I feel that the most important aspect of reflection is the attitude. The attitude to want to do better and the attitude to not take constructive criticism to heart. Hearing the criticism of a piece of work or a lesson plan that you take great pride in can be hard, however, the majority of the time it is given to benefit and help you grow and develop.

Criticism within placement will be challenging, however, I realise that all criticism that I receive is there to help me become a better teacher. I aim to take criticism head-on and use every ounce of help I can to strive to become the best teacher I can be.

There’s a line between being beneficially critical and being overly-critical. That line, as of this point is blurred for me and I find it difficult to not over-think mistakes. During placement and the next 4 years, I aim to clear that line and be able to beneficially criticise my work to help me develop.

In semester one, the working together module was a large reflection point for me. At the beginning of the module, I didn’t see the need for this module and was highly critical of the work and things we were learning. However, as the module continued, I was able to see the need for working together and how it benefits me as a practitioner and as a teacher. I reflected in my work from the module and managed to see a gradual improvement on my interaction and understanding of the theories and activities we were provided with. This has helped me to not be as critical of subjects and aspects of learning I don’t currently understand.