Critical Reflection

Shortly after submitting our first assignment for ETL503 - Resourcing the curriculum, we received a post assignment podcast from our supervisor, encouraging us to write a short critical reflection on the assignment/assignment process in preparation for ETL507 Reflective portfolio. When we had to write a critical reflection for ETL 401 I found it quite difficult because even though I had started writing this blog, I hadnt done much "reflective" writing at all. When I found out that in ETL 507 we will need to do a reflective portfolio I nearly fell over. Wouldn't it be useful to know right from the beginning that we should continue to write reflectively to assist with writing our reflective portfolio? Perhaps we were told that but if we were, I don't think it was said clearly enough. And what exactly is reflective writing? I found I had to do a little research for myself to really understand it. Anyway, I have come up with a bit of info about reflective writing and a handful of questions that will hopefully encourage it. If you are a Teacher Librarian student at CSU in particular, you may find this useful.

What is critical reflection and why should we do it?
Reflective writing enables the documentation of experiences, thoughts, questions. ideas and conclusions that signpost our learning journey ( see here). Basically, reflection provides an opportunity for us to think critically about what we do and why, so that change and improvement can result. By keeping some sort of reflective journal (ie a blog), we are keeping a record of events and results and our reaction to them, we are keeping data (useful for ETL507), and we are providing an opportunity to challenge and change ourselves.

Some ideas for getting started. (This is the hardest part for me).

• USE AN AGENDA: Describe the context. In our TL course, what is the issue/assignment? Where does it fit in the big picture? What are my assumptions? What could I do differently next time?
• FOCUS ON THE EXPERIENCE AND THINK (NOT ALOUD) IN WRITING: Take something you have read in the literature, or something that has occurred as part of the activity and think about the following - how does this connect with an aspect of my practice as a TL? What are the teaching and learning principles involved? What could I change in relation to this? What would happen if I did? Is there another way of looking at it?
• TAKING STOCK OF MY LEARING:What is the most important think I have learnt about the practice of a TL? What is the most important thing I have learnt about myself as a student? In what ways was I mistaken? How can I use this to improve as a TL/as a student?

Or put even more simply -

1. How do I feel about this?
2. What do I think about this?
3. What have I learned from this?
4. What action will I take as a result of my lessons learned?

Also, what have I learned with what I've done, and what have I done with what I've learned? (Shepherd, 2006)

I wonder how many students from last semesters ETL401 class have continued with their blogs, and if they have, how many are actually writing reflectively (instead of just descriptively)?

Reference
Shepherd, M. 2006. Using a learning journal to improve professional practice: A
journey of personal and professional self-discovery. Reflective Practice 7:333–48.