This document is a reflective practice report submitted by Sreelekshmi.G to her lecturer, Mrs Susuhma Mam. It contains 10 sections that discuss key topics related to reflective practice, including definitions, strategies, methods, advantages, and disadvantages. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of critically reflecting on models of reflective practice to help professionals make sense of uncertainties and work competently at the edge of order and chaos.

1. Submitted to
Mrs Susuhma Mam
Lecturer in natural science
Submitted by
Sreelekshmi.G
Natural science
Submitted on
25/07/2015

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Introduction
Education
Leadership positions
What is reflective practice
Strategies for reflective practice
Methods of reflective practice
Advantages of reflective practice
Disadvantages of reflective
practice
Conclusion
Reference
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3. Reflective practice
Reflective practice is the capacity to reflect on action so as to
engage in a process of continuous learning.According to one
definition it involves "paying critical attention to the practical values
and theories which inform everyday actions, by examining practice
reflectively and reflexively. This leads to developmental insight". A
key rationale for reflective practice is that experience alone does
not necessarily lead to learning; deliberate reflection on
experience is essential.
Reflective practice can be an important tool in practice-based
professional learning settings where people learn from their own
professional experiences, rather than from formal
learning or knowledge transfer. It may be the most important
source of personal professional development and improvement. It
is also an important way to bring together theory and practice;
through reflection a person is able to see and label forms of
thought and theory within the context of his or her work. A person
who reflects throughout his or her practice is not just looking back
on past actions and events, but is taking a conscious look at
emotions, experiences, actions, and responses, and using that
information to add to his or her existing knowledge base and reach
a higher level of understanding.

4. Education
The concept of reflective practice is now widely employed in the field
of teacher education and teacher professional development and is the
basis for many programmes of initial teacher education. In education,
reflective practice refers to the process of the educator studying his or
her own teaching methods and determining what works best for the
students. It involves the consideration of the ethical consequences of
classroom procedures on students. Education professor Hope
Hartman has described reflective practice in education as
teacher metacognition.
There is broad consensus that teaching effectively requires a
reflective approach. However, reflective practice "is a term that carries
diverse meaning" and about which there is not complete
consensus. Teaching and learning are complex, and there is not one
right approach. Reflecting on different approaches to teaching, and
reshaping the understanding of past and current experiences, will
lead to improvement in teaching practices.]
Schön's reflection-in-action
can help teachers explicitly incorporate into their decision-making the
professional knowledge that they gain from their experience in the
classroom.

5. Leadership position
Reflective practice provides a development opportunity for those in
leadership positions. Managing a team of people requires a delicate
balance between people skills and technical expertise, and success
in this type of role does not come easily. Reflective practice provides
leaders with an opportunity to critically review what has been
successful in the past and where improvement can be made.
Reflective learning organizations have invested
in coaching programs for their emerging and established
leaders.Leaders frequently engage in self-limiting behaviours
because of their over-reliance on their preferred ways of
reacting and responding.]
Coaching can help support the
establishment of new behaviours, as it encourages reflection,
critical thinking and transformative learning. Adults have
acquired a body of experience throughout their life, as well as
habits of mind that define their world. Coaching programs
support the process of questioning and potentially rebuilding
these pre-determined habits of mind. The goal is for leaders to
maximize their professional potential, and in order to do this,
there must be a process of critical reflection

6. What is reflective practice?
Reflective practice is a way of studying your own experiences to
improve the way you work. It is very useful for health
professionals who want to carry on learning throughout their
lives.
The act of reflection is a great way to increase confidence and
become a more proactive and qualified professional.
Engaging in reflective practice should help to improve the quality of
care you give and close the gap between theory and practice.
The following examples of reflective practice will give you some idea
of the various methods you can choose from.

7. Strategies for reflective practice

8. Methods Of Reflective Practice
Reflective practice can be formal, e.g. for a course an overall
review could be carried out. A less formal approach could
simply involve the trainer reflecting back on a session and
considering the various activities carried out as part of
theirteaching. There are various techniques which can help
in this reflective process:
 Keeping a journal, reflecting in
writing, on the various training sessions delivered.
 Critical incident analysis, this approach is where key
incidents during the training are analysed and
evaluated. It is important to remember that this should
involve positive events as well as those where the
training did not achieve its objectives.
 Mind mapping, this involves the trainer in 'drawing' the
ideas surrounding a particular concept or problem in the
form of a 'mental map', this allows the trainer to reflect,
clarify and reshape their ideas.

9. Advantages of reflection
Reflective practice is an essential component of continuing professional
development (CPD) and is required by all regulatory bodies of healthcare
professionals in order to maintain registration (Atwal & Jones, 2009). However,
Driscoll (2006) notes that reflective practice is regularly represented as a
choice for health professionals, whether to be reflective or not to be reflective,
about their clinical practice. Driscoll (2006) also notes that if there is such a
commitment to reflection, it can help improve practice and transform
healthcare. It has been argued that reflection on clinical work may be essential
to the development of our clinical knowledge (Benner, 2001). Atwal and Jones
(2009) suggest reflective practice can build up better levels of self-awareness
about themselves as practitioners and as individuals, leading to opportunities
for professional and personal development. There are benefits and barriers of
incorporating reflection into the NHS and imaging professional practice. The
benefits of reflective practice are:
Reflection enables health professionals to share knowledge with others, to
help practice and assists practitioners in making sense of challenging and
complex situations (Chapman et al, 2008). This helps to optimise work
practice and improve interprofessional relationships.
Reflection allows an objective to look at our practice in order to improve
the quality of our performance at work. It also allows practice to be
critiqued, enabling enhancement in the development of areas needed to
be improved, identifying learning

10. Disadvantages of reflection
There are known barriers which prevent practitioners being able to
reflect effectively. Smythe (2004) questions whether there is any time
to think and be reflective because of the busy work environment that
practitioners are involved in. Barriers to reflection are:
Lack of motivation to partake in reflection or reflective practices from
staff or fellow colleagues.
The culture of organisation. Some organisations may not promote
reflective practice because it may no favoured in the department Some
staff may not know how to undertake reflective practice because they
may have not been taught how to undertake it and how to reflect in
such a manner, and may be apprehensive about documenting
experiences and emotions (Workforce Support, 2010).
Some practitioners are rooted in the preconception that reflection is too
difficult and that reflection is a taught skill (White, 2003).
There is lack of time to undertake reflective practice as imaging
departments today have an increase in workload and if the department
is relatively busy, there is a lack of time to undertake reflection, as
reflection does require some quality time (Johns and Freshwater,
2005).
Radiography is largely scientific and technical therefore reflection does
not need to play a role in the profession (Hall and Davis, 1999).
However Radiography has evolved through the years and the work is
becoming increasingly more patient centered.
Reflection may be seen as something often used in response to a
negative outcome

11. Conclusion
In its exploration of reflective practice, this paper has drawn attention
to the problems – conceptual as well as practical – which surround it
and render its applicationcomplexand difficult. The key is how well -
how effectively - reflective practice is done (or taught). Does it
embody professional artistry, encourage critical self-aware evaluation
and embrace transformation and change? Or is reflective practice
blandand mechanical with practitionersdisinclinedto ask awkward
questions? How shouldmodels of reflection be used and in what
context? We need to continueto reflect critically on these questions.
Then, reflective practice will fulfill its potentialto help us “make sense
of the uncertainty in our workplaces” and offer us the “courage to
work competently and ethicallyat the edge of order and chaos

12. References
 Atkins, T.W. and Murphy, K. (1993) Reflection: a review of the
literature. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 18, 1188-92.
 Boud, D. and Fales, A. (1983) Reflective learning: key to learning from
experience. Journalof Humanistic Psychology, 23(2), 99-117

Brookfield, S. (1994) Tales from the dark side: a phenomenographyof
adult critical reflection. InternationalJournalof Lifelong Education,
13(3), 203-216.