![Gibbs’ famous reflective cycle. The cycle usually has a series of six questions associated with the boxes. Those questions are in italics below, along with my personal suggestions of where each phase could appear.
Description: what happened? The blog might be a good place to capture experience while it is still fresh
Feelings: what were you thinking and feeling? Again the blog or other journal might be a good place to write about your feelings. Looking back to Brookfield’s comment about teachers tending to focus on what went wrong, and to discount successes, perhaps try to record situations that gave you a good feeling as well!
Evaluation: What was good and bad about the experience? ‘Good’ could include the way something going wrong can sometimes reveal a hidden variable in the situation (Schon, double loop learning) or allow us to get behind the ideology. A reflection on your blog could be a good place to write your evaluations, along with the lesson planner form. I personally tend to come back a week or two later when I want to evaluate a situation. I personally try to see situations from the point of view of the students and see what might be bad or good for them
Analysis: What sense can you make of the situation? Theories can help here, both with the ‘educational psychology’ dimension and the various theories we use to describe interactions in our classroom. When I say ‘theory’, I’m using the term to mean short quotes or examples rather than some comprehensive explanation of a situation using a theoretical framework. Analysis could take the form of reflections on a blog post, or it could be that you begin to notice a pattern running through several situations. Critical incidents provide a way of recording your use of theory and it is sometimes easier to be analytical about someone else’s critical incident as you may be able to suggest a theory or just might find it easier to ‘stand outside’ the situation
Conclusion: What else could you have done? This is where you replay the incident and decide on another way of responding, based on the analysis. This is the ‘value’ of theory, the way it suggests other courses of action. Your ‘areas for development’ from the observation recports are a good source for things to try as are the subject mentors and other peer tutors.
Action plan: If [ the situation ] arose again, what would you do? This is where you can formulate and record a change in your approach to a common situation. Might take the form of an actual ‘action plan’ or could be embodied in a lesson planner.
To my mind, an essay about reflection could illsutrate how you went through the phases using material you already have. An essay should really be linking to theories that have helped.](http://13.media.tumblr.com/C6QvVHqNV89qkah1s1069R3j_500.png)
Gibbs’ famous reflective cycle. The cycle usually has a series of six questions associated with the boxes. Those questions are in italics below, along with my personal suggestions of where each phase could appear.
- Description: what happened? The blog might be a good place to capture experience while it is still fresh
- Feelings: what were you thinking and feeling? Again the blog or other journal might be a good place to write about your feelings. Looking back to Brookfield’s comment about teachers tending to focus on what went wrong, and to discount successes, perhaps try to record situations that gave you a good feeling as well!
- Evaluation: What was good and bad about the experience? ‘Good’ could include the way something going wrong can sometimes reveal a hidden variable in the situation (Schon, double loop learning) or allow us to get behind the ideology. A reflection on your blog could be a good place to write your evaluations, along with the lesson planner form. I personally tend to come back a week or two later when I want to evaluate a situation. I personally try to see situations from the point of view of the students and see what might be bad or good for them
- Analysis: What sense can you make of the situation? Theories can help here, both with the ‘educational psychology’ dimension and the various theories we use to describe interactions in our classroom. When I say ‘theory’, I’m using the term to mean short quotes or examples rather than some comprehensive explanation of a situation using a theoretical framework. Analysis could take the form of reflections on a blog post, or it could be that you begin to notice a pattern running through several situations. Critical incidents provide a way of recording your use of theory and it is sometimes easier to be analytical about someone else’s critical incident as you may be able to suggest a theory or just might find it easier to ‘stand outside’ the situation
- Conclusion: What else could you have done? This is where you replay the incident and decide on another way of responding, based on the analysis. This is the ‘value’ of theory, the way it suggests other courses of action. Your ‘areas for development’ from the observation recports are a good source for things to try as are the subject mentors and other peer tutors.
- Action plan: If [ the situation ] arose again, what would you do? This is where you can formulate and record a change in your approach to a common situation. Might take the form of an actual ‘action plan’ or could be embodied in a lesson planner.
Posted 1 year ago
