation and introspection through reflection, you can improve yourself and the things you do.”
(P1. The Editorial Team at The Resilient Educator, 2020)
One of my favourite authors and researchers on issues about learning is Simon Senek. He has a business background, not a background in education. What he says applies perfectly to teachers and students. He talks about the power of self-reflection in many ways. In particular, Simon believes that reflection is the key to personal growth and improvement. Here is a short video of Simon talking about exactly that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ky-mKuhKgU
(Simon Senek, 2012).
Mr Bell and I asked our Year 10 Pastoral Academic Care class this week to reflect on Term 1. They were asked to think about the term and what they have experienced, both positive and negative. This includes in school and out of school things. Each student wrote a reflection on one aspect of their term on a post-it. The responses were for us as pastoral teachers and names were optional. The reflections were wide and varied, and almost always positive. To give you an idea, here are three of them (used with permission).
Examples of Term 1 Reflections from Year 10 students - Week 10 Term 1 2021
It’s humbling for us as teachers to read the insightful reflections of our students. Certainly, some of the reflections were focused on learning in classes. But it was the personal insights that were most moving for us as teachers.
In closing, I’d like to add a personal reflection. In my working career, as a teacher and middle leader, I have always been task-driven. I just got stuck in and did my job one section at a time. I kept rolling along like this for many years, but in the last two years, I changed my thinking subtly. I started reflecting on the job I was doing. I can thank my fellow teachers for this shift as this reflection was much easier for me through discussion with others. I discovered there were some things that I thought I did really well, but in reality, I was making mistakes. From that point on, I started being more humble and made changes to improve. I also discovered, through reflection, that I was motivated by Big Picture Thinking. I am more motivated than ever before. Self-reflection has made a real difference to me.
So, ask yourself these things. How do you make time to reflect on your performance? What questions do you ask yourself to reflect on? This is important as reflection is the key to improvement - in all aspects of your life.
Mr Stephen Chapman
Assistant Principal - Leader of Pedagogy
Never stop learning; for when we stop learning, we stop growing - Jack Lewman
References
The Editorial Team at The Resilient Educator (2020). 2020 Hindsight: Harnessing the Power of Reflection for a Great New Year. Retrieved from https://resilienteducator.com/lifestyle/power-of-self-reflection/
Msethnablog (2017). When life gets in the way….and the importance of reflection. Retrieved from https://msethnablog.wordpress.com/2017/12/04/when-life-gets-in-the-way-and-the-importance-of-reflection/
Simon Senek (2012). Simon Sinek on How Reflection Informs Personal Growth. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ky-mKuhKgU
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