The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action.
(Dewey, undated, np)
The theory of reflection can be interpreted in so many ways completely depending on the individual. It is a universally recognised thing that we, as human beings, naturally like to dwell upon past experiences and look forward to future ones. During this process, a person can learn so much about themselves and those around them who are involved in their life. It could be a traumatic or a cherished experience that they subconsciously keep coming back to, but it is only when such experiences are worked through that reflection can thrive, thus allowing us to progress with our lives and build a more stable future.
For myself, reflection certainly occurs the most when I look back at things that I have gone through in my life, whether good or bad, and find a way to use them to make me a stronger person and benefit my present/future self. A large portion of this reflection happens inwardly in my mind where I think about and analyse experiences until I arrive at a place where I understand them and can take something advantageous from them.
At times this can be a challenging way to reflect as you find that your emotions surrounding an event go wild and can cloud your judgement on how you may truly be feeling about something. Therefore I have discovered that rational thinking is essential in reflection. Yes it is good to allow your feelings to influence the way you reflect and further act but this simultaneously needs to be met with rational thinking where you are logical and sensible about a situation.
Alongside my constant inward reflection sits the method of journal writing. As expressed in a previous blog of mine, it is something that I took a great liking to in the past and therefore it has been an interesting form of reflection for me to reintroduce into my life. I cannot say that it was an immediately easy thing to do as I had to discover the best way for me to reflect through my journal. Now that I have found the methods which best suit my way of thinking, I can write freely when I so wish, giving me the ability to look back over days gone past and take something, anything from them.
Journal writing has in fact reminded me of how important it is to take the time to reflect on a daily basis, if possible, or simply as often and as easily as you can. It does not have to be a complicated or difficult thing to do and once you have become comfortable with personal reflection, you can continue to develop the methods you use to do so.
As an individual passes from one situation to another, his world, his environment, expands or contracts. He does not find himself living in another world but in a different part or aspect of one and the same world. What he has learned in the way of knowledge and skill in one situation becomes an instrument of understanding and dealing effectively with the situations which follow. The process goes on as long as life and learning continue. Otherwise the course of experience is disorderly, since the individual factor that enters into making an experience is split. A divided world, a world whose parts and aspects do not hang together, is at once a sign and a cause of a divided personality. When the splitting-up reaches a certain point we call the person insane. A fully integrated personality, on the other hand, exists only when successive experiences are integrated with one another. It can be built up only as a world of related objects is constructed.
(Dewey, 1938, np)
As an active critical thinker, I like to be aware of how I can improve my methods of thinking. It is very easy to get stuck into the same routine of thinking as we are very much so creatures of habit. I feel that it is so important to be able to experiment with your thinking for the cause of self-development. If we do not welcome change into our lives and take a step to do something new, we will never fully discover ourselves or the world around us. For me, the BAPP programme is opening up so many doors for new, active thinking that I can introduce into my life. I am learning about reflective methods and the philosophers who created them, something which I previously had very little knowledge of. It is immensely fascinating for me to finally dig deep into my own mind to try and figure out how I like to reflect and whether I have been doing it in a way that best suits. The more I reflect, the more I learn and it is a process that is ever-changing and developing throughout my everyday life.
Looking at the work of Dewey, as quoted above, he emphasises how the ever-transitioning world around us can act as an instrument for bettering our understanding thus improving how we will act in future situations. The skills that we pick up along the way from experiences in our lives help us to learn, grow and become more intelligent about and aware of our surroundings and the people within them. It is a constant process of evolution which each and every one of us goes through day after day after day. Without it, we are not complete. We cease to grasp the fullness of our experiences and use them to our own advantage. As Dewey mentions, a "fully integrated personality" built upon successfully assimilating our experiences, is what enables us to function effectively. From this I have taken the idea that by stringing my experiences together I can construct a map of where I have been in my life and where I want to go. This will help me to methodically work through and progress in my critical thinking whilst simultaneously picking up new experiences and resulting ideas along the way.
Onward to David A. Kolb, he (as discussed in a previous blog of mine) established a cyclical process through which your experiences can be reviewed and analysed. This process creates a logical system of reflection using the following four principles:
- Concrete Experience
- Reflective Observation
- Abstract Conceptualisation
- Active Experimentation
You can gather from the diagram below how Kolb integrates these 4 principles with; Diverging; Assimilating; Converging; and Accommodating. He has succeeded in bringing together a logical cycle of reflection combined with different learning styles that will vary from person to person. Following his model allows an individual to touch on all bases of reflection (so experiencing, thinking and acting) and to do so in their own way depending on their preferred learning style.
Amongst those in the education sector, methods of learning can be praised and hailed as effective ways for young people to develop and learn throughout their time at school. However on the other side of this, learning methods such as Kolb's have been criticised in the past by certain educationalists and educational researchers. In summary, many view learning models, theories, instruments etc., as being largely counter-productive in young people's education. Scientific research into this area has emphasised how questionable the benefit of relying on various learning styles actually is.
I think that this highlights how, when working with young people, it is hugely important to use learning methods which are well responded to and are seen to have considerable benefit amongst those using them. There is absolutely no point in using a method just for the sake of using it if, once under assessment and review, it is not proving to be effective. For me also I am unsure as to how much Kolb's model in particular, actually assists me in my critical thinking and subsequent reflection. For me, a learning methodology or concept needs to click very soon after I have started using it. If I am not responding well to something and am finding it difficult to adopt, I will mostly go about things my own way and learn through processes which I find the most enjoyable and adaptable to myself. For instance I find that I get the most out of study by writing things down, making concise notes and having them there to go back to whenever I need. I think this is why journal writing is such a useful tool for me as I know that I have something that I can pick up for the purpose of discovering ideas that may be useful to me in that moment or in the future.
Reflective practice is a dialogue of thinking and doing through which I become more skilful.
(Schön, undated, np)
Donald
Schön's idea of using reflection-in-action or reflection-on-action (as
discussed in a previous blog of mine) has actually been really helpful to me. I
use both on a regular basis and feel that his very rational way of thinking
about reflection has made the idea of it much clearer in my mind. If I am using
either one of the two processes, I can identify straight away what it is I am
wanting to achieve from my reflection at that time, whether it is during a
practical activity or simply sitting quietly and mulling over what I have done.
I feel that both methods of reflection coexist to make an individual a
successful reflective practitioner. Having one without the other stops you from
fully benefiting from your activities and therefore progressing at a pace that
is your best.
As emphasised
in the quote above; I like how Schön believes strongly in the use of reflective
practice as a way of becoming more rounded, knowledgeable and skilful. His
views on reflective practice sit parallel with what we, as students on the BAPP
programme, wish to achieve in our own lives and through this course. I have
found that my reflection has almost become a constant dialogue that runs
through my mind, and that without it I am not fully engaging with what I am
doing or wishing to achieve. Simply by reading back over my previous blogs I
can spur on my inward reflection and think about the concepts that I have
explored; whether I would interpret them differently now; and how I can go
about developing them further.
Donald Schön
Reflection lies somewhere around the notion of learning and thinking. We reflect in order to learn something, or we learn as a result of reflecting.
(Moon, 2004, p 4)
Finally I would like to approach the work of Jenny Moon, an educationalist who I have not yet explored in depth. She interestingly likes to define how our use of any reflective model can be shaped by our underlying reasons for using it. Through this Moon looks at our processes, our goals and our methods of assessment when we come to doing a reflection on different types of situations, be them professional or personal.
For instance, if you were to write a personal reflection on an experience, you may reflect in a more inward manner expressing far more intimate and private thoughts and feelings. You would be able to explore whatever subject matter you so wished and write it up in a way that may only be clear to you and no one else. No formality or spotless grammar would be necessary as it is your personal reflection to keep and go back to.Yet on the other side of this if you were, for example, to reflect on an important essay that you have written, you may make some notes about ways you can improve it; you may seek advice from a professional; you would be aware of maintaining good grammar and clarity in your writing; and the subject matter may have been chosen for you.
These two differing situations of reflection prove that, as highlighted by Moon, the reflective models that we use will be influenced by whatever we are using them for. How we reflect is utterly dependent on what the focus is for that specific activity hence why we adapt our reflective methods to best suit the task in hand. My journal is my personal way of reflecting; I don't have to worry about it being well written, legible to others or upholding formalities. I can just write in whatever way I wish knowing that it is for my eyes only.Yet if I were to read an essay of mine for the purpose of redrafting it, I would reflect in a totally different way using clear, concise notes, gathered research and a caution for good grammar.
To finish, there are so many reflective theories out there, both old and new, and all will work to differing levels of success for each individual. It is important for us to not get frustrated if a method doesn't work out or we cannot connect to its concepts. Finding reflective theories that work for you starts with a process of trial and error. Go and grasp some of the methods, try them out for yourself and if they do not work, move on and try something new. There is always something out there for us to learn about so take pride in how you go about this.
Lil' Blogger
Dewey, John (1938) Experience and Education, Kappa Delta Pi Lecture Series
Dewey, John (undated) quote sourced from https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/72810-experience-and-education (accessed 09.11.15)
Moon, Jenny (2004) A
Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning , Routledge Falmer, London
Schön, Donald (undated) quote sourced from http://www.toolshero.com/toolsheroes/donald-schon/ (accessed 09.11.15)
No comments:
Post a Comment