Reflective theory....

I have thoroughly enjoyed the reflective section of the course so far. However, I have just been looking at my own experience and thoughts so now it's time to research in to existing tools and practices for reflection.
Some great descriptions I found when asking "What is reflection?"

“Reflection is part of learning and thinking. We reflect in order to learn something, or we learn as a result of reflecting, and the term 'reflective learning' emphasises the intention to learn from current or prior experience” (Moon 2004).

"It's power lies in being able to help you develop your understanding of the way you learn, the subjects you are studying and define your long term goals. It can help to promote critical thinking and problem solving skills, both of which are key to academic success. But it has further uses that relate to life skills: it is an essential part of  personal development and prepares you for the world of work, encouraging you to develop the habit of analysing your actions or events and considering the consequences." (Gillette, Hammond and Martala 2009)

From my research I also found that reflection does not need to just be in the written form. You can also have a conversation with a friend, tutor or mentor. But we favour writing it down as usually feel we can be more honest and therefore discover more. I agree with this but sometimes I do think you can learn from hearing other peoples opinions too. Reflection can often be seen as a cycle. This works well as you can come back to it when different situations or goals come up. 

When researching, I found Dewey's methods of reflection quite difficult to understand. I found Gibbs was an extremely popular Reflection Cycle on the internet. I always find it interesting to see what comes up first on google and what method is talked about the most. It immediately subconsciously makes you think it's the best way....maybe it's just the page that has been viewed the most....how many times do we just go with the top few hits on Google when incredible information could be out there that we bypass.

Here is Gibbs cycle:






I LOVE this and could really see myself using this at work. If a situation occurs at work I think it's really important to break down the problem. I never used to do this....I would just see the big picture and see it as a big overwhelming issue. Breaking it down helps to resolve what has happened. I had a think about something that happened at work last week that I could share then use Gibbs cycle to
resolve....

I am a drama and musical theatre teacher in Singapore. Every Friday morning I teach creative drama at a special needs school. All the children are physically able, it's social skills that they struggle with. An incident occurred last week where one of my children wasn't allowed to take part due to his behaviour the week before. I am the teacher for that lesson but this wasn't my decision. Yes he had a difficult week before but he is just struggling to engage in drama. He really dislikes it, finds it hard to focus, can't listen to instructions and wants to just run around the whole lesson. He has a lot of energy. However, I would never want him to sit out and not take part. He wasn't being rude or
aggressive or naughty, he just learns in a different way and may take more time than his peers to trust a new person. Drama should be about inclusion for all. So, using Gibbs reflective cycle I have just described what happened. Step 2 - my feelings and thoughts on the matter. I felt angry that I wasn't given the heads up about the decision before class, frustrated that the class teacher did the
disciplining even though he has never been present for a lesson and doesn't know my style of
teaching. Upset for the child as he now believes he has done something wrong and is confused.
Embarrassed that I have to teach the lesson with him just sat in the corner watching....Step 3 - Evaluation of the experience....I struggle to find good regarding the situation but I guess it's good that the teacher was aware of his behaviour and wanted to act to try and help the child understand but it was handled very badly. Step 4 - Analysis....I can also see that the other students in the class are affected by the decision and may now also be confused about what the boundaries are. They may not be slightly more cautious in my lesson which is exactly what I don't want in creative drama. I can see that the teacher thought they were doing the best for the child. I can see how much I care about every single child I teach, even though I teach over 100 a week. It really got to me. Step 5 -
Conclusion....what else could I have done? In that moment, nothing. I could have just told him to join in anyway and ignore his teacher but that would have been highly unprofessional and I believe that going against another adults decision is very confusing for a child. He also was just doing what he was told. I could have spoken to the teacher after the lesson when he came to collect them but I didn't want to chat in front of the kids. Step 6 - Action plan....I sent an email to the deputy head as soon as I
got back to work. I know her well so felt I could be honest with her. Together we created an action plan to help engage the child more and I also asked if communication could be better. I feel positive about the outcome. So, without even realising, I have actually found that as a teacher I use these kind of techniques multiple times a day without realising. I could give many examples.

When I first saw Kolb's cycle I immediately thought it looked complicated at first glance. However, the part explaining each section is actually very simple and very similar to Gibbs. What happened? How did you feel? What is your conclusion of what you learnt? What's your plan to resolve the matter?

Here is Kolb's Cycle:




Again, I thought of an example at work that I could use. However this time I thought if use something that hasn't yet been resolved and use Kolb's cycle to try and help me figure out a solution to the issue.
I teach speech and drama to a boy of 7. He is in a class with 3 other peers. Over the last few weeks his behaviour has deteriorated and he is becoming extremely difficult to teach. He finds it very challenging to follow instructions, he doesn't listen and he constantly runs around the room when he should be sat focused with the others. It has got to the point where it is really affecting the other boys learning and I feel I am constantly just trying to get him to sit down and on task all class. I feel like I am slightly deflecting the others and he is my main focus. When he isn't in class we get lots more done and the boys are not distracted at all. I really don't want it to get to the stage where he can't take part anymore or has to move classes. I really want to find a solution. Using Kolb's cycle I have come up with a plan. I find the word 'concrete' for the first step quite strange but understand the concept of breaking the problem down  and starting off with the experience. I have stated above what this is. My reflection and review is mixed. A small part of me finds him incredibly irritating, annoying, frustrating, difficult....however, a big part of me wants him to engage, to love coming to drama, to excel in his exam and to build confidence. I would never give up on a child. When I read the step of 'What have you learnt' it all made sense. Why have I not been asking myself this question when a problem arises at work? I've totally skipped this step. I see the problem and I want an action plan to get a solution. But very often we can't work out that solution if we haven't taken. Step back and looked at ourselves as as well. In this scenario, when I thought about what I have learnt, it became clear. I have learnt that this child needs to learn in a different way. That it is ok for me to go off lesson plan with him and find different ways to engage him. That if he wants to run around let's create a drama game that involves running around. Therefore my plan to resolve the matter is this. Firstly I will speak to his mum. I only work at this school once a week so have never met the parents. I want her to be aware of the situation but also she may be able to help as well by sharing information about his likes and dislikes. I need to create a lesson plan that is high energy with lots of fun drama games where he is still learning but it feels like a game to him. I need to BE MORE PATIENT and see it as a challenge instead of n annoyance. It has also made me think about the importance of exposing drama and theatre to the young. For many, they will never pursue it as a career but it's key that we make their experience of theatre and drama and fun and memorable one. My boss is always saying that....we want them to love the arts and support the arts for the future. I feel so much better about this situation now and am actually quite excited to teach him next! I really need to use this technique more as I can really see in benefiting my work.