2. Module Objectives:
1. Embed theoretical principles, skills and knowledge of
reflective-reflexive practices using technology to support specific
learning objectives.
2. Select current and emerging digital tools to support
reflective-reflexive thinking skills in aspects of classroom practice.
3. Assess the utilisation of digital technologies whereby students
can review, revise and evaluate work as it progresses.
4. Apply principles and concepts concerning using digital
technologies by reflecting in and on issues experienced in one’s
own practice
3. PAUL BEAR BRYANT—
“When you make a mistake, there are only
three things you should ever do about it:
admit it, learn from it and don’t repeat it.”
4. What happened in the past?
At the beginning of this course, I made mention of having difficulty articulating my
reflections. It was a practice that began in my undergraduate studies as a student
teacher. I often felt a deep resentment towards having to do reflections after each
lesson on teaching practice. Most of these reflections were Reflection on Action.
Reflection on action is the aftermath. Schon, (1983); Karunanayaka et al (2017)
posited that reflection on action is the ability of the professional to look back on
past events and understand their actions. Additionally, many of my reflections felt
like it simply “scratched the surface”. It lacked thoughtfulness. I believe that this was
simply a reflection at a technical level. Taggart & Wilson (2005) defined the
technical level of reflection as working to achieve a certain goal, collecting data and
reflecting on these minor details. Taggart & Wilson continues that in practice, this
type of reflection focused on meeting lesson delivery. Many of my reflections
focused on the positive or negative feedback on classroom management, achieving
lesson objectives and learning resources. Moreover, I changed that style of reflecting
and began treating reflection similarly to journal writing.
5. What were some of my personal misconceptions?
I discovered that reflective writing is academic in nature. Carl & Strydom (2017)
recognized that many student teachers confused academic writing styles and blogs
when reflection was performed in e-portfolios. In the recent past, I remember receiving
feedback about the lack of use of academic sources in reflective writing. It was a bit
confusing as I thought that reflective writing was documentation of a professional’s
thoughts on their work.
During the study of this module, I recalled the material in Module 1. In the first module,
I understood that reflection in accordance with Brookfield(1995), included the
Theoretical Lenses. These Theoretical Lenses, Brookfield (1995) looked at teachers
referring to scholarly articles to assist in their understanding of their professional work
and experiences in the teaching field.
6. What were some of my personal misconceptions?
In the last reflection, I made mention of using Social Media as a possible tool to journal
reflections. Upon reading the material in this module, it seems that e- portfolios provide
more advantages for a reflective professional. Carl & Strydom (2017) rationalizes that e
- portfolios are beneficial in student teacher training. I believe the strengths of e -
portfolios would be favorable to me. The challenges Carl & Strydom (2017) discovered
that would affect the use of e-portfolios include digital skills, the ability to write
reflections and interactions with other peers. I would be mostly affected by the ability
to write reflections. I believe that Scenario- based learning may assist my ability to
write reflections. Scenario-based Learning as posited by Brown, Collins & Duguid
(1989); Karunanayaka et al (2017) is the act of immersing learners in an authentic
environment and giving real world experiences that fosters opportunities to engage in
meaningful learning activities. While Scenario - based learning would have to be given
to students such as myself by you the instructor, I think I can invert the scenario and
give a scenario premise to myself. Additionally, these scenarios can be beneficial to my
own students when I ask them to reflect on their performance in class.
7. What were some of my personal misconceptions?
Furthermore, I have reviewed material on academic writing for reflective journaling.
Academic reflective writing, according to the University of Edinburgh (2020), includes
descriptions based on foundations of learning, structured and formal language, sharing
of experiences that promotes learning and what the information means to the user. I
used this principle to ensure that I covered the thoughts in this reflection.
Finally, I am in the stages of developing an e - portfolio for my professional
development. I have been reviewing videos on YouTube to create e - portfolios on
Google Site.
8. 1. Continue to research and read resources on
reflecting effectively.
2. Continue to look at other resources of creating e-
portfolios on Google Sites.
3. Include Scenario Based Learning in future class
lesson plans to assist students in their own
reflection.
What next?
9. References
Brookfield, S. D (1998). Critically Reflective Practice. The Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions.
18 (197 - 205) https://doi.org/10.1002/chp.1340180402
Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher,
18, 32-42.
Carl, A., & Strydom, S. (2017). e-Portfolio as reflection tool during teaching practice: The interplay between
contextual and dispositional variables. South African Journal of Education, 37(1), 1–10.
https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v37n1a1250
Karunanayaka, S. P., Som Naidum, J.C.N. Rajendra., & Ratnayake, H.U.W. (2017) Designing Reflective Practice in the
Context of OER - based e - Learning. Journal of Learning of Development. 4 (2), 143 - 160
Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books.
Taggart, G. L., & Wilson, A. P. (2005). Promoting reflective thinking in teachers. Thousand Oak, CA: Corwin Press.
The University of Edinburgh. (2020, November 2). General tips for academic reflections.
https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/producing-reflections/academic-reflections/general-tips#:%7E:text=
Academic%20reflective%20writing%20requires%20critical,and%20academic%20practice%20and%20rigor.
