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Make a list below of possible different topics for learning journal entries (both on and off the job). How do you know what to reflect on? Can you provide any top tips?

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Learn Amp: Learning Engagement Platform. Learning Re-invented. Driving engagement, increasing retention and improving performance through learning

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What are learning journals and why are they important? 

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What are learning journals and why are they important? 

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Learn Amp: Learning Engagement Platform. Learning Re-invented. Driving engagement, increasing retention and improving performance through learning

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Post your answers to the questions below. 

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Post your answers to the questions below. 

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What does reflective practice mean?

Why do you think reflective practice is important or trainers?

What is the research behind reflective practice?

Use the link to help you: Getting started with Reflective Practice (cambridge-community.org.uk)

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What is the research behind reflective practice?

Educational researchers have long promoted the importance of reflecting on practice to support student learning and staff development.

There are many different models of reflective practice. However, they all share the same basic aim: to get the best results from the learning, for both the teacher and students.
Each model of reflection aims to unpick learning to make links between the 'doing' and the 'thinking'.

Kolb's learning cycle
David Kolb, educational researcher, developed a four-stage reflective model. Kolb's Learning Cycle (1984) highlights reflective practice as a tool to gain conclusions and ideas from an experience. The aim is to take the learning into new experiences, completing the cycle. Kolb's cycle follows four stages.

First, practitioners have a concrete experience. This means experiencing something new for the first time in the classroom. The experience should be an active one, used to test out new ideas and teaching methods.
This is followed by...

Observation of the concrete experience, then reflecting on the experience. Here practitioners should consider the strengths of the experience and areas of development. Practitioners need to form an understanding of what helped students' learning and what hindered it.
This should lead to...

The formation of abstract concepts. The practitioner needs to make sense of what has happened. They should do this through making links between what they have done, what they already know and what they need to learn. The practitioner should draw on ideas from research and textbooks to help support development and understanding. They could also draw on support from other colleagues and their previous knowledge. Practitioners should modify their ideas or devise new approaches, based on what they have learnt from their observations and wider research.
The final stage of this cycle is when...

The practitioner considers how they are going to put what they have learnt into practice. The practitioner's abstract concepts are made concrete as they use these to test ideas in future situations, resulting in new experiences. The ideas from the observations and conceptualisations are made into active experimentation as they are implemented into future teaching. The cycle is then repeated on this new method.

Kolb's model aims to draw on the importance of using both our own everyday experiences and educational research to help us improve. It is not simply enough for you to reflect. This reflection must drive a change which is rooted in educational research.

Gibbs' reflective cycle

The theoretical approach of reflection as a cyclical model was further developed by Gibbs (1998). This model is based on a six-stage approach, leading from a description of the experience through to conclusions and considerations for future events. While most of the core principles are similar to Kolb's, Gibbs' model is broken down further to encourage the teacher to reflect on their own thoughts and feelings.

Gibbs' model is an effective tool to help you reflect after the experience, and is a useful model if you are new to reflection as it is broken down into clearly defined sections.

Description
In this section, the practitioner should clearly outline the experience. This needs to be a factual account of what happened in the classroom. It should not be analytical at this stage.

Feelings
This section encourages the practitioner to explore any thoughts or feelings they had at the time of the event. Here the practitioner should explain feelings and give examples which directly reference the teaching experience. It is important the practitioner is honest with how they feel, even if these feelings might be negative. Only once the feelings have been identified can the practitioner implement strategies to overcome these barriers.

Evaluation
The evaluation section gives the opportunity for the practitioner to discuss what went well and analyse practice. It is also important to consider areas needed for development and things that did not work out as initially planned. This evaluation should consider both the practitioner's learning and the students' learning.

Analysis
This section is where the practitioner makes sense of the experience. They consider what might have helped the learning or hindered it. It is in this stage that the practitioner refers to any relevant literature or research to help make sense of the experience. For example, if you felt the instructions you gave were not clear, you could consult educational research on how to communicate effectively.

Conclusion
At this stage, the practitioner draws all the ideas together. They should now understand what they need to improve on and have some ideas on how to do this based on their wider research.

Action plan
During this final stage, the practitioner sums up all previous elements of this cycle. They create a step-by-step plan for the new learning experience. The practitioner identifies what they will keep, what they will develop and what they will do differently. The action plan might also outline the next steps needed to overcome any barriers, for example enrolling on a course or observing another colleague.

In Gibbs' model the first three sections are concerned with what happened. The final three sections relate to making sense of the experience and how you, as the teacher, can improve on the situation.

'Reflection-in-action' and 'reflection-on-action'

Another approach to reflection is the work by Schön. Schön (1991) distinguishes between reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action.

Reflection-in-action is reflection during the 'doing' stage (that is, reflecting on the incident while it can still benefit the learning). This is carried out during the lesson rather than reflecting on how you would do things differently in the future. This is an extremely efficient method of reflection as it allows you to react and change an event at the time it happens. For example, in the classroom you may be teaching a topic which you can see the students are not understanding. Your reflection-in-action allows you to understand why this has happened and how to respond to overcome this situation.

Reflection-in-action allows you to deal with surprising incidents that may happen in a learning environment. It allows you to be responsible and resourceful, drawing on your own knowledge and allowing you to apply it to new experiences. It also allows for personalised learning as, rather than using preconceived ideas about what you should do in a particular situation, you decide what works best at that time for that unique experience and student.

Reflection-on-action, on the other hand, involves reflecting on how practice can be developed after the lesson has been taught. Schön recognises the importance of reflecting back 'in order to discover how our knowing-in-action may have contributed to an unexpected outcome' (Schön, 1983).

Reflection-on-action means you reflect after the event on how your knowledge of previous teaching may have directed you to the experience you had.

Reflection-on-action should encourage ideas on what you need to change for the future. You carry out reflection-on-action outside the classroom, where you consider the situation again. This requires deeper thought, for example, as to why the students did not understand the topic. It encourages you to consider causes and options, which should be informed by a wider network of understanding from research.

By following any of the above models of reflection, you will have a questioning approach to teaching. You will consider why things are as they are, and how they could be. You will consider the strengths and areas of development in your own practice, questioning why learning experiences might be this way and considering how to develop them. As a result, what you do in the classroom will be carefully planned, informed by research and previous experience, and focused, with logical reasons. All of these models stress the importance of repeating the cycle to make sure knowledge is secure and progression is continued.

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Getting started with Reflective Practice

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Educational researchers have long promoted the importance of reflecting on practice to support student learning and staff development. There are many different models of reflective practice. However, they all share the same basic aim: to get the best results from the learning, for both the teacher and students.Each model of reflection aims to unpick learning to make links between the 'doing' and the 'thinking'.

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To be able to support and get the best out of our learners by developing ourselves and identifying areas in our own practice.

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Reflective practice allows us as trainers to identify strengths and areas of development in order to be able to effectively support learners and also support or own professional growth and development. Considering any changes to make to improve practice and and evaluate effectiveness.

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Reflection is to be able to improve continuously. Self-evaluate, self-improve, self motivate. Find ways to keep up to date.

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I think that reflective practice is important for trainers because we are supporting learners to be practitioners in industry. We need to be able to know how an experience is benefitting the learner as well as ourselves. We look at our strengths and weaknesses and how we can adapt or mould experiences to get the most from our learners. We need to be able to reflect and shape the next experiences for our learners, especially coming from early years - the early years is constantly changing.

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Journals are a great way to reflect on the learner's own progress. It captures reflection, what they are learnt and how they can progress. It helps the learner understand how they can improve their practice. Scorecard provides information to carry out progress review. It helps identify learning gaps and how to develop knowledge, skills and behaviour.

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Reflective practice means to look at an experience and delve into how well it went, has it benefitted me and/or others how did it benefit everyone involved? Also, we look at how we can develop or even how others can develop such as providing opportunities for wider learning and stretch and challenge. A new experience should come from the original which has been adapted after reflection.

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The Track method is to help reflect how well the task went, what was the learning, attaching evidence if relevant, link criteria to check KSBs. Its important to keep up regularly and log it when the learning happened.

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Reflective practice is a process which is continuous as it allows us to consider the effectiveness of the approach which we are using, identifying any areas we may want to enhance or change completely and ensuring that any adaptations that we make are used within practice.

Reflective practice is important for trainers as it allows us to identify the methods we are using and consider; does this work for learners? what adaptations may we need to consider? Is this effective?

The research behind reflective practice is that their is may different models but the foundation that they are all built of is to get the best possible results for trainers and learners. This is used a lot when considering what is working, what isn't working what needs changing?

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Reflective practice is paramount for progression and improvement of practice. Self-evaluation and self motivation keep the learner moving forward and make them better at what they do.

It's a continuous cycle of TEACH - SELF ASSESS - CONSIDER - PRACTISE.

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Finlay (2008) suggested that reflective practice as well as working alongside others encourages the sharing of best practice. They stated that reflection allows for the best learning experiences as it can be shaped to the individual learner.

Reference-

Getting started with Reflective Practice

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Reflective model according to Brookfield see reflection from different vantage points. Once the activity is completed, you step back and consider that situation through "lenses" that Brookfield thought of:

1 - Autobiographical lens:

Making connection with your own experiences, conditioning and feelings. Thinking about if one's own feelings and experiences have caused certain results and if it could have resulted differently.

2 - Students' views:

Try to put yourself in your students' shoes and view the given situation from their point of view. Think about what was your own experience in the same situation.

3. - Colleagues' view:

This includes your coworkers' view point and consider what they would have done and could have felt.

4. - Theoretical lens:

The knowledge of different reflection types result in different ways. It is important to be aware of the other 3 theories of reflection (Schon, Gibbs and Kolb) .This will help the learner to think of a new step to include in their reflection.

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Kolbs Theory was produced in 1984. Kolb splits his cycle in to 4 separate stages. In Kolbs perspective he believes this is a crucial tool to allow individuals to produce a conclusion from an experience that they have had.

Stage 1 - Concrete experiences

Included in this stage is where the individual must have the experience.

Stage 2 - Reflection observation .

In this stage it looks at an individual reflecting on the experience which they have had through considering what went well, areas of development and considering the effectiveness of their approach.

Stage 3 - Abstract conceptualisation

During this stage individuals will consider three key points of;

what they have done

what they already know

what they need to learn

From this the trainer will then complete any research required to help with supporting the understanding. Following on from this the trainer can then put their plan in to action with the appropriate modification they have decided on based on the research and reflection they have done.

Stage 4 - Active experimentation

This is the final stage in the process of Kolbs theory. This is where the trainer considers how they are going to put into practice the learning that they have completed. They will use this process to test any future ideas. 'The ideas from the observations and conceptualisations are made into active experimentation as they are implemented into future teaching'.

referenced from: Getting started with Reflective Practice

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Cambridge International Education Teaching and Learning Team

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Getting started with Reflective Practice

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The process of reflection is a cycle which needs to be repeated. • Teach • Self-assess the effect your teaching has had on learning • Consider new ways of teaching which can improve the quality of learning • Try these ideas in practice • Repeat the process

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Schon (1983) - The reflective practitioner

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Schon (1983) - The reflective practitioner

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Schon's Reflective model consists of two features -

Reflection IN action - where the practitioner makes decisions during the experience and adapt as they go.

Reflection ON action - where the practitioner reflects fully after the experience has occurred.

In my experience Schon's reflective model is an easier one to follow however it is down to the individual practitioner to actively do. Often sometimes reflection is not done after an experience but during it - which I feel is most appropriate for Early Years practitioners. As an assessor I have used ON action and IN action.

Some believe it is a beneficial model of reflection as it no longer has to be retrospective but can be a deeper learning experience as well as saving time.

Some have labelled the model as having disadvantages - that being that in-action reflection can take the practitioners attention away from the task at hand. Also, that it is not a self contained reflective model and needs to be used in conjunction with other models of reflection. "Schön’s work is not a model of reflection in itself but can enrich the process of reflection using existing models" -

source

Schön’s Model of Reflection – StudyPrism

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Shadowing

Completing online learning

Reviews with assessor/ manager

Research

Team meetings

standardisation session

mentor meetings

webinars for online learning

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List of different topics for learning journals. 

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List of different topics for learning journals. 

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Independent research

Shadowing

Supervisions/appraisals

Team meetings

Online webinars

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Understanding the assessment cycle (planning, delivering, evaluating)

Principles of fair, valid, and reliable assessment

Different assessment methods (observations, professional discussions, written work, etc.)

Recording and tracking learner progress

Internal quality assurance (IQA) processes

Working with awarding bodies and compliance with regulations

Standardisation meetings and how to benchmark assessments

Handling appeals and disputes effectively

Delivering constructive feedback

Effective questioning techniques

Encouraging learner self-reflection

Coaching for learner progression and development

Safeguarding and Prevent Duty

GDPR and data protection in assessment records

Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in assessment

Health and safety in vocational settings

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By getting feedback from mentors or managers or by doing your own reflection.

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job shadowing

peer-on-peer observation

daily tasks and activities e.g. behaviour management during circle time

teaching sessions, delivery of lessons

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Using the "WHAT/SO WHAT/NOW WHAT" method the task was to work collaboratively and individually on different tasks. We talked about what the tasks were and when there was a way to split a task up between us, we did so. This made completion quicker and we were all able to add our own individual pace and opinion to the given task.

It worked well when we needed to complete our own research, it sped up the process.

In reflection, we could have communicated more to make sure everyone understood the tasks and in case one of us was unsure. I think it was a good decision to complete some of the tasks individually and not as a group, there was more individual and personal contribution.

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During this activity i feel that we have worked well as a team. We were able to identify a process in order to be able to complete tasks effectively and split it down in to individual task for us to complete to benefit the time management.

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Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle (1984)

Concrete Experience: The experience was to work as a group and answer the boxes that have been set on Padlet.

Reflective Observation: I think it went well as I have a lot of prior knowledge on reflective models from my PGCE last year and I also used padlet before so when discussing how it works I was able to share some ideas. We were also able to divide tasks out as a team. we did a lot individually but also came back together to discuss some findings.

Abstract Conceptualisation: From this experience I was able to draw knowledge from previous experiences as I have looked deeply into reflective cycles with my PGCE.

Active Experimentation: I intend to apply what I've learned into my practice when completing learning journals and planning for learners.

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In the link in the previous section, you were introduced to 3 models of reflections-Kolb, Gibbs and Brookfield. I want you to research each model and explain all the stages. You can add pictures, examples, videos, screen recordings etc to show how the reflective models could be used to structure your journals entries.