When I first thought of the task of producing a ‘proficient teaching portfolio’ I was (understandably) overwhelmed. In addition to teaching I was required to find and annotate evidence and then produce it for review. It wasn’t until I was well underway that I realised how much fun I was having. Throughout my education I’ve been told of and experienced the benefit of reflection, and whilst I always attempted to keep up to date on reflections on lessons, professional developments and the like, there have been times when they weren’t as deep as they could have been. Conversely, whilst I’ve never really been a ‘fan’ of the idea of blogging, the blogs I’ve written to annotate evidence for this digital portfolio have consistently led to a deeper level of reflection. In fact, as I searched for evidence I often found I learned a lot from incidental reading of blogs other educators had provided on teaching techniques or ideas. Indeed, I'd often find myself stumbling upon the most influential reflections as a direct result of searching for literature to support statements within an annotation, or discover another interesting reading or video in my search for the perfect piece to further support or elaborate on my annotation, or even just having to recall an experience and sit down to write a reflection for it. Knowing this I felt compelled to write a reflection on the role of reflecting in effective teaching as my first blog post not specifically linked with my evidence for proficient teaching and adapt my portfolio to support ongoing reflections on my learning journey as an educator (rest assured - at least for the time being - I'll be attempting to keep up the practice, read on to see why).
Whilst not reflection was never an explicit topic in my post-graduate studies, the idea of reflective teaching was been integrated into almost every lecture of every subject I've experienced. With good reason; whether a brief mention of the benefit of reflective practices in revising and editing a lesson just completed (Killen, 2009) or a discussion on the growth stimulated through reflective teaching (Selinger, 1991), in whatever context it was mentioned there was ample support cited in the lecture and even more in suggested reading (and little more than a database search away see Bayles, 1960; Harris, 1998; Pollard, 2002; Posner & Vivian, 2010; and Tsangaridou & Siedentop, 2012 for a review). It is little wonder then that, under the guise of ‘evaluation’, reflection is a major portion in the National Standards of Teaching: whether through specific standards on the evaluation of teaching programmes (see 3.6), as a key factor in almost all of the highly accomplished and lead teaching standards or through the provision of a reflection on practice tool.
Indeed, throughout my teaching career I have found the feedback from my peers and mentors as essential for personal growth and reassurance – however, I would get the most growth from the reflection it stimulated. As stated by Killen (2009, pp. 101), reflecting on yourself as a learner and as a teacher is particularly useful. In fact, Korthagen and Wubbles (1991) have shown reflective teaching practices to have a tangible positive effect on interpersonal relationships with students and higher job satisfaction. Whether to develop sociological goals (Zeichner, 1992), teaching effectiveness (Cruickshank, 1987; Killen, 1991) or positive impact on students (Onosko, 1992), literature consistently shows the benefit of reflective teaching. Perhaps the most important literature however comes from Le Cornu and Peters (2005) which indicates reflection is a constructivist activity that can enable teachers to learn more about teaching and learning. This is particularly poignant as evidence suggest that student's participation levels in learning are linked with the teacher's own levels of participation in their learning (Le Cornu & Peters, 2005).
The idea of reflection as a constructivist activity was particularly relevant personally as I often found myself doing additional research and learning as a result of the annotations. One of the most beneficial experiences of which was learning about my own learning through coming to terms with the personal importance of real life experience consolidating or matching the literature. This was something I had touched on in prior education (namely university studies), but something that was definitely reinforced. Prior to the annotations there was a certain level of reflection on learning and my practice that I completed on my own behalf and which I thought was above the standard and required level. Whether or not that was the case, it is readily evident to me the even higher levels I have reached by actually sitting down and presenting my thoughts in a blog for an 'audience'. In saying this I refrain from finding literature support on the use of a blog for reflecting vs. personal reflection for a simple reason; A method that works for one person may not for another, rather than promote one style my goal is to explain that blogging has worked well for me, much more so than I had expected.
With this in mind, the take away message is not only the importance of reflecting, but the importance of being open and trying different methods of reflecting. Growth is something personal, but also something that can become stagnant. Part of growth is stepping outside your comfort zone and doing something challenging and/different - for me that was blogging reflections through annotations that provided evidence of my proficient teaching. Preconceptions over reflecting online and through a blog would have prevented me doing so if it weren't a part of compliance (and highlighting my ICT skills), yet if I hadn’t done so I may have missed out on the many of insights I came across through blogging and providing the multimedia resources to accompany my evidence. With that in mind I offer this advice for all educators, new and experienced alike, take a risk and reflect in a way you hadn't thought of, or a way you've been reluctant to try. You might be right and it might not be for you, but it could be the best thing you've ever done for personal growth.
Whilst not reflection was never an explicit topic in my post-graduate studies, the idea of reflective teaching was been integrated into almost every lecture of every subject I've experienced. With good reason; whether a brief mention of the benefit of reflective practices in revising and editing a lesson just completed (Killen, 2009) or a discussion on the growth stimulated through reflective teaching (Selinger, 1991), in whatever context it was mentioned there was ample support cited in the lecture and even more in suggested reading (and little more than a database search away see Bayles, 1960; Harris, 1998; Pollard, 2002; Posner & Vivian, 2010; and Tsangaridou & Siedentop, 2012 for a review). It is little wonder then that, under the guise of ‘evaluation’, reflection is a major portion in the National Standards of Teaching: whether through specific standards on the evaluation of teaching programmes (see 3.6), as a key factor in almost all of the highly accomplished and lead teaching standards or through the provision of a reflection on practice tool.
Indeed, throughout my teaching career I have found the feedback from my peers and mentors as essential for personal growth and reassurance – however, I would get the most growth from the reflection it stimulated. As stated by Killen (2009, pp. 101), reflecting on yourself as a learner and as a teacher is particularly useful. In fact, Korthagen and Wubbles (1991) have shown reflective teaching practices to have a tangible positive effect on interpersonal relationships with students and higher job satisfaction. Whether to develop sociological goals (Zeichner, 1992), teaching effectiveness (Cruickshank, 1987; Killen, 1991) or positive impact on students (Onosko, 1992), literature consistently shows the benefit of reflective teaching. Perhaps the most important literature however comes from Le Cornu and Peters (2005) which indicates reflection is a constructivist activity that can enable teachers to learn more about teaching and learning. This is particularly poignant as evidence suggest that student's participation levels in learning are linked with the teacher's own levels of participation in their learning (Le Cornu & Peters, 2005).
The idea of reflection as a constructivist activity was particularly relevant personally as I often found myself doing additional research and learning as a result of the annotations. One of the most beneficial experiences of which was learning about my own learning through coming to terms with the personal importance of real life experience consolidating or matching the literature. This was something I had touched on in prior education (namely university studies), but something that was definitely reinforced. Prior to the annotations there was a certain level of reflection on learning and my practice that I completed on my own behalf and which I thought was above the standard and required level. Whether or not that was the case, it is readily evident to me the even higher levels I have reached by actually sitting down and presenting my thoughts in a blog for an 'audience'. In saying this I refrain from finding literature support on the use of a blog for reflecting vs. personal reflection for a simple reason; A method that works for one person may not for another, rather than promote one style my goal is to explain that blogging has worked well for me, much more so than I had expected.
With this in mind, the take away message is not only the importance of reflecting, but the importance of being open and trying different methods of reflecting. Growth is something personal, but also something that can become stagnant. Part of growth is stepping outside your comfort zone and doing something challenging and/different - for me that was blogging reflections through annotations that provided evidence of my proficient teaching. Preconceptions over reflecting online and through a blog would have prevented me doing so if it weren't a part of compliance (and highlighting my ICT skills), yet if I hadn’t done so I may have missed out on the many of insights I came across through blogging and providing the multimedia resources to accompany my evidence. With that in mind I offer this advice for all educators, new and experienced alike, take a risk and reflect in a way you hadn't thought of, or a way you've been reluctant to try. You might be right and it might not be for you, but it could be the best thing you've ever done for personal growth.