Demonstrate a critical understanding of the different theoretical perspectives on reflection.

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Element 1 – (1500 words)

- I WORK IN A PRIVATE NURSERY SCHOOL IN A CLASS OF CHILDREN AGES 3-4

Element One

Assignment: Value and Purpose of Reflection (1500 words) – Required

Assignment on the value and purpose of reflective practice in relation to the context of your age/phase of professional practice.

You are expected to:

1) demonstrate a critical understanding of the different theoretical perspectives on reflection.

2) develop an informed position on the value of reflection for teaching and learning.

3) compare reflective models and justify which models you might consider for reflection.

4) support your discussion using a wide range of relevant reading and literature.

Element 1 should be written in the 3^rd person

Introduction

- Why is reflecting important?

- What is reflection?

Select 2 models

- Rolfe’s reflective model and Brookfield four lens reflective model

- What do key writers say about the value and purpose of reflection?

- Who can I believe and why?

- Again, critically analyze the claims being made.

- Summarize and critique the pros – cons of each model

Context

Discuss 2 theories (Dewey and Schon) and the 2 models mentioned above

- What are the different perspectives on reflection?

- Who are the key writers?

- Who can I believe and why?

- Use ideas of critical writing that were introduced in Dr Ruth Woods’ lecture (lecture 2) on critical thinking skills.

Element Two

Synoptic writing task drawing on theory and practice: How the Process of Reflection has Developed your Practice (2000 words) – Required

You will consider how the process of reflection has developed your practice, drawing on elements 1, your reflective journal and additional research relating to the curriculum subject and/or age/phase of your professional context.

Bringing together theory and reflection on your practice, this written element should be a reflection on how the process of being a reflective practitioner has helped develop your practice.

You will:

1) reflect on how you have used theory to improve your practice.

2) critically analyse the value of these reflections in supporting your professional development.

3) draw on examples from your reflective journal (submitted as an extract in your appendices).

4) evaluate the impact on outcomes for learners.

5) Use theory from previous assignment (Element1), lecture inputs and seminar activities to support your reflection

An extract from your reflective journal will demonstrate how you have engaged in the reflective process and provide evidence of how the reflective process has help you develop your practice. These should show your critical self-awareness, engagement with theory and its impact on your practice. These extracts should be chosen based on key issues or critical incidents, which have arisen in practice relate to your curriculum subject/age phase and demonstrate how your understanding and thinking has developed. 

This element should be written in the first person.

Submission Information

Element One to be submitted 2^nd November 2022 (by 9.00am) on Canvas

Element Two to be submitted 5^th January 2023 (by 9.00am) on Canvas

Criteria for Assessment of Elements 1 and 2

• Quality of reflection (not applicable to element 1)
• Relevance to the element set
• Ability to articulate a point of view
• Reference to reading and reflection undertaken
• Quality of writing

Please refer to the marking criteria/rubric (p16-17) for details.

Critical Thinking and Writing

Critical Thinking Skills include:

• information seeking, interpretation, how to recognise assumptions and bias,
• how to identify and analyse different types of data,
• how to evaluate the credibility of claims and arguments, how to query evidence and read between the lines to draw conclusions and
• how to use deductive reasoning.
• Finally, you will need to present and explain the results of your findings, developing your argument making sure you and others understand it.

Study Skills books, such as Cottrell’s (2017) Critical Thinking Skills, will support you with your academic performance as you explore, understand, and apply your learning, understanding of complex information and problem solving.  These are valuable skills to have in education.

Kingston University, Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education provide academic support skills through the Academic Support Centre (ASC), based on the first floor of the Nightingale Centre, Kingston Hills Library and through the My Kingston My Skills.  See the CANVAS module for links to these academic support skills.

Critical Thinking Tools:

Source to ensure that all sources of literature such as academic journal articles, academic books, media, and websites etc. are academically credible, recent (not out of date) and relevant being aware of any bias that they might have.  Consider the key words, what sources you are accessing, critiquing, particularly if they are non-traditional sources (belief v fact) and referencing ensuring that they are all referenced to Kingston University’s Harvard Referencing system.  Make sure that you identify all sources and reference them correctly in the body of the text and reference list.  See the Library My Kingston Referencing for support with this.

Argument is a logical and reasoned way of stating your point of view and presenting your perspective to others.  Developing your argument uses all of the above Critical Thinking Skills. Sources of valid, relevant, and reliable evidence, literature and theory are used as evidence to support and substantiate your argument, perspective, or point of view that you are putting forward. When arguing you are presenting flaws, unpacking, and challenging any assumptions or ambiguity, positive or negative, differing, or similar perspectives. There will be claims and counter claims made where you may support, refute, and rebut these claims.  Always consider the evidence that supports and substantiates the claims and arguments that you are making. Through the use of your arguments, you are demonstrating your knowledge and understanding of the subject by interpreting, assessing and drawing reasoned conclusions.

Critique is where a critical review has taken place regarding academic literature and theory.  It involves the identification and interpretation of key themes/main arguments which are analysed and assessed for credibly within academic literature and theory challenging assumptions and perspectives, exploring arguments and points of view.  This supports and links to the Critical Thinking Skills of Source and Argument.  It is about exploring and making links between arguments, comparing, and contrasting differing assumptions and perspectives and considering the alternatives through the use of logical thinking.

Analysis is the culmination of the first three Critical Thinking Skills as deductive reasoning is used to compare and contrast key themes, assumptions and differing perspectives exploring the academic evidence, drawing informed positions, ideas, recommendations and conclusions.

Reflective Writing is more personal than other writing which are impersonal and often written in the third person.  Reflective writing is usually written in the first person and is often about your personal experience and learning. Reflective writing is not descriptive but critically engages with a personal critical incident that is being written about, critically exploring the issue and substantiating learning to literature and/or theory.  It involves thinking reflectively and writing reflectively which is what this module is all about and the use of reflective models are there to support you with this.

Academic reflective writing also embraces a different type and style of language. The following checklist is useful (Bain et al., 2002, cited in Ryan, 2011, p 100):

• “Use the first person ‘I’
• Use thinking and sensing verbs e.g. I believe, I feel, I questions, I understand, I consider
• Use the relevant technical language (or jargon) where relevant, to show you have understood the academic literature
• Use language of comparison/contrast e.g., similarly, just as, in contrast to, unlike
• Use language to illustrate causal reasoning (i.e., what happened and its effect) e.g. As a result of…., the consequences of…. due to…. therefore, because….
• To show evidence, use phrases such as this demonstrates, shows, supports x’s theory, highlights that.
• To show reasoning, use phrases such as: according to Jones (2005), as Smith (2015) states, Brown (2011) suggests…”

Critical Reflection enhances your critical thinking skills as through critical reflection you are able to reflect and learn from previous experience, learning from this to support your current practice.  Through critical reflection you explore the impact of a critical incident, the impact of other perspectives might have had on the incident and what action you would take then instead next time using literature and/or theory to underpin and support this new learning.

This module ‘The Reflective Teacher’ with ‘Policy, Practice and Professionalism for Teachers’ draws together the personal, professional, and political aspects of education and teaching.  Through the development of critical reflection, you will be able to critically engage with literature on current issues in practice, policy and professionalism and the impact that they have on your teaching practice and provision.

Critical Writing is about applying the above tools and skills using justified, well-constructed and unbiased arguments based on academically credible literature and theory.