Reflective Decision-Makers

A basic reflection is two pages in length, double spaced, 12 point font. The purpose of a reflection is to look at something critically, analyze it against expert advice, and then plan to act in an improved fashion. I like to think of reflections in terms of UCA decision-making.

U for unique: Your reflection will be different than anyone else's. Your lens will focus on something important to you, to either improve or correct past thinking. Your experience and knowledge consists of a different set of tools than anyone else. Be specific about the tools that inform you during the reflection. Most "average" reflections are either to vague or too impersonal.

C is for context: Let the reader in on background information to help them understand the analysis. If you are interviewing a teacher, then share why you chose that particular teacher to interview. If this is a school observation, share the name of the school and the grade level/subject. Imagine your mother reading the paper, what details would she ask you about. Who? What? Where? When? These are just the basic facts that set the stage for the later analysis. However, this is not a summary, it is background for the key points that follow.

A is for analysis: For starters, how did you like what you observed? For deeper analysis, how does the observation compare to coursework, theory, and other voices of experience? It could be acknowledgement that the theory matches the observation, or it could be the spark that encourages you to learn more about the topic. Analysis takes reality, inspects what is happening, and compares it to the abstract pedagogical knowledge of the course.

Decision-making is what makes the reflection worth while. What will you take away from this experience so that your professional practice will be better for the experience? As teacher educators, we hope that everything that you reflect upon will provide you with at least one more tool in your pedagogical toolbox. Each experience as a student should be useful for you as a future educator. Let the reader know how your views and plans have changed or improved or strengthened because of your reflected experience.

For more on how reflections fit into the PEU conceptual framework, see http://uca.edu/education/framework.php