Reflection: What? So What? Now What?

Once you begin post-graduate studies you quickly learn that critical reflection is an essential and expected component.  Critical reflection leads to personal insight, and it helps to uncover the biases, cultural norms and daily practices that undoubtedly influence our professional practice.  As a self-confessed “over-thinker” it is rather refreshing to know I can put my natural reflex to good use.  However, in order to reap the benefits, it is important to understand that critical reflection requires a framework or a set of rules, and much practice, practice, practice. 

Reflection is also one of the key components of an effective and educative service-learning program.  It is the bridge that connects the community experience to classroom concepts and learning outcomes (Eyler, Summer 2001, Bringle & Hatcher, Summer 1999). 

Reflecting sounds easy enough, Moon (2001) suggests we engage in it naturally, usually when we are trying to work something out without an “obvious or immediate solution” (p. 2), but when you begin to plan for reflective activities in the classroom it starts to become a little more complicated.  For example, what types of reflective activities encourage learning that meets course outcomes? And how are reflective journals to be assessed?

What?

Over the next few weeks I will begin to pull together resources and frameworks to help answer some the questions on building reflective practices into the curriculum.  To begin let’s start with a definition that fits within the context of higher education:

“Reflection is a form of mental processing – like a form of thinking – that we use to fulfill a purpose or to achieve some anticipated outcome.  It is applied to relatively complicated or unstructured ideas for which there is not an obvious solution and is largely based on further processing of knowledge and understanding and possibly emotions that we already possess” (Moon, 2001)

Reflection allows us to:

“integrate the understanding gained into one’s experience in order to enable better choices or actions in the future as well as enhance one’s overall effectiveness” (Rogers , Fall 2001).

In its most basic form, reflection is about active, purposeful thinking.  Thinking that engages both cognitive and affective processes that lead to a new way of understanding, and the “integration of the new understanding into one’s experience” (p. 41).  In other words, students engage in reflection begin to question and even change what they believe to be true.  

Factors:

Reflection can be transformational, but as we will see, there are forces and factors that have to be in place for it to be effective, including student readiness (Correia & Bleicher, Spring 2008).  First, students may need to be taught how to reflect in order for connections to be made between their experience and classroom concepts.  Without experience or guidance, some students will tend toward a simple description of their service experience (p. 138), which does not demonstrate what they have learned, or that they have even made the connections between the experience and classroom concepts. 

Secondly, the ability to reflect is developmental, it matures over time and with practice (Ash, Clayton, & Atkinson, Spring 2005).  Students learning how to reflect must be ready to give themselves permission to “believe that their own experience is a legitimate source of knowledge” (p. 56).  Once students have made this leap, or are at least ready to take the risk, are more likely to produce deeper levels of reflection.

Finally, reflective activities must be explicitly tied to learning outcomes and assessment strategies.  If students do not perceive value in the reflective practice (for example, is it graded?), students are not likely to engage in the reflective activity (Moon, 2001).  Along the same lines, reflection activities that are regular and repeated lead to the greatest learning (Bringle & Hatcher, Summer 1999).  It is therefore imperative that students see value in, and engage in reflective activities.

Next week:  So What? Taking a closer look at the reasons why reflection is a key component of service-learning.

References

Ash, S. L., & Clayton, P. H. (Winter 2004). The articulated learning: An appraoch to guided reflection and assessment. Innovative Higher Education, 29(2), 137-154.

Ash, S. L., Clayton, P. H., & Atkinson, M. P. (Spring 2005). Integrating reflection and assessment to capture and improve student learning. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 49-60.

Bringle, R. G., & Hatcher, J. A. (Summer 1999). Reflection in service learning: Making meaning of experience. Educational Horizons, 179-185.

Correia, M. G., & Bleicher, R. E. (Spring 2008). Making connections to teach reflection. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 41-49.

Eyler, J. (Summer 2001). Creating your reflection map. New Directions for Higher Education, 114, 35-43.

Hatcher, J. A., Bringle, R. G., & Muthiah, R. (Fall 2004). Designing effective reflection: What matters to service-learning? Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 38-46.

Moon, J. (2001). PDP Working paper 4: Reflection in higher education learning. LTSN Generic Centre, 1-27.

Rogers , R. R. (Fall 2001). Reflection in higher education: A concept analysis. Innovative Higher Education, 26(1), 37-56.