Activity 3 - The edge of order and chaos

The edge of order and chaos...

There used to be a time in my teaching career where I imagined and firmly believed that a classroom at the edge of chaos, is a classroom at the brink of destruction. Finlay (2008) outlines the important role that reflection play:

• While an activity is taking place (Reflection-in-action)
• After an activity has taken place (Reflection-on-action)

When used effectively (Competently and Ethically) a teacher develops clarity in the face of uncertainty and guess.

Finlay makes some interesting points that help me to critically reflect on 'me as a reflective practitioner'.

• Reflection in and on action is required to make changes and develop professionally
• Reflection-in-action seems to be harder to document, but more likely to directly affect your students. These situations seem to be the 'natural' reflections that happen all the time.
• A structure is needed for reflection-on-action. There are several models that can provide clarity to the process of reflection on activity that has taken place.

Upon reflecting on the above points, I realise that I have always spent more time reflecting-in-action rather than reflecting-on-action. As Finlay points out, the time required to make those formal reflections on action are time consuming for professionals already struggling to cope with workload.

The model...

I agree with Finlay that reflection-on-action however is important, and at the basis of formulating an identity as a practitioner of learning and teaching. 

Therefore it is important to take into account models such as Gibbs (cited in Finlay), but to remember that the recommendations of Zeichner and Liston (cited in Finlay) are to make sure teachers move away from questions. 

Using Zeichner and Liston's levels of reflection as a guide, I would argue that the important levels for me to focus on would be 4 and 5. These levels can be reflected upon with a simpler model. Something like Rolfe's model is appealing to me because of the way it simply gives a starting point for reflection on action.

Resources:

Finlay 2008....
http://www.sencer.net/Symposia/SSI2015/documents/Finlay-2008-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf

Rolfe 2001 model...
http://www.cumbria.ac.uk/Public/LISS/Documents/skillsatcumbria/ReflectiveModelRolfe.pdf

Simplified Rolfe Model image...
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Reflective_practice