Reflection can mean many things and can be used in a variety of different ways. Today I will be discussing the types of reflection I will be using during my academic study and professional practice.

First of all, I’d like to clear something up… ..simply describing the situation/event IS NOT REFLECTION. Reflection involves looking at an experience and considering what you learnt from it. Here are some examples:

Independently one way in which everyone uses reflection is by considering the success or failure of your actions for example reflecting on a lesson you planned for your class. You will do this by calling upon your own experiences, emotions and beliefs related to the situation. You will then be able to note what went well, what you achieved and what you didn’t. However, it is vital you also look at things from others points of view to come up with the best next step. This leads me onto the next form of reflection…reflecting together.

Reflecting together can be in two forms. It can involve working together by comparing your beliefs to come up with a joint solution. You would do this by having a discussion with your class on what needed improving about the lesson. This allows you to gain new ideas and learn from the experience. It can also mean reflecting on feedback you have received. For example, looking at the feedback you were given on your last essay and thinking about how you can improve for your next one. This type of reflection also allows us to learn and in some cases, challenge our existing beliefs when hearing others opinions.

Both types of reflection result in a learning experience that can be put into practice in future (for example your next essay), you will then reflect again on this new situation and so the cycle continues. This then demonstrates that one of the best ways to learn is to constantly reflect on your practices.

Summary of why we should reflect –

·        Build theory from observations

·        Continually self-develop even if things are working fine

·        Help solve problems/ gain new ideas

·        Learn from mistakes/ challenge existing assumptions

·       To take control of your own learning

Top tips for reflection-

·        Do it immediately after the event

·        Reflect again after a couple of days

·        Ensure you look at the situation from different view points

·       Think about how your learning will affect your future practice

Overall this activity has helped me understand the importance of reflection and the different ways I can do it. I am keen to get into a good habit of reflection as I know it will be key in my future career therefore I will continue to work on my blog to develop my skills.

Following on from this the final task asked me to reflect on my understanding of various academic skills including: Punctuation; Spelling; Grammar and Shaping of text. The required reading (The Study Skills Book) gave me an insight into my strengths and weaknesses in these different areas. I have concluded that my strengths lie in shaping of a text and grammar whereas I am weaker in areas such as spelling and punctuation. I feel confident in paragraphing and sentence structure which will be useful for my academic writing. However I struggle with complex and less frequent punctuation along with uncommon spelling of words.  After reflecting on this I understand the importance of these skills for my academic study and my future Career therefore I will continue to develop these. I plan on doing this by practicing the Online Literacy Assessment – an online test the university created for students-  and using The Study Skills Book to revise the areas I am weaker in.

I will post soon about the effect this has had on my OLA score!