students reflection about teachers essay

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Reflections of a Student Teacher

My student teaching experience was transformative. The ten weeks were filled with moments of joy and growth. I learned many lessons, and I wanted to share a few.

My focus during student teaching was to connect with students and build a partnership with them. I felt that a truly student-centered classroom honors who students are and incorporates student voice and choice. My mentor teachers inspired this focus. They connected with students in different but meaningful ways. From weekend updates to asking how clubs and sports were going, they made sure to know what was going on in their students’ lives. I started doing the same. By doing so, I learned so much about who students are and what they care about. It also created space to ask students what their preferences for learning are. I was then able to incorporate their voice in the lessons I planned and give them choice in activities they completed. When I asked students what they thought about including student voice and choice in the classroom, they shared that “having a choice makes me feel heard and is helpful to customize my learning experience to my preferences to help me succeed”, and “I love having a choice in class because it makes me feel more important”. My students taught me that including student voice and choice in the classroom creates rich learning experiences for them and me. The classroom becomes our classroom.

I also learned that reflection is key. Teachers are reflective practitioners; lessons and teaching practices can always improve. Self-reflection and conversations with others, like my mentor teachers, created space for me to consider how I can improve. I liked reflecting immediately after lessons because my thoughts and feelings about how the lesson went were the freshest then. I also saw teachers reflecting with one another. Members from the Human Geography team would meet often and discuss how the lessons they created went. The discussion was surrounded around what went well and what could be improved. Here, collaboration was not only rooted in creating ideas as a team but also creating space to grow as a collective of teachers. They knew that they can always get better at their craft.

I learned one last and arguably the most important lesson. My last day of student teaching was very bittersweet. On the one hand, the end of student teaching meant I was that much closer to getting my own classroom. On the other hand, it meant saying goodbye to everyone. I loved the school community, from the teachers to the students. I thought to myself, how can I say goodbye to individuals who have made such an impact on me? I then realized that the people you meet is the best part of the job. Teaching means meeting individuals who will forever change your life. I am so grateful for the people I met at Elk Grove High School, and I am so excited to meet more wonderful people next year. I can’t wait to start my teaching career!

Classroom Q&A

With larry ferlazzo.

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog.

Reflections on Our Favorite Teachers

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Editor’s Note: Obviously, the main thing on all of our minds is not the qualities of our favorite teachers—it’s the coronavirus and its impact on our society, our students, our families, and on us. Ed Week has been doing a tremendous job covering its impact on schools, and I have been posting related resources and advice every day at my Websites Of The Day blog (see The Best Advice On Teaching K-12 Online (If We Have To Because Of The Coronavirus) - Please Make More Suggestions! ). And, of course, I’ve been trying to figure out how to support my own students as our district shuts down.

Nevertheless, in this time of crisis, reading and thinking about non-coronavirus topics can be a welcome diversion now and then. I put thinking about and reading about our favorite teachers into that “welcome diversion” category.

(This post is the first in a multipart series.)

The new question-of-the-week is:

Who was your favorite teacher when you were attending school, and why was she/he your favorite?

We all had favorite teachers when we were going to school, and I suspect that most of us hope that our students feel that way about us.

This series will share reflections from educators on their favorite teachers and what qualities made them so memorable. Perhaps we can apply these recollections toward improving our own daily practice.

Students Share Their Best School Experiences & What We Can Learn From Them is the all-time most popular post from this column. Keeping that in mind, a number of columns in this series will also share commentaries from present-day students about their favorite teachers.

Today’s post will share responses from Elizabeth Villanueva, Jessica Levine, Betty Cárdenas, and Jenny Vo. You can listen to a 10-minute conversation I had with the four of them on my BAM! Radio Show . You can also find a list of, and links to, previous shows here.

“Love and dedication”

Elizabeth Villanueva is a Spanish teacher and world-language department chair at Luther Burbank High School. She has been recognized as the 2018 National Education Association Social Justice Activist Award Finalist; 2018 California Teachers Association, César Chávez “Sí Se Puede Human Rights Award"; and Sacramento City Unified school district, Teacher of the Year 2015-2016. Elizabeth is an Ed.D., candidate at the University of San Francisco in the Learning and Instruction Doctoral Program with an emphasis in heritage-language maintenance:

When I first came to Salinas, Calif., at the age of almost 18 not knowing any English, I had an ESL teacher whose love and dedication for her students’ success made her my favorite teacher. Her name is Rosa Montoya, who was, for the very first time in my life that I remember, someone who told me I was smart. Ms. Montoya was the first teacher I encountered when I first attended Alisal High School in Salinas. I remember her being tall and skinny with a very deep and strong voice speaking in a language that I had no clue of what she was saying. That made me be afraid of her, or it was just the fact that I felt lost in her class at first for not being able to understand and communicate in English. I was not the only one feeling that way, since most of the students in her class were in a similar situation as myself as a new English-language learner who had recently arrived in this country.

As time passed, a group of friends and I looked for a safe spot to meet during lunch, and we found out that Ms. Montoya kept her classroom open during lunch, and her students were welcome to come and hang in there. It was during lunch that we would go and sit by her desk and just talked about our families or any difficult situations we were facing due to the fact that we were far from our home country. She would ask us what was something we missed the most or what we wanted to do once we graduated from high school.

One day in specific, during the spring semester a few weeks before summer break, I remember at the beginning of her lesson she was very happy and excited sharing something that I couldn’t understand much except for the word “Paris.” It is a cognate in Spanish, and that last syllable sounds the same in both languages. We didn’t know then that she spoke Spanish; we knew that she understood because we would speak to her in Spanish, and she would respond in English. After she explained in English her summer plans, she switched to Spanish to let us know that she was going to Paris for her summer break. I was amazed and speechless because it was the first time that I knew someone who was going to Europe, specifically Paris. Then during lunch, we came back to her classroom, and I asked her so many about her upcoming trip. Then one of her answers was, “Elizabeth, when you go to college, you will travel to Paris and so many other countries yourself.” That was the first time that I heard the word “college.” I didn’t know what exactly that meant, but the way that she said it with such determination and a belief in me made me believe that one day I would travel like her.

My hopes and dreams that one day I could be “someone” in this country flew up to the sky. That was just one example of the many times she would instill in me motivation and guidance so that I would apply myself to graduate from high school in two years. She was the one who introduced me to my counselor to ensure that I was getting the right classes that would help me learn English faster and complete the high school requirements. She gave me academic tools, guidance, and an English and Spanish dictionary that I still have. She motivated me by saying that if I studied and received a college education, I could also travel the world like her. Her trust, commitment, simplicity, and interest influenced me tremendously later on in college to decide to become a teacher. Ms. Montoya’s passion, love, and patience to teach her subject matter and students were transmitted instantly. I believed her. I was very fortunate to have had her.

She not only cared for my academic success but also for my well-being. Even when I was not in her class anymore because my second year in high school as a senior I was taking regular English classes, she was constantly checking in on me. That fear and intimidation that I first felt in her class became admiration and respect for her and her profession. She was intentional and purposeful. Now, I have become a passionate teacher and world traveler, hoping one day my students will get inspired and expand their horizons as well.

“She advocated for me”

Jessica Levine is an innovative educator who strives to provide exceptional learning experiences for students and adult learners. She has presented on multiple topics focused on effective technology integration and innovative practices at the national and local level. Connect with her on twitter: @SCTechJess:

I want you to reflect on your career as an educator. When designing lessons, implementing classroom-management strategies, and connecting with your students, do you find yourself thinking about your childhood experiences? To this day, I often think about the experiences I had as a student. Even though I’ve had some amazing teachers throughout my elementary, secondary, and postsecondary school years, there are two teachers who have played an integral part in my professional and personal life. It has been close to 20 years since I’ve been in middle school; however, the qualities Mr. Tagg and Mrs. Bendell displayed are unforgettable.

Mr. Tagg was my Algebra 1 Honors teacher in 8th grade at Berkeley Middle School. Math has always been my favorite subject in school, but having Mr. Tagg as a teacher made my math class even better. He was very approachable and enthusiastic about teaching. There was never a dull moment in his class. I remember engaging in fun lessons and learning practical strategies to solve complex algebra problems. The most memorable part of my class was when Mr. Tagg turned the topic of probability and statistics into a game-based baseball unit. We also went on a field trip to a minor-league baseball game in Charleston. It was a remarkable experience because I had an opportunity to see what I was learning in school right before my eyes in the real world. As an educator, I strive to re-enact moments like this for students and other educators in the classroom and through my professional-development sessions.

Another phenomenal teacher I had was Mrs. Bendell. She also taught at Berkeley Middle School where she was my 6th grade Honors English teacher. I can truly say she instilled a love for writing and public speaking within me. She provided me with so many strategies to develop great speeches and writing samples. She was my only English teacher who allowed my classmates and me to share all of our writing samples with one another. I used to look forward to delivering my speeches and hearing from my classmates to get new ideas. As an adult, I have had an opportunity to deliver a Ted talk at the 2019 ISTE Conference. I’ve also presented at multiple national, state, and local conferences.

When I think about Mrs. Bendell, I also remember her being an advocate for me. The first couple of weeks in middle school, I was in the wrong classes. Before coming to middle school, I was in gifted and talented classes. For some odd reason, my schedule did not reflect this when I went to middle school. One day I spoke with Mrs. Bendell and shared with her my concerns. I told her that I was not in the right classes and that I should be in her Honors English class. Instead of brushing it off, she advocated for me. She went to the guidance department to share this information with them. She also told them how she felt it was necessary to change my schedule. Long story short, Mrs. Bendell was able to get my schedule changed within two weeks. I will never forget what she did for me. This is why I make sure to advocate for all of my students. Every child needs educators who will have their best interest at heart.

Abdul Kalam said, “Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, caliber, and future of an individual.” Educators must be mindful that everything they do has a lasting impression on their students. I’m thankful for the experiences I’ve had with Mr. Tagg and Mrs. Bendell for they have shaped my life. Thank you for being exceptional educators. You are my favorite teachers.

She helped me “establish my purpose”

Betty A. Cárdenas was a Texas bilingual educator for seven years and has most recently been serving as a bilingual/ESL & special education specialist for the Region One Education Service Center in the Rio Grande Valley. With a passion and dedication to the educational field, she is now pursuing doctoral courses in bilingual education at Texas A&M Kingsville. She seeks continuous learning experiences for herself that can help her provide all students with a feeling of success and enjoyment in school:

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I remember being asked that question numerous times as a child. Now I wonder, is it possible that the knowing of who we aspire to be is the most important question to know the answer for? To me, this question never held more weight than it did my 4th grade year with Ms. Pérez.

I distinctly remember dividing my paper in half to draw a singer on one side (Selena Quintanilla was my idol) and a teacher on the other. Like any great teacher would, Ms. Pérez had us write the explanation for our choices underneath. Both reasons dealt with how these two actions made me feel. Singing gave me a sense of liberation and expression. Although I quickly realized that singing along to the radio or in the shower was enough singing satisfaction for me, I enjoyed dancing more, too. Teaching, though, teaching was another story.

Ms. Pérez gave us multiple group-work opportunities in which I would often take the leader role to help others, or she herself would assign us to assist. Being able to help others made me feel productive and useful, like I was making a difference. This feeling created a sense of purpose that went beyond completing my work. It was a sense of accomplishment to know I had made a difference in someone’s understanding. That’s what I was after when I decided to become a teacher.

Now as an educator, I’ve been asked the question, “Who was your favorite teacher?” multiple times. Usually, this question leads up to the importance of teaching the whole child. While my answer has always been, “Ms. Pérez,” and I rationalized my decision with her granting me the opportunity to realize the direction I wanted my life to take, I slowly realized it was much more than that. I have jogged my memory and discovered she stands out to me for more reasons than one.

Ms. Pérez was the patient type of teacher that always had encouraging words, she had high expectations, and rewarded our efforts. Even when we happened to break the rules, she would calmly inquire the reason for our behavior and helped us to see the importance of taking alternative steps. Moreover, as I went down memory lane, another profound memory I stumbled upon was my first day of school with Ms. Pérez. Like other parents, my dad walked me to her doorway. She greeted us with her genuine smile and communicated to him in Spanish that this would be my first school year to be in an all-English class but not to worry because she would still be giving me assistance as needed. “ Le va ir bien ,” she said, “she will do well.” I remember feeling the sense of importance in what she was saying, but at nine years of age didn’t realize why it was such a big deal. Hadn’t I already been receiving English instruction? I knew I had been receiving instruction in both languages and I had always been made to feel like both languages were valued and important. With Ms. Pérez, it was no different, but it did mark my transition year during which, in retrospect, being successful in her class only provided further validation.

Ms. Pérez did much more than present me with the opportunity to think of what I wanted to be when I grew up. She emphasized the importance of aspiration through her dedication to ensure I had a successful year since day one. She found my strengths and built upon them. Overall, she helped me believe—believe that I could be what I set out to be. Yet most importantly and unknowingly, by valuing me as whole, she marked the beginning of my need to provide students with the same empowering feeling that she provided me. With Ms. Pérez, I knew the answer not only to the most important question, but subconsciously I had also established my purpose: my why .

“Emotional support and love”

Jenny Vo earned her B.A. in English from Rice University and her M.Ed. in educational leadership from Lamar University. She has worked with English-learners during all of her 23 years in education and is currently an ESL ISST in Katy ISD in Katy, Texas:

I’ve had many amazing teachers during the years I was in school. A number of them still hold a special place in my heart—my 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Logsdon, my 5th grade teacher Mr. Wooley, and my 9th grade English teacher Mrs. Vurlicer are just a few. However, the title of my favorite teacher goes to Mrs. Virginia Newcomb. Mrs. Newcomb has been my favorite teacher ever since I met her in 3rd grade at Robert F. Elementary School in San Jose, Calif. Mrs. Newcomb was actually the school librarian, but she also served as the gifted and talented teacher for our campus. My relationship with Mrs. Newcomb started when I qualified for the GT program in 3rd grade.

I started at Kennedy Elementary as a 2nd grader in 1981. We had just arrived in the United States that year—my dad and I. My mother and younger siblings were still in Vietnam. My dad and I had been reunited with my grandmother and uncle, who had come to the United States in 1985. At that time, we were living in a two-bedroom apartment with another family. I did not know much English—only a few words that I had learned from a few classes on the refugee island. But I was a voracious learner, soaking up everything like a sponge. I stayed after school and joined one of the 3rd grade classes when they had tutorials. I picked up the language quickly and was recommended and qualified for the GT program the next year in 3rd grade. From then on, this motherless girl found a mother and a second family in the form of our school’s sweet librarian and my GT teacher—Mrs. Virginia Newcomb.

Once I started the gifted and talented classes, Mrs. Newcomb and I were pretty much inseparable. I stayed after school helping her to shelve books (and reading all of them as I shelve!) and inventorying and tagging books in the summer. My love for reading blossomed under her tutelage. Our summer weekends were spent at church and garage sales. I still vividly remember driving around in her convertible with the top down and feeling the breeze blowing on my face.

Even though my family moved to another area when I started junior high, my weekends and summers with Mrs. Newcomb continued. Vacation bible school sessions were my favorite because I saw her every day! One summer, she even took me to Disneyland! I so cherished those days with Mrs. Newcomb and her daughter, Linda! My uncle and dad were busy working so we didn’t go anywhere, so my time with Mrs. Newcomb were a reprieve from those lonely Saturdays and Sundays cooped up in the apartment. Sadly, those weekends ended when my family moved to Texas in 1986. However, Mrs. Newcomb and I still kept in touch through letters and phone calls. The frequency got less and less as I grew older, but the love was still ever present. When I got married in 1994, Mrs. Newcomb and Linda flew over from California to attend my wedding. When I gave birth to my daughter, I received an ABC book that Mrs. Newcomb had painstakingly created for Kaitlin. We exchange Christmas cards and letters every year. I hope to bring my two children to visit her soon! Mrs. Newcomb will always be my favorite teacher because of the emotional support and love she gave me when I needed these things so desperately.

Thanks to Elizabeth, Jessica, Betty, and Jenny for their contributions!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo .

Education Week has published a collection of posts from this blog, along with new material, in an e-book form. It’s titled Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching .

Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email or RSS Reader. And if you missed any of the highlights from the first eight years of this blog, you can see a categorized list below. The list doesn’t include ones from this current year, but you can find those by clicking on the “answers” category found in the sidebar.

This Year’s Most Popular Q&A Posts

Race & Gender Challenges

Classroom-Management Advice

Best Ways to Begin the School Year

Best Ways to End the School Year

Implementing the Common Core

Student Motivation & Social-Emotional Learning

Teaching Social Studies

Cooperative & Collaborative Learning

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Parent Engagement in Schools

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Best of Classroom Q&A

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Mistakes in Education

Project-Based Learning

I am also creating a Twitter list including all contributors to this column .

Look for Part Two in a few days....

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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5 Activities That Promote Reflection in the Classroom

The metacognitive work of reflecting on learning boosts engagement and encourages the development of critical thinking skills.

Reflection is a powerful tool for enhancing learning and knowledge acquisition and is essential for teachers and students. When students engage in reflective thinking, they are better able to analyze and evaluate their experiences, which enables them to extract meaning and actively process what they have learned and to make sense of it. By taking the time to engage in the metacognitive practice of thinking and reflecting on learning, students can make more meaningful connections and gain a deeper understanding of the material, leading to greater long-term retention and application of knowledge.

Reflection also helps students develop metacognitive and social and emotional skills, such as self-awareness and self-regulation, by identifying areas for improvement and setting new goals. These are all important skills for lifelong learning.

5 Learning Activities that Can Foster reflection

To promote reflection, there are many options available that provide students with choices in how to share what they have learned and to engage in reflective practice. 

1. Blogging. For students who enjoy writing or jotting down ideas, blogging or journaling can be a great choice. Whether students contribute to a class blog or share it only with their teacher, it enables students to practice their writing skills, reflect on their learning, and potentially receive feedback from their peers. The blog can be on a topic related to their coursework, such as a book review, a reflection on a field trip, or a summary of a research project and what they learned and how the experience was for them.

WeVideo is a neat way for students to compile a series of video reflections and have an artifact of their learning to look back on throughout the year. It also promotes student choice and building digital skills with its editing tools and features. Students can even collaborate with classmates as they reflect. 

2. Digital storytelling. Digital storytelling is a popular and engaging option for students who are looking to showcase their knowledge through multimedia. With digital storytelling, students are empowered with choices in how to create a visual representation of their learning in a fun, engaging, and meaningful way. Depending on the tool used, students can include images, video, and audio to share thoughts and reflections of learning. 

StoryJumper is a digital storytelling platform that promotes student choice and voice in learning. Students can choose different background scenes, characters, and props and record audio for their books. Books can easily be shared with a QR code. 

3. Making mind maps. Creating graphic organizers or mind maps can be another way to boost visualization of learning and for students to present their thought processes, ideas, and connections between different concepts they have learned. Mind maps can promote critical thinking and creativity skills, as well as helping students evaluate how well they understand complex topics and develop a deeper understanding of the material.

Ideamapper is a tool that can be used by students and teachers for creating a mind map. There are many templates available to start with that make it easy to process learning, creating visualizations that help students reflect on concepts learned and make connections, leading to better content retention. 

4. Podcasting. For students who prefer speaking rather than writing to communicate their thoughts and ideas, podcasts are a great option. I started my own podcast as a way to reflect on my teaching practices and also to share what I was learning and how it impacted my classroom. By creating a podcast, students can explore their communication skills, delve deeper into a topic, and have a thoughtful discussion with classmates or simply a conversation with themselves that they can listen to and process for further reflection.

Students can create an episode to talk about a current event or a specific area of study, or to self-assess their learning experiences. Students can provide their unique perspective and insights on a topic while refining their speaking and communication skills. They will articulate their ideas more clearly, structure their thoughts, and engage in conversation, all of which also benefit their SEL skills.

Soundtrap for Education offers students and teachers many resources for getting started with podcasting in the classroom. Soundtrap also has lesson plans on a variety of topics and content areas for educators to explore and start podcasting with students right away.

5. Building digital portfolios. Digital portfolios are a great way to have students track their progress. Through a portfolio, they can build a narrative of their work and have a space to reflect on their progress and set goals.

Spaces EDU is a digital portfolio platform that helps teachers gain a deeper understanding of students’ interests, needs, and learning styles. Students can track their growth over time, identifying strengths and areas where they can set new goals. This information is critical in supporting reflective practice, allowing teachers to adjust their teaching strategies to better serve each student’s unique needs. 

Wakelet offers many possibilities for classroom use. Students can have their own Wakelet to add artifacts of work and create a digital portfolio, as well as record Flip videos to reflect on their learning. Flip has been a very beneficial tool in my classroom for several years. Whether students record videos to share their ideas or respond to prompts, it offers many choices that provide authentic and engaging learning and reflection opportunities for students. 

Benefits of reflection

Reflection promotes self-awareness and self-improvement and helps students identify strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and develop strategies to improve their learning outcomes. We want students to take ownership of their learning and become more active and engaged learners.

Reflective practices also enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills. When we engage in the metacognitive process of thinking about thinking, we develop greater awareness of our learning experiences. Students will develop a habit of self-reflection that will enable them to better adapt to new challenges, learn from experiences, and continue to grow and develop as they prepare for the future.

Online Teaching Hub

Online and Blended Teaching Hub

Reflecting on teaching practice.

Reflection is an integral part of the teaching process. School activities in and outside the classroom create a natural environment for reflective teaching. Professional experience, healthy self-awareness, and genuine care for students and colleagues help teachers to reflect effectively. Reflective practices consist of in-the-moment reflection for immediate action, after-the-moment reflection for future action, and outside reflection for exchange of reflective experience among a teacher’s colleagues and professional learning networks. Reflection promotes evidence-based changes in the classroom to advance teaching practices and is one of the cornerstones of a teacher’s professional development and supports the quality of education in today’s ever-changing world.

Questions to Consider

Why is reflection essential to my growth as a teacher?

How do I receive feedback about my teaching and lesson content?

How does reflection impact my next steps towards continued growth as a blended or online teacher?

At-a-Glance Video

• Topic Summary
• Infographic: Reflective Questioning and Strategies
• Infographic: The Continuous Reflection Cycle
• Infographic: Benefits of Reflective Teaching

Web Resources

Reflection resources.

• Ways to be a More Reflective Teacher
• Benefits of Reflective Teaching and Learning 
• How To Apply Reflective Practice when Teaching Online
• How to Encourage Reflective Teaching in Your School
• Self-Reflection: Are You a Reflective Teacher?
• Questions to Tackle When Reflecting on Teaching
• Fun Ways to Reflect on Your Teaching
• Reflective Teaching: 5 Minute Definitions for Teachers in a Hurry
• Reflect on Teaching Practice

Related Online and Blended Teaching Hub Topics

• Building a Professional Learning Network
• Building Effective Relationships
• Culturally Responsive Teaching
• Work-Life Balance

Online and Blended Teaching Hub Tool Pages

• Assessment: Edulastic , Google Forms , Microsoft Forms
• Polling: Mentimeter , Poll Everywhere , Slido

Meaningful Teacher Reflection

by Elizabeth Peterson | General Education Topics , Pillar , SEAL: Social-Emotional Artistic Learning | 0 comments

Chances are, you do it already as you create new goals, prepare for observations or look forward to evaluations.

But what about the types of reflections that really matter?  (Not that those don’t, but let’s face it, sometimes we rush through those administrative types of reflections to get them over with… am I right?)

So, let’s get real for a moment, shall we?  Reflections take time (and we just don’t have a lot of that), but they are important.  And as far as I’m concerned the more personal you make your reflections, the better.

What does that mean?  Take ownership of your reflections.  Don’t wait for the next observation or end-of-the-year eval.

When you do take the time to reflect on your teaching or your role in education, you do 3 things:

• Make Progress – When you reflect on your work, you can’t help but move yourself forward.  You can see your mistakes and improve on them, celebrate your successes and increase them.  Reflection helps you to make progress.
• Inspire – When you reflect, you inspire yourself and probably even others.  Reflection helps to keep yourself on your toes and you can see how far you come each day.  And as you make progress on your own profession, that can certainly be inspiring to others around you!
• Empower – Continued reflection helps to empower you.  It puts you in the driver’s seat of your progress.  You make note of your talents, success, weaknesses and failures.  And then – you move forward!  Why – because YOU want to!

Let’s take a look at some Personal Reflective Strategies  that YOU can do for yourself!

Checklist & questions for meaningful teacher reflection.

If time is of the essence, checklists are a great way to quickly and meaningfully reflect on yourself.  But first, you must spend a little bit of time creating one that is useful to YOU!

To create your own reflective checklist, ask yourself this key question:

“What do I want to see inside my classroom?”  (or office or learning space)

Then, you can make your list into a checklist.

Here is what I have on my checklist.

• Students are smiling.
• Students seem ready to learn.
• Students are participating. (hands up, contributing to discussions)
• Students are getting their work completed.
• Student work is successful.
• My materials are ready.
• I am prepared for the lesson(s).
• I am calm and ready to teach.
• My room is organized.
• The students’ areas are organized.
• My room “looks good”/seems inviting.
• Transitions are smooth.
• The adults in the room are adding positively to the student learning.

If you want, translate your checklist into a quick rating scale.  That way, you aren’t reflecting on do you have it or not, but you are rating it with 1, 2 or 3 points.  A 1 rating can be the best meaning you definitely have it, a 2 can mean you are working towards having it and a 3 can mean that you just aren’t there yet.  (Of course, you can use whatever rating scale works for you!)

Once you have your own checklist, you can follow up with a few questions.  Here are some general, but effective ones you can use:

• What are some things that are going really well?
• What are some things you can improve on?
• What students do you need to check in on and why?
• What students need to know that they are doing a great job?
• What needs to happen for things to be more successful?
• What resources might you need to help the learning be more effective?  (people, materials, etc.)

(A copy of the reflection checklist that goes with this type of reflection can be found in this week’s FREEBIE!)

Meaningful teacher reflections.

• Name * First

Journaling for Meaningful Teacher Reflection

But instead of using a list of questions for this, I like to have some Journal Starters.  These are like sentence starters.  They give you a jumping point from which to write.  As you read through some of these Journal Starters, one may resonate with you for some reason.  That’s the one you should use.

Journal Starters for Reflection:

• Today was ______.  Let me explain.
• We had a break-through!
• ________  finally got it!
• No matter what I try, ______ just can’t understand the concepts.
• I think it may be time for me to revisit __________.
• It’s time to check on ____________.
• I really need to do more ___________.

(These and many other Journal Prompts can be found in this week’s FREEBIE which includes a mini-journal to print and use!)

Blogging for meaningful teacher reflection.

Now, blogging may be something that interests you as well.  It certainly did for me!  I started my blog in 2008.  It was a way for me to express my ideas and give voice to my concerns and aspirations for education, specifically for teachers!

And now… 11 years later, those reflections have helped me define my role as a teacher and consultant.  It continues to do so as I try new things with my students, develop my craft as a teacher and work on new ideas for YOU in arts integration and SEAL.

I love to type.  It’s like playing the piano to me and it feels good under my fingertips.  Handwriting, on the other hand is difficult.  My handwriting is messy and my hands tire easily.  But typing is almost therapeutic.

Maybe you have a reason blogging would be a better fit for you!  You can type your thoughts, add images, format your words and then send your reflections and ideas out into the world!  Consider it.  😉

Reflecting with Future Goals & Vision Boards

Thinking about your goals, hopes and dreams is another way to reflect on your teaching.  (And a fun one at that!)

For this, you can journal, blog or create something that shows the vision you have for yourself professionally.

Creating a vision board is a powerful exercise and beneficial, reflective process.  When you create a vision board, you choose images, words and colors that not only inspire you to be your best, but allow you to focus on what is most important to you.  It’s as much about the  process as it is the product!

And speaking of the product, when your vision board is complete is acts as a constant reminder of your values and vision of yourself in education.  I have mine hanging behind my computer at school.  (And my personal one is hanging in my office at home!)  Here are pictures of both.

Starting up, here are some questions you can ask yourself on envisioning your goals, hopes and dreams for your career. This is only a sampling.

• What would my best day look like?
• How do I want my students to feel when they enter my room?
• What feelings to I want to have when I’m done with a lesson?
• Where do I want to be in 5 or 10 years?

(Instructions on how to create a vision board and other questions to help you unveil your goals are included in this week’s FREEBIE!)

Verbal reflections.

Now, let’s get real.  Written reflections are great, but it doesn’t always make sense for some of us.  It takes time and energy and well, sometimes you just need to reflect in the moment WITH someone.

In fact, when I polled some of the Inspiring Teachers over in our wonderful Facebook group , (BTW – Have you joined yet???), verbal reflections were what many teachers preferred.

So, here are a few important points to keep in mind when we talk about verbal reflection.

Reflect with Those that Get It

Sometimes you just need to kabitz with your own people who just get where you are coming from.  Their experiences are similar and they can show true empathy as well as give you constructive criticism from a professional standpoint.  In other words, they are educators too and walk your walk.

Reflect with Those who Detach from It

Other times you just need to talk with someone who doesn’t quite live your challenges or successes.  It’s fun to share a success story of how you really helped a student out.   (Thus proving what you do is super awesome and amazing.)  It can also be satisfying to tell someone a crazy story from the trenches that will shock the heck out of them.  (Proving that what you do is pretty much something only certain people are cut out for.)

Talking with a spouse, a friend and family member who does not work in education can help give you a new perspective.  If you choose your person carefully, they can also be a safe place get something off your chest.  And that brings us to one more thing…

Venting – Do it in Moderation

So, this topic needs to be mentioned here…  right?  Venting is certainly part of reflection and is, at times, necessary!  We all do it whether in the form of an eye roll, a silent scream or a cathartic release of words.  Let me repeat – we all do it!  But I’d like to offer a couple of bits of advice when venting.

• Be Aware of Your Surroundings   At one school I worked in my colleagues would go out for a Friday afternoon drink after work and, as any group of teachers seems to do after a little bit, we started talking about school.  The problem was, we didn’t leave the town where we worked.  And while most of our conversation was totally fine, there was one afternoon where a teacher told a story about a student and used his name.  Little did we know there are townies at the establishment who listened in and then went to administration.  Oof

You always want to be self aware when you start talking, and most importantly WHO is nearby.

The school I’m at now is a modified open-concept school: a few flimsy walls, but you can hear and see nearly EVERYTHING.  Private conversations are laughable and while we obviously need to have conversations in school about curriculum and students, it’s so important to know where you are and who is nearby.

Venting – Keep it Under Wraps

• Keep it off of Social Media  Just like knowing your surroundings when in public, you need to do the same on social media.  Actually, it’s probably MORE important.  The rule of thumb:  If you don’t want your principal, parents (of your students) or grandmother to see what you are posting, DON’T DO IT!

It’s the same advice I give my own children: Once it’s posted, it doesn’t go away – ever – even if you delete it – it lasts forever!

And if what you posted is mean-spirited, sarcastic or easily misinterpreted, you might as well not even bother.  Better safe than sorry.  ANYone can take what you post and turn it on you.

Venting – Have a Buddy

• Have that 1 Person Gerry Brooks (FB Funny Guy) once gave some great advice to teachers when it comes to venting:  Have 1 person that you vent to.  Make it someone you trust and who is willing to listen without judgement.

I really appreciated that he understood that there is actually a NEED for teachers to vent their frustration. So, I’ll say it again:

Find one, trustworthy person for your venting.

• Keep Kindness in Mind   While venting is easy, it’s important to remember that we are dealing with people I know I can certainly get into a heated conversation, wanting to know the latest gossip or funny stories.  However, our true calling is to help and be role models for maturing students.  It’s ok (and possible) to vent your frustrations with kindness.

Are you interested in going even more in depth with this topic?  Awesome!  Meaningful Teacher Reflection is the topic of this month’s mini-workshop on Facebook Live!  All you have to do is tune in Thursday, October 17 at 7:00 pm EST in our Inspiring Teachers’ FB group .

But you have to be part of the group to join in!!!  So, get over there and JOIN!!  https://www.facebook.com/groups/inspiringteachers/

See you then!

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Stop and Think: Teaching Students to Reflect

As educators, we all want to help our students develop valuable life-long skills, including the ability to think critically about their own work, truly know themselves and their learning styles, reflect on their individual strengths and challenges, and measure their progress toward goals . We want our students to become autonomous learners who take responsibility for their own learning. We want to help our students develop a growth mindset and build resilience. And we want this to happen with every lesson we teach!

How do we do this? Open-ended questions and structured reflection are strategies we can use to support our students’ ability to reflect on academic and social-emotional growth.

Open-Ended Questions

Open-ended questions can stretch students’ thinking and prompt reflective contemplation because, crucially, they have no one right or wrong answer; any reasoned and relevant response is acceptable. This key characteristic promotes engagement, encourages self-awareness, and nurtures a sense of community among classmates.

Open-ended questions also prompt students to build on what they already know as a way of exploring new content, which supports the natural way children learn . For this reason, they work well in many situations, such as when introducing a lesson, when coaching a student as they work, or when closing a lesson. They are a powerful way to help students synthesize new information, think critically about their work, and identify new directions in learning.

Tips for asking effective open-ended questions:

• Genuinely open up your curiosity.
• Clarify exactly what you are asking for.
• Use words that encourage cooperation, not competition.
• Watch out for pseudo-open-ended questions .

Structures That Support Reflection

Another strategy we can embed into our lessons to support reflection is the use of specific structures that engage students in thinking about the learning that has occurred. For each structure chosen, we must be intentional in aligning the structure to the goal, developmental needs of students, and the current mood of the class. Through the skillful implementation of structures that support reflection, our students will develop speaking and listening skills , metacognition, and a deeper interaction with the content they learned.

By adding in structured reflection and the use of open-ended questions, you’ll see your students strengthen their ability to think critically about their learning. With time, these practices will be embedded into every lesson, and you’ll see your students develop the abilities to examine their own work, know themselves as learners, and better set personal goals.

Written by Kerry O’Grady, Responsive Classroom Consulting Teacher, and Educational Consultant and Coach

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TWO WRITING TEACHERS

A meeting place for a world of reflective writers.

Student Self-Reflection: Looking Back and Moving Forward

Someone once told me (or maybe I read it somewhere) that the best stories are like pearls on a string. Each moment or scene in the story is polished, lovely to read. But it is the string of scenes, all tied together that gives the whole story meaning and purpose. The pearls on their own are lovely, but threaded together they become something more.

We often think about the quality of the writing as the main goal of writing workshop. But there are also very important goals involving: work ethic, the ability to give and take feedback, setting goals, persevering, collaborating, conversational skills, and so much more.

Each lesson we teach in writing workshop is like a pearl on a string. But it’s the other stuff (the goal setting, the conversational skills, the hard work) that threads it all together and gives it meaning and purpose.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been trying out tools, strategies, and new routines to try to support students in recognizing some of that “other stuff” that threads our units together.  Along with the teachers I work with, we’ve been brainstorming. “How do we teach students to self-reflect and self-assess? How do we help them be aware of what they are learning– all the things they are learning?”

This work is grounded in the belief that self-reflection and goal setting will support student growth. When students can articulate how they have changed, when they can name the strategies they’ve used, talk about how they have grown–then we help them make that growth replicable the next time they face a challenge. (It helps to know  this is grounded in quite a lot of research on student expectations and self-assessment as well.)

Here are five things we’ve tried recently:

SELF-REFLECTION QUESTIONS OR “QUICK WRITES”

Many teachers create a separate section in students’ writing notebooks or folders for reflection and goal setting. In this section, from time to time, students are prompted to look back at examples of their writing or think back to moments during writing time.

You might try getting students started with open-ended questions. My favorite reflective quick writes are the ones that look back and look forward. Here are a few examples:

“I used to think… but now I know…”

“Last year/month/week I… but now I…”

“Right now I know how to… But what I really want to be able to do is…”

QUICK “RATE YOURSELF” ACTIVITIES 

My favorite quick reflection  tool is to ask students to rate themselves on a sliding scale. I pose a question or a prompt, for example:

“I use the feedback my teacher and writing partner gave me.”

“I am an active listener when I’m working with my writing partner.”

“I made major revisions to my writing today.”

On one end of the scale might be “never” and on the other “always” and then each student places a post-it or a sticker anywhere on the line to represent how close to “never” or “always” they believe their work to be.

Once all the stickers are on display, you have a pretty good sense of how the class is thinking about their own work. The important thing is to give them the opportunity to brainstorm what’s next. “How do we move toward ‘always’ as a class?” “How can we help each other?” this could be a written reflection, or perhaps students turn and talk to a neighbor, or as a whole class about their next steps.

MAKE THE MOST OUT OF PRE-ASSESSMENTS AND POST-ASSESSMENTS AS OPPORTUNITIES FOR FEEDBACK, REFLECTION, AND GOAL SETTING

Most teachers I know give some sort of pre-assessment before diving straight into a new unit of study. The information that can be gleaned from just a short on-demand piece of writing can be incredibly useful in determining what your students need to learn, and thus can help you make decisions about what to teach. Then, at the end of a unit of study, a post-assessment is used as an opportunity for students to independently apply everything they’ve learned throughout the writing process to a new piece of writing – without conferring or teacher input.

But what about students? How do your students use the pre and post assessment to figure out their own strengths and next steps?

One option is to teach kids how to use a student-friendly version of the rubric or checklist to self-assess their own pre-assessment on-demand writing before the unit begins. Another version of this is to provide a really strong mentor text and show kids how to compare their own work to it.

Another option is to do a round of conferring at the start of your new unit of study to share your feedback from the pre-assessment and/or most recent post-assessment. This could include some student self-assessment and goal setting as well.

A third option is to teach your students how to provide thoughtful, constructive, peer-feedback to each other by teaching them to use a student-friendly checklist with a partner, as a jumping off point to talk to each other about their strengths and next steps.

STUDENT-CREATED CHECKLISTS AND RUBRICS

Typically, teachers get together and create a rubric or a checklist to use to assess the work that students will do. But what if kids had a hand in creating those rubrics?  Student-created rubrics and checklists provide an opportunity for students to reflect on what they already know about the topic and provides a great tool for a teacher to build from that list.

A few ways this might go:

Using an existing checklist, you might invite students to rewrite the wording together or create their own picture clues to make it even more kid-friendly and easier to understand. I’ve seen this go really well as a whole class, moving through a checklist just a few items at a time, in bite-size chunks.

Alternatively, you might provide a very strong mentor text for students to study and name what the writer has done really well that they might try in their own writing. Creating a list of what the writer has done (and why) can become the checklist for their own writing.

Another option is for a checklist or rubric to grow out of an issue or problem that has sprung up in your class. A “1” on the rubric is a description of the problem as it stands — the starting point. For example:

• Kids aren’t listening or looking at each other during partner time.

Then each point on the rubric is a description of what the work looks like at increasingly better stages–incremental goals to reach for.

2. Kids take turns and make eye contact during partner time.

3. Kids take turns and make eye contact during partner time. They also ask each other questions and give compliments.

4. Kids take turns and make eye contact. They ask each other questions, give compliments, and make suggestions for their writing partner.

WHOLE CLASS CONVERSATIONS

Often, these conversations grow out of a problem that needs to be discussed, and the conversation is a brainstorm of various ways to solve the problem. For example, I might gather my writers and say, “You know, it was noisy today during writing workshop. Some kids told me it was too noisy to think straight about their writing. What can we do about this? Who has an idea for a solution?”

Through a combination of partner talk (“Turn and talk to your partner…” and whole class conversation (“Who will start us off? Talk to each other…”) the class generates a list of ideas, which I’ll often chart for them as they talk. In these conversations, I play a role as facilitator, but I rarely join the conversation with my own ideas. The point is for kids to reflect, brainstorm, problem solve, and set goals.

The same format can also be applied to celebrating successes as a class. “Wow! You all wrote more than ever today! What do you think it was that made today different than other days?”  or “Holy smokes! I think your partner conversations were the best they’ve ever been today! What do you think you did today that you could do again tomorrow (and any day)?”

These opportunities to reflect help student tie together all the separate lessons, conversations, and bits of writing they’ve done. Taking all these separate bits and asking, “How is it going? What’s next? What do I think about all this?” helps students learn not only how to reflect on their writing lives… but on their lives in general.

Last but not least, one the most important things you can do is to be a reflective practitioner. You can start by reflecting alongside your students. As you think back across the year, to each unit of study, each type of writing you taught: What patterns emerge? What seem to be the common threads? Was there a recurring success, mistake, issue, or highlight? What can you do to make the successes and highlights happen more often? What can you do differently to avoid repeating the same mistakes and issues?

Some teachers have students keep a space in their writer’s notebook or writing folder to write a short reflection each week. How did things go this week? What went well? What did not go well? I think I’ll start doing the same in my plan book.

For more ideas on incorporating more opportunities for student reflection across the school year, here are a few more great reads:

• Student Reflection Needs to Be A Habit
• The Intentional Educator Planner
• Asking Students What Worked
• Five Questions for Reflection
• End of Workshop Share and Reflection Time
• Ending the Year with A Group Reflection

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:

• This giveaway is for a copy of Day by Day: Refining Writing Workshop Through 180 Days of Reflective Practice . Thanks to Stenhouse Publishers  for donating a copy for one reader. (You must have a U.S. mailing address to win a print copy of this book. If you have an international address, then Stenhouse will send you an eBook of Day by Day .)
• For a chance to win this copy of Day by Day: Refining Writing Workshop Through 180 Days of Reflective Practice, please leave a comment about this or any blog post in this blog series by Sunday, May 7th at 6:00 p.m. EDT. Melanie Meehan will use a random number generator to pick the winner’s commenter number. His/her name will be announced in the ICYMI blog post for this series on Monday, May 7th.
• Please leave a valid e-mail address when you post your comment so Melanie can contact you to obtain your mailing address if you win.  From there, our contact at Stenhouse will ship the book to you. (NOTE: Your e-mail address will not be published online if you leave it in the e-mail field only.)
• If you are the winner of the book, Melanie will email you with the subject line of TWO WRITING TEACHERS – DAY BY DAY. Please respond to her e-mail with your mailing address within five days of receipt. A new winner will be chosen if a response isn’t received within five days of the giveaway announcement.

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Published by BethMooreSchool

Literacy Coach, Consultant, Author, Graduate Course Instructor, and Mom. Passionate about fostering a love of reading and writing in learners of all ages. View all posts by BethMooreSchool

11 thoughts on “ Student Self-Reflection: Looking Back and Moving Forward ”

I appreciate the rate yourself activity and like that it does not correspond to letter grades. It could offer a nice way to reinforce writing skills and strategies that you want students to internalize.

This line, “…one the most important things you can do is to be a reflective practitioner. You can start by reflecting alongside your students,” really spoke to me. I think reflection is the key to keep growing as a student, teacher, or coach. I liked your idea to write a weekly reflection in your plan book, too.

Thanks so much for the additional ideas about reflection. We have just finished our state testing and I love the reminder of all the aspects of writers and writing we need to develop, not just writing for a test!

I appreciate the emphasis on having the students do this work. Not everything should be teacher-driven.

Your five suggestions will be easy to implement even if reflection hasn’t been at the forefront during the school year. It’s never too late to start being reflective.

This blog series is perfectly timed. Thank you!

Reflection… SO Important, and yet always the last thing I do!! Thanks SO much for the reminder and all of the great ideas you shared!

Beth, The “habits” of writing are often as important as the qualities of the writing in the bigger scheme of developing a “writerly life”. Thanks for the five ideas that will be so handy to consider as the year ends. Perfect timing! ❤

Thanks for the great ideas on self reflection! It is such a quick easy part of learning, but something that often pushed to the side by teachers. Your blog is amazing! I just discovered it because I’m reading Ralph Fletcher’s book Joy Write.

Wow! This came at the right time as we have chosen to end the year with personal narrative like we started the year. Kids looked back at their first published piece to notice areas of growth and how they might focus this last piece of writing.

Thank you, Beth, for providing easy to implement reflection options that are heavily student-driven. I also appreciate your call to have teachers of writing reflecting alongside our Ss. This is something I do regularly; however, I don’t always record my thoughts in writing. I will be putting thought into how I structure my own plan book to allow a designated space for these reflections. Thanks for such a detailed look st this important step in the writing process!

Great post as we near the end of the school year. Thank you also for a chance to win the book.

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• Using Reflective Writing to Deepen Student Learning

Research in learning sciences illustrates the many benefits of reflective writing. When provided with clear and authentic prompts and given repeated opportunities to think about their course work and educational, professional, or clinical experiences, students are better able to retain and transfer learning to new contexts. Reflective writing often serves multiple purposes simultaneously, enabling students to deepen their component skills and conceptual understanding within a specific field of study while also developing their metacognitive knowledge of their own learning habits and practices. In effect, while reflection involves looking back, it also serves as a mental rehearsal for future practice.

Why should I assign reflective writing?

Because the act of reflecting requires retrieval, elaboration, and generation of information, it can make learning more durable for students, as Brown, Roediger III, and McDaniel demonstrate in Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning (2014). Simply worded prompts—such as What went well? What could have gone better? What other knowledge or experiences does this remind you of? and What other strategies might you use next time to get better results? (210)— encourage students to actively monitor their learning processes, which can then cue them to maintain or adapt their strategies in other contexts. Reflective writing prompts can also be used to cue students to think about their conceptual learning: What do I already know? What do I wonder? What do I want to find out? How does this new information relate to the old stuff I thought I knew? How does this new knowledge impact other things I think I know? As detailed by Ambrose et al. (2010 ), becoming more “consciously competent''—developing component skills, becoming fluent with them, and applying them to relevant contexts—enables mastery of concepts (95).

Beyond the rich gains it provides students, reflective writing can also yield valuable insights for instructors about how to adjust their teaching, their course designs, and their assignments to address student-identified areas of struggle. 

How and when should I use reflective writing?

Reflective writing can take many different forms, including routine entries in lab, design, or fieldwork notebooks, revision memos , and blog and video postings; and it can range from brief, informal assignments (such as one-minute papers , muddiest points , or exit slips ) to formal components of large capstone-level projects. Reflective writing can even be used beyond one’s course to integrate and deepen learning across the curriculum when integrated with eportfolios . 

Regardless of its form or length, reflective writing is most effective when it is integrated into the design of a course, when it supports key learning aims, and when it is intentionally sequenced within an assignment—that is, when its purpose and relevance are clear to students. If students are asked to reflect on their learning experiences only once at the end of a course, they might approach such a task as a course evaluation or a generic description of their learning experiences. 

Providing specific and purposeful reflective activities throughout the semester—before a unit of study, during or after a course lecture or class discussion, or before and after an exam—can help students identify challenges and setbacks along with developing strategies for overcoming them. For example, Dr. Mary Pat Wenderoth assigns weekly learning paragraphs in her large physiology class in order to (1) have students identify their preconceptions about biological systems so those preconceptions can be challenged and prevented from interfering with their learning; (2) develop students’ conceptual frameworks to better retain factual knowledge; and (3) offer practice in metacognition.

Here are seven ways to integrate authentic and purposeful reflective writing.

• Ask students to combine reflective writing with goal setting. Prior to reviewing for a test or drafting an essay, ask students to anticipate concerns and challenges they may face and the strategies they might use to overcome them. For example, if students identify procrastination as a key challenge to producing a full draft of a paper or project, they can then identify strategies such as turning off their phones, working in wi-fi cold spots, or meeting with a consultant at  Student Writing Support —strategies that may help them to get started with their drafts. Inviting students to share their methods for overcoming procrastination can also be an easy, useful, and inclusive way to crowdsource effective strategies.  
• Ask students to reflect on their work before they revise it . When students write a reflective or revision memo to themselves, they can better process the feedback they have received and determine how they are going to use it. Likewise, asking students to insert a reflective comment (pdf) on a draft of their paper that they are going to discuss with others, either in a peer response session , an appointment with Student Writing Support , or a conference with the instructor, can establish more agency for the student writer.  
• Ask students to reflect throughout the process of writing a paper, preparing for and taking an exam, or during a group project. Jose Bowen (2012) provides a number of examples for how to integrate exam or cognitive wrappers into assignments that can help students to process and self-regulate their learning experiences over the course of a project.  
• Ask students to reflect on their learning throughout the entire term . Learning logs with simple prompts that ask students to summarize their learning at the end of class, identify points of insight and confusion, and establish connections between key concepts can motivate students to participate more actively in their learning and provide instructors with an important gauge for modifying their teaching.  
• Ask students to reflect at the end of the term on their development as a writer. An end-of-the term reflective essay that requires students to cite passages from their own work and to reflect on the ways those passages indicate growth, struggle, and learning can provide a strong impetus for writing transfer .  
• Ask students to reflect upon completion of a major task or learning event. Many reflective writing tasks can take just a few minutes to complete. However, a significant learning milestone, such as an internship, a mentorship project, or a capstone assignment, will likely benefit from a more extensive reflective writing task. For these kinds of reflective writing tasks, it is helpful to offer guidelines and a series of open-ended prompts, such as those provided by Grose, Burke and Toston (2017) , that will encourage students to elaborate on and synthesize their learning experiences.   
• Ask students to reflect on their learning for future students of your course. As recounted by James Lang (2014) , a professor at the University of Richmond invites students to share their most effective learning strategies with future students in their accounting course. The incoming students read the former students’ reflections and use those insights to guide their study habits. Adapting this practice to your own course has two vital benefits: it acknowledges the hard work and successes of current students, and it clearly signals the importance and value of reflective writing in your course.

How do I respond to and assess reflective writing?

Reflective writing can generate quite a bit of reading for instructors. However, responses to reflective writing can be brief, synthetic, and periodic. For more developed reflective writing assignments, such as those described in five and six above, instructors will want to allot more time for providing feedback, and they should consider developing a rubric that identifies the key criteria used to evaluate the reflective writing. Members of the Writing Across the Curriculum team are pleased to consult with instructors on developing reflective assignments and assessments.

For the majority of reflective tasks students do, instructors can respond with a strategy of minimal marking (pdf) and a simplified grading scheme (credit/partial credit/no credit). Since a primary goal of reflective writing is for the student writer to become more aware of their own learning and writing processes, instructors can respond in ways that affirm students' insights and encourage their ongoing efforts of reflection and transfer. While such responses can be brief, they are vital and should be timely. Responses can be written, oral, or presented in audio-video formats, depending on the medium.

Here are four ways to ensure responses to reflective writing are timely and manageable.

• Afterclass, quickly read student responses and then summarize key themes from the responses at the start of the next class . If instructors are teaching a large class, they and their teaching assistants can read and respond to half of the class responses and then read and respond to the other half in subsequent reflective responses.  
• Upon completion of in-class reflective writing tasks, invite students to share their responses with a partner or in small groups.  
• For reflective pieces submitted through Canvas, instructors can provide brief responses that use the audio feedback tool , which can take less than a minute while also establishing instructor presence .   
• For multimodal reflections using tools such as flipgrid , instructors can respond in writing or video and encourage classmates to respond to each other’s postings as well . 

How can I foster authentic reflective writing?

For some students, reflecting on their learning may be difficult, and it may be an unfamiliar practice based on socio-cultural backgrounds and schooling histories. For neurodivergent students, reflective activities may require additional or modified instructions and different ways of responding to a prompt. To accommodate all learners and to demonstrate the value of reflective writing, instructors should consider the following:

• Signal the importance of reflective writing by including a rationale for its use in the course syllabus. When students know in advance that they will be asked occasionally to reflect on their learning, they can seek out clarification and accommodations based on their needs.   
• Model reflective practice in your class. For flipgrid assignments , for example, where responses are visible to the entire class, it is useful for instructors to post their own responses. Likewise, similar to metateaching , modelling reflective practice in class can demonstrate its utility to students.  
• For most reflective activities, particularly informal ones, simplify the assessment schema. Grading students on their use of grammar, mechanics, and standard written conventions may undercut the purpose of a quick reflective activity.  
• When possible, allow students the opportunity to opt out of sharing their reflections. If students do share their reflections in class, a quick word of thanks for sharing is valuable.  
• When conferring with students about their work, call attention to the insights they have generated about their learning and experiences. Building on the reflective work of students can be a powerful way to leverage feedback.
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My Student Teaching Experience: Lessons Learned

The student teaching experience allows you to put everything that you’ve learned about education and your subject matter into action. You get to test the waters under the supervision of an experienced teacher who can guide you along and help you become the kind of teacher that you want to be. If you embrace the opportunity, you can learn a lot from the experience. In fact, here are some things that I learned during my time as a student teacher .

Prepare for the Unexpected While Student Teaching

During my student teaching experience, I spent a lot of time preparing each lesson plan . I worked hard to research different ways to present the information for each lesson. I looked for activities that my students would enjoy, and I made sure that I had all of the materials and other things that I needed before class started. Even then, there were always things that would go wrong. Technology would fail. Students would complete activities quicker than planned. Or students would require much more time and explanation than expected.

As such, I realized that I needed to be prepared as much as possible, but, more importantly, I needed to prepare to be flexible. You never know what’s going to come up or what will catch the students’ attention. When creating lessons, remember that you need to be prepared for changes. Figure out alternative activities in order to help your day go as smoothly as possible and allow your students to gain the most from the lessons.

Make Friends

Teaching is difficult. You’re going to have rough days, and you’re going to need help sometimes. Introduce yourself to the librarian, cafeteria staff, administrators, custodians, secretaries, and other teachers. Of course, finding a teaching mentor is always a good idea. As I talked to other teachers about lessons that I was working on, they had plenty of suggestions for activities that I could use. I loved getting ideas for tried and true activities for my students, but I also enjoyed the tips and ideas that they could provide to help me grow as a teacher. They could also help you land a teaching job, too.

Not only can making friends prove to help you as a teacher, but it can also make your day more fun. Rather than eating lunch in your room every day to catch up on work, go to the lunch room and mingle with other teachers. Talk to teachers on the playground. Use the time to get to know others, and you just might end up making a friend for life.

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“dare to disturb the universe:” be fearless as a student teacher.

In high school, I had a teacher who always encouraged us to “dare to disturb the universe” as quoted from T.S. Eliot’s poem, “ The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock .” To me, this meant that we shouldn’t be afraid to do something different or to think outside of the box. When it came to student teaching, I found that I needed to listen to this advice again. I wanted to excel. I wanted to get great recommendations from my cooperating teacher, and I wanted my students to really learn the concepts.

What I found was that student teaching was the perfect time to think outside of the box and try different things. If they didn’t work, they didn’t work. At least, I got to try them in a safe environment. And in the process, I got to work on vital skills for teaching, such as classroom management. Luckily, I had an awesome cooperating teacher who set me free to try new things. Of course, it was always helpful to have my cooperating teacher review my lesson plans and advise me on things that I could do to improve my ideas to ensure that they were viable in the classroom.

Show Confidence

Confidence is crucial for a great student teaching experience. Students need to see that their teacher knows what he or she is talking about. They need a teacher that demands respect. When I first started as a student teacher, I was awkward and unsure of myself. I wasn’t sure what my cooperating teacher would think, and I worried about how my students would perceive this teacher who didn’t look old enough to teach in the first place.

As I fell into my groove and gained more confidence as a teacher , I found that my students not only respected me but felt more comfortable talking to me, too. Confidence meant I could be myself while still demanding respect from my students and colleagues.

Get Involved

Immersing yourself and taking advantage of every opportunity afforded to you can really enrich your student teaching experience. One of my biggest regrets as a student teacher was that I didn’t get involved more. Sure, I attended all of the meetings and met with parents. With the amount of work I put into creating lessons, I chose not to volunteer in after school activities, for example. I wish that I would have taken the opportunity to get more involved. You can gain more experience, meet more people, and find a new niche within the teaching community.

Seek Feedback on Your Student Teaching

One of the most important lessons that I learned was the importance of feedback. During your student teaching experience, you want to find ways to improve your teaching skills. Don’t be afraid to ask your cooperating teacher for advice. When observing you in action, he or she will notice things that you hadn’t noticed before. Maybe you use too many filler words, look at the floor too often, or stand in one place the entire time. Your cooperating teacher can point out these things to you, so you can make the necessary changes to improve.

More than just asking for feedback, you need to have a good attitude about the information that you receive. What will you do with this information? I found that when I was teachable and willing to hear criticism, I saw greater improvements in my teaching and increases in my confidence.

Student teaching was a great experience. It had its ups and downs, but I became a better teacher by working to make the most of my experience and looking for opportunities to learn.  

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The power of reflection and self-assessment in student learning.

Learning is so much more than facts. Facts can be memorized and forgotten. But real learning stays with you for life. It involves developing critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and the capacity for self-improvement. Reflection and self-assessment are vital in deepening understanding, fostering growth, and enhancing student learning. 

Reflection Involves Contemplation and Self-Analysis

Reflection is thinking deeply about one's experiences, actions, and thoughts. When students focus on these, they connect theory and practice, and their learning takes on a whole new direction. Through reflection, students can better understand the underlying concepts, ideas, and principles they have encountered, leading to more profound subject matter comprehension.

Try one-minute essays. At the end of a lesson, ask your students to write down their thoughts for one minute. What did they struggle with? What were they good at? The simple act of writing down their thoughts will start a deeper self-analysis process.

By reflecting on their thinking, students can recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, leading to more effective learning strategies and problem-solving skills. When students are given the time and wherewithal to reflect, they develop accountability for their own learning process.

Self-Assessment Follows Self-Reflection

Self-assessment is closely linked to reflection and involves students evaluating their learning and performance. It empowers students to take ownership of their education by actively participating in the evaluation process. Through self-assessment, students develop a deep sense of responsibility and accountability for their progress, contributing to intrinsic motivation and a growth mindset. 

Within your grading rubric, allow your students to grade themselves. Did they feel like they gave their all? Could they have done better? Allowing your students the chance to be honest with their work will stimulate academic responsibility. 

By examining their work, students can identify their strengths and weaknesses, enabling them to set realistic goals and develop strategies to improve their learning outcomes. Self-assessment also encourages students to take risks and embrace challenges, as they see these as opportunities for growth rather than failures.

Show them the path to continuous improvement, where students are not afraid to make mistakes but view them as valuable learning experiences.

Combine the Two to Develop Critical Thinking Skills

How often do we ask our students to think critically? We need to ask ourselves if they have developed those skills. Thankfully, one significant benefit of reflection and self-assessment is gaining critical thinking skills. 

Critical thinking involves analyzing information, evaluating evidence, and making informed judgments. Through reflection, students are encouraged to question assumptions, challenge their own beliefs, and consider alternative perspectives.

By critically examining their experiences and knowledge, students can develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter and become more independent thinkers. Furthermore, they engage in higher-order thinking processes, such as analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating. These skills are essential not only for academic success but also for lifelong learning and professional development.

Students Begin Looking at the Process, Rather than the Outcome

When students engage in reflection and self-assessment, they shift their focus from grades and external validation to the learning process. They begin to see challenges and setbacks as opportunities for growth and improvement rather than as indicators of failure. This mindset is a breeding ground for resilience, perseverance, and a love for learning.

Recently there has been a shift among high school seniors; they celebrate their college rejection letters, rejoicing in the fact that they put themselves out there and know their failure is only another opportunity for growth. 

Students become more willing to take risks, seek feedback, and embrace new challenges, knowing their abilities can be developed over time. When students can reflect on their learning experiences, they develop a deeper connection to the material. They become active participants in their own education rather than passive recipients of information.

And that, as educators, makes our hearts soar!

Motivation and Engagement Come Through Reflection and Self-Assessment

By assessing their progress and setting goals, students become more motivated to strive for excellence and take responsibility for their learning outcomes. Reflection also provides students with a sense of purpose and meaning, as they can see the relevance and application to real-life situations. This intrinsic motivation is a powerful driver for sustained engagement and continuous improvement both in and out of the classroom.

As educators, creating opportunities for students to reflect on their learning experiences and assess their progress is crucial. By doing so, we equip them with the necessary skills and mindset to become lifelong learners who can confidently and purposefully navigate the world's complexities.

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Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and receive top education news, lesson ideas, teaching tips and more! No thanks, I don't need to stay current on what works in education! COPYRIGHT 1996-2016 BY EDUCATION WORLD, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. COPYRIGHT 1996 - 2024 BY EDUCATION WORLD, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SchoolNotes.com The Educator's Network What Benefits Might Reflective Writing Have for My Students? Getting Started Why include writing in my courses? What is writing to learn? WTL Activities What is writing to engage? What is writing in the disciplines? WID Assignments Useful Knowledge What should I know about rhetorical situations? Do I have to be an expert in grammar to assign writing? What should I know about genre and design? What should I know about second-language writing? What teaching resources are available? What should I know about WAC and graduate education? Assigning Writing What makes a good writing assignment? How can I avoid getting lousy student writing? What benefits might reflective writing have for my students? Using Peer Review Why consider collaborative writing assignments? Do writing and peer review take up too much class time? How can I get the most out of peer review? Responding to Writing How can I handle responding to student writing? Sample Grading Sheets How can writing centers support writing in my courses? What writing resources are available for my students? Using Technology How can computer technologies support writing in my classes? Designing and Assessing WAC Programs What is a WAC program? What designs are typical for WAC programs? How can WAC programs be assessed? More on WAC Where can I learn more about WAC? In The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action , Donald Schön notes that When we go about the spontaneous, intuitive performance of the actions of everyday life, we show ourselves to be knowledgeable in a special way. Often we cannot say what it is that we know. When we try to describe it we find ourselves at a loss, or we produce descriptions that are obviously inappropriate. Our knowing is ordinarily tacit, implicit in our patterns of action and in our feel for the stuff with which we are dealing. (49) He then explains one of the major functions of reflection for the practitioner: Through reflection, [the practitioner] can surface and criticize the tacit understandings that have grown up around the repetitive experiences of a specialized practice, and can make new sense of the situations of uncertainty or uniqueness which he may allow himself to experience. (61) As writers, students have less tacit understanding of how to construct texts generally and much less tacit understanding of how to construct texts in their new content disciplines. Thus, the first major contribution of reflective writing for students as writers is that such work allows student writers to examine their tacit understandings to see where and how those might be elaborated for the complex or uncertain rhetorical contexts they write within. In addition to this advantage of reflection, many teachers of writing have found that students who reflect about their writing processes and decisions are able and careful critics of their own work. They often see exactly those shortcomings that a target reader will identify. Students can, then, anticipate the responses that teachers give to the text, often in productive ways if the reflective writing occurs before final submission of a writing assignment. Teachers who assign reflective writing, however, are not solely concerned with having students consider their writing processes and rhetorical decisions. Many teachers across the curriculum strongly believe in the value of reflecting on one's knowledge and practices, particularly in clinical, professional, and classroom settings. To sum up responses to the question, then, reflective writing benefits students because it Helps students identify their tacit knowledge as well as gaps in that knowledge Brings to the surface rhetorical and writing process decisions that can focus subsequent revision or learning Encourages growth as a working professional Beyond the Basics Reflective writing is used across disciplines, but it most widely accepted as a pre-professional practice in nursing and teacher education. (See Mortari 2012, for a partial review of the literature in nursing.) The sheer number of recent titles on reflection in the literature of these disciplines puts an exhaustive review (or even listing) beyond the scope of this text, but the table below captures some of recent titles across the curriculum. Please search key disciplinary journals to find those sources most pertinent to the courses you teach. (specific discipline; type of reflective assignment) General Ho & Lee, 2012 (interdisciplinary; essay) Jehangir, 2010 (interdisciplinary; essay) Leijen et al., 2012 (interdisciplinary; varied) Lew et al., 2011 (interdisciplinary; journal) Park & Milora, 2012 (interdisciplinary; varied) Arts/Humanities Baker & Krout, 2012 (music therapy; songwriting) Barney & Mackinlay, 2010 (indigenous studies; journal) Browning, 2011 (communication studies; short papers) Gulwadi, 2009 (interior design; journal) Ponte, 2006 (law; essay) Prescott, 2012 (creative writing; "life-writing" commentary) Ryan & Brough, 2012 (fashion design; garment critique) Business Bisman, 2011 (accounting; journal) Chu et al., 2012 (nursing & information management; blog) Vega, 2004 (business management; case writing) Wills & Clerken, 2009 (business management; simulation and critical writing Education Badley, 2009 (education, essay) Bairral & dos Santos, 2012 (mathematics pre-service; e portfolio) Brown & Coles, 2012 (mathematics pre-service; analysis) Ciminelli, 2011 (pre-service literacy education; interactive intervention) Cisero, 2006 (educational psychology; journal) Dianovsky & Wink, 2012 (elementary ed chemistry; journal) Fadde et al., 2009 (pre-service education; video editing and writing) Hagavik et al., 2012 (teacher education; action research) Harland & Wondra, 2011 (pre-service education; blog and essay) Hughes, 2008 (sexuality education; integration papers) Kajdar & Parkes, 2012 (pre-service education; blog and videolog) Knapp, 2012 (pre-service education; journal) Lai & Calandra, 2010 (pre-service education; online prompted journal) Lee, 2010 (physical education pre-service; journal) Mortari, 2012 (teacher education; journal) O'Connell & Dyment, 2011 (physical education pre-service; journal) Parker, 2010 (pre-service education; literacy narrative) Schwartz et al., 2004 (secondary science teachers; journal) Starks et al., 2012 (pre-service education; teaching critique) Social Sciences Attard, 2012 (social sciences; narrative journal) Brewer & Josefowicz, 2006 (economics; journal) Holtzman, 2005 (sociology; activity) McGuinness, 2009 (geography, diaries) McGuire et al., 2009 (social work; essay) Mott, 2008 (political science; personal essay) Nesoff, 2004 (social work; journal) Rusche & Jason, 2011 (sociology; sequence of tasks) Trepagnier, 2004 (sociology; portfolio reflection) Walmsley & Birkbeck, 2006 (social work; personal narrative) Sciences Bairral & dos Santos, 2012 (mathematics pre-service; e portfolio) Balgopal & Montplaisir, 2011 (biology; 10 essays) Brown & Coles, 2012 (mathematics pre-service; analysis) Cisero, 2006 (educational psychology; journal) Clark, 2010 (psychology; final paper) Dianovsky & Wink, 2012 (elementary ed chemistry; journal) Kalman, 2011 (general science; concept writing) Kalman & Rohar, 2010 (physics; varied) Mayne, 2012 (bioscience; reflective writing) McDonald & Dominguez, 2009 (science, guided writing) Parry et al., 2012 (bioscience; critical incident report) Schwartz et al., 2004 (secondary science teachers; journal) Shepherd, 2010 (health science; essay) Simmons, 2008 (natural resources; memoir) Walker, 2006 (sports science; journal) Professional Practice Chu et al., 2012 (nursing & information management; blog) Lie et al., 2010 (internal medicine; narrative paper) Hill et al., 2012 (speech therapy; journal) Smith-Battle, 2012 (nursing education; student-created dramas) Sung et al., 2009 (teachers; digital teaching portfolio) Wald et al., 2009 (medical education; field notes) Often, reflective writing is assigned or captured in journals (kept in hardcopy or online). One common complaint from students is that so many of their teachers assign reflective journals that students feel overburdened with this kind of writing. Teachers, on the other hand, sometimes complain that students do not engage in authentic reflection and rely instead on simple description of activities or events. To address these typical problems, Dyment et al. (2010) consider the factors that limit the effectiveness of reflective journals for students. They provide useful suggestions for setting clear expectations by specifying the purpose of the journal in the specific course as well as connecting journal goals to a larger educational program or professional practice. Dyment et al. also explore the importance of noting the audience for the journal and its "mechanics"—how much it counts in a course grade, how often students should write and for how long, what specific requirements the teacher has for entries, and so on. They continue their helpful logistical advice with notes about how to help students to read and write journal entries and how and when to respond and grade journals. (See also Mills, 2008.) Hubbs & Brand (2010) add to this basic information about setting up a reflective journal by defining two dimensions common to journal activities -concrete/abstract and cognitive/affective spectra. They contend that having students analyze their own journaling helps them to connect and critique classroom learning and practical experience. Moving beyond the journal as the vehicle for reflection, Rusche & Jason (2011) describe a detailed sequence of reflective writing tasks that culminate in a final reflective essay. Although their sequence derives from sociology, the activities might easily translate to other disciplines. Similarly, Mair (2012) describes an online resource designed to facilitate reflective writing, develop students' metacognitive awareness and, ultimately, enhance learning. Rai (2012) turns to questions related to assessing reflective writing, focusing specifically on the emotional elements often included in reflection on practice in disciplines such as social work, nursing, and teaching. Like Rai, Tummons (2011) questions the validity of assessing reflective writing. Unlike Rai, Tummons' position is more critical of our current assessment practices. He argues that our typical assessment practices mask complexities and contradictions in how students write reflective assignments and how we read them. He calls for new assessment based on clearer theoretical underpinnings, particularly from social theories of language and literacy. Although not focused exclusively on assessment of reflective writing, Ross (2011) also takes up theoretical viewpoints on the affective dimension of reflective writing and how teachers might consider issues of identity, authenticity, ownership, privacy and performativity in compulsory reflective writing. Attard, K. (2012). The role of narrative writing in improving professional practice. Educational Action Research, 20 (1), 161-175. Badley, G. (2009). A reflective essaying model for higher education. Education & Training, 51 (4), 248-258. Bairral, M.A., & dos Santos, R.T. (2012). E-Portfolio improving learning in mathematics pre-service teacher. Digital Education Review, 21 : 1-12. Baker, F., & Krout, R. (2012). Turning experience into learning: Educational contributions of collaborative peer songwriting during music therapy training. International Journal of Music Education, 30 (2), 133-147. Balgopal, M.M., & Montplaisir, L.M. (2011). Meaning making: What reflective essays reveal about biology students' conceptions about natural selection. Instructional Science, 39 (2), 137-169. Barney, K., & Mackinlay, E. (2010). Creating rainbows from words and transforming understandings: Enhancing student learning through reflective writing in an aboriginal music course. Teaching in Higher Education, 15 (2), 161-173. Bisman, J. (2011). Engaged pedagogy: A study of the use of reflective journals in accounting education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 36 (3), 315-330. Brewer, S.M., & Jozefowicz, J.J. (2006). Making economic principles personal: Student journals and reflection papers. Journal of Economic Education, 37 (2), 202-216. Brown, L., & Coles, A. (2012). Developing "deliberate analysis" for learning mathematics and for mathematics teacher education: How the enactive approach to cognition frames reflection. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 80 (1), 15. Browning, B.W. (2011). Gladwell and group communication: Using "The Tipping Point" as a supplemental text. Communication Teacher 25 (2), 90-93. Chu, S.K.W., Chan, C.K.K., & Tiwari, A.F.Y. (2012). Using blogs to support learning during internship. Computers & Education, 58 (3), 989-1000. Ciminelli, M.R. (2011). A model for developing pre-service teacher reflection: An interactive intervention strategy. AILACTE Journal, 8 : 1-14. Cisero, C.A. (2006). Does reflective journal writing improve course performance? College Teaching, 54 (2), 231-236. Clark, K.M. (2010). Applied and transformed understanding in introductory psychology: Analysis of a final essay assignment. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 10 (3), 41-57. Dianovsky, M.T., & Wink, D.J. (2012). Student learning through journal writing in a general education chemistry course for pre-elementary education majors. Science Education, 96 (3), 543-565. Dyment, J.E., & O'Connell, T.S. (2010). The quality of reflection in student journals: A review of limiting and enabling factors. Innovative Higher Education, 35 (4), 233-244. Fadde, P.J., Aud, S., & Gilbert, S. (2009). Incorporating a video-editing activity in a reflective teaching course for preservice teachers. Action in Teaching Education, 31 (1), 75-86. Gulwadi, G.B. (2009). Using reflective journals in a sustainable design studio. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 10 (1), 43-53. Hagevik, R., Aydeniz, M., & Rowell, C.G. (2012). Using action research in middle level teacher education to evaluate and deepen reflective practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28 (5), 675-684. Harland, D.J., & Wondra, J.D. (2011). Preservice teachers' reflection on clinical experiences: A comparison of blog and final paper assignments. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 27 (4), 128-133. Hill, A.E., Davidson, B.J., & Theodoros, D.G. (2012). Reflections on clinical learning in novice speech-language therapy students. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 47 (4), 413-426. Ho, S., & Lee, V.M.W. (2012). Toward integration of reading and service learning through an interdisciplinary program. Asia Pacific Education Review, 13 (2), 251-262. Holtzman, M. (2005). Teaching sociological theory through active learning: The irrigation exercise. Teaching Sociology, 33 (2), 206-212. Hubbs, D., & Brand, C.F. (2010). Learning from the inside out: A method for analyzing reflective journals in the college classroom. Journal of Experiential Education, 33 (1), 56-71. Hughes, J.L. (2008). Encouraging students to apply human sexuality material to themselves by using integration papers. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 3 (3), 247-253. Jehangir, R. (2010). Stories as knowledge: Bringing the lived experience of first-generation college students into the academy. Urban Education, 45 (4), 533-553. Kajder, S., & Parkes, K. (2012). Examining preservice teachers' reflective practice within and across multimodal writing environments. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 20 (3), 229-249. Kalman, C.S. (2011). Enhancing students' conceptual understanding by engaging science text with reflective writing as a hermeneutical circle. Science & Education, 20 (2), 159-172. Kalman, C.S., & Rohar, S. (2010). Toolbox of activities to support students in a physics gateway course. Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 6 (2), 2011-2015. Knapp, N.F. (2012). Reflective journals: Making constructive use of the "apprenticeship of observation" in preservice teacher education. Teaching Education, 23 (3), 323-340. Lai, G., & Calandra, B. (2010). Examining the effects of computer-based scaffolds on novice teachers' reflective journal writing. Educational Technology Research and Development, 58 (4), 421-437. Lee, O. (2010). Facilitating preservice teachers' reflection through interactive online journal writing. Physical Educator, 67 (3), 128-139. Leijen, A., Valtna, K., Leijen, D.A.J., & Pedaste, M. (2012). How to determine the quality of students' reflections? Studies in Higher Education, 37 (2), 203-217. Lew, D.N.M., & Schmidt, H.G. (2011). Writing to learn: Can reflection journals be used to promote self-reflection and learning? Higher Education Research and Development, 30 (4), 519-532. Lie, D., Shapiro, J., Cohn, F., & Najm, W. (2010). Reflective practice enriches clerkship students' cross-cultural experiences. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25 (2), S119-S125. Mair, C. (2012). Using technology for enhancing reflective writing, metacognition and learning. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 36 (2), 147-167. Mayne, L. (2012). Reflective writing as a tool for assessing teamwork in bioscience: Insights into student performance and understanding of teamwork. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 40 (4), 234-240. McDonald, J., & Dominguez, L. (2009). Reflective writing: Developing patterns for thinking about learning in science. Science Teacher, 76 (3), 46-49. McGuinness, M. (2009). Putting themselves in the picture: Using reflective diaries in the teaching of feminist geography. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 33 (3), 339-349. McGuire, L., Lay, K., & Peters, J. (2009). Pedagogy of reflective writing in professional education. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9 (1), 93-107. Mills, R. (2008). "It's just a nuisance": Improving college student reflective journal writing. College Student Journal, 42 (2), 684-690. Moore, F.M. (2008). Agency, identity, and social justice education: Preservice teachers' thoughts on becoming agents of change in urban elementary science classrooms. Research in Science Education, 38 (5), 599-610. Mortari, L. (2012). Learning thoughtful reflection in teacher education. Teachers and Teaching, 18 (5), 525-545. Mott, J. (2008). Passing our lives through the fire of thought: The personal essay in the political theory classroom. PS: Political Science & Politics, 41 (1), 207-211. Nesoff, I. (2004). Student journals: A tool for encouraging self-reflection and critical thought. The Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, 10 (1), 46-60. O'Connell, T., & Dyment, J. (2011). Health and physical education pre-service teacher perceptions of journals as a reflective tool in experience-based learning. European Physical Education Review, 17 (2), 135-151. Park, J.J., & Millora, M.L. (2012). The relevance of reflection: An empirical examination of the role of reflection in ethic of caring, leadership, and psychological well-being. Journal of College Student Development, 53 (2), 221-242. Parker, D.C. (2010). Writing and becoming [a teacher]: Teacher candidates' literacy narratives over four years. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 26 (6), 1249-1260. Parry, D., Walsh, C., Larsen, C., & Hogan, J. (2012). Reflective practice: A place in enhancing learning in the undergraduate bioscience teaching laboratory? Bioscience Education, 19 : 10. Ponte, L.M. (2006). 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Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site. The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely. Publications Account settings Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now . Advanced Search Journal List MedEdPublish (2016) PMC11316171 Teaching of reflection in higher education: a narrative review Tharin phenwan. 1 School of Health Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, DD1 4HN, UK Associated Data Phenwan T: Extended data for Teaching of reflection in higher education: a narrative review.University of Dundee, Extended_data_ 1(.docx), Article_List(.docx),2024. 10.15132/10000254 [ CrossRef ] Underlying data No data associated with this article. Extended data Discovery: Extended data for Teaching of reflection in higher education: a narrative review 38 http://doi.org/10.15132/10000254 This project contains the following extended data: Included studies Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0). Healthcare professional students (HCPs) are encouraged to utilise reflection during and after their study programmes as a part of their life-long learning skill and professional competencies. However, the way in which the concept of reflection is taught and its’ influence students’ capacity to reflect have not been fully explored. This narrative review aimed to explore how the concept of reflection is taught in higher education and how the teaching of reflection influences HCP students’ capacity to reflect. Articles that were published during 2014–2024 within three databases, PubMed, CINAHL and ERIC were searched. 1929 articles were eligible for screening. 93 articles were further assessed for eligibility. 18 articles were included. The included articles were geographically well-distributed in both the Global North and Global South countries, indicating universal interest in the topic. Eight articles had qualitative study designs; six had quantitative designs and four had mixed-method designs. Conceptually, the teaching of reflection could be categorised as a spectrum, ranging from: i) structured format (reflective templates or debriefing); ii) semi-structured format (physical/virtual small group discussions, video recordings, AI generative arts, in-verse reflection and concept mapping) and iii) flexible and creative (art-based pedagogy or narratives). All included articles indicated students actual and perceived better understanding of reflection. This claim is supported both quantitatively and qualitatively via either validated instruments or narratives and themes based on students’ textual outputs. Conclusions This review identified several teaching methods that help facilitating students’ capacity to reflect. Findings are unable to recommend the most efficient way to teach reflection since it depends on students’ progress in their programmes. However, a more relational approach to teaching of reflection is recommended. Students might begin their reflective journey with a structured format of teaching of reflection then gradually move to less-rigid format of the teaching to empower students’ autonomy. Introduction Reflection is one of the metacognition skills that enhances lifelong learning capacity as well as professional competencies 1 – 3 . As such, any practice to enhance capacity to reflect is highly encouraged, particularly in healthcare professions education since it relates to better learning outcomes and long-term professional performances 2 , 4 – 7 . In the UK, reflective practice (RP) is encouraged by several professional bodies such as the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) as a strategy to foster healthcare professionals (HCPs)’ competencies 8 , 9 . Still, the concept of reflection is relatively abstract hence it is challenging to frame the appropriate way to teach the concept to students, particularly those who are new to the concept 6 , 10 – 12 . Furthermore, reflection could occur in various contexts and activities such as during small group discussions, online learning environment, writing or art-based activities 12 – 15 thus making it harder to capture. Additionally, students in higher education - particularly in the UK - have become increasingly diverse 16 . This includes students from non-traditional background, international students or students who disclosed as disabled hence may need additional support for their learning 17 . Consequently, the notion of Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) in the teaching of reflection warrants further exploration to scrutinise if the existing teaching methods sufficiently address such diversity or not. There is a need to systematically understands the way in which the concept of reflection is taught in higher education and how it influences students’ capacity to reflect hence, a narrative review was conducted. This narrative review aimed to: explore how the concept of reflection is taught in higher education explore the teaching of reflection and its influences over HCP students’ capacity to reflect Methodology A narrative review was undertaken as a part of the author’s study for UKPSF’s fellowship title. The justification was to balance between the time constraints within the module (four months) and the robustness of the searching process. Although some researchers argue that a narrative review may be prone to bias, subjectivity and is not replicable 18 , this argument is less relevant to this review and strategies have been applied to mitigate these limitations. Given that this review aims to explore a conceptual and broader understanding of how reflection is taught in higher education as well as its influence on students, a more focused approach such as a systematic review is not appropriate; instead, a broad approach such as a narrative review is deemed more appropriate. Next, the notion of ‘bias’ is not relevant to this review since the phrase is deeply rooted with post-positivist research paradigm that considers knowledge to be quantifiable, measurable and repeatable 19 ; all of which do not relate to aims of this review. The search terms and strategies, developed with support from an academic librarian, are described below to ensure that the search process is transparent and replicable. The PCC framework (Population, Concept, and Context) were used to frame the scope of the review 20 : P opulation: undergraduate healthcare professionals students C oncept: teaching of reflection or reflective practice C ontext: Higher education institutes and their associated clinical placements or hospitals, colleges, global context The inclusion criteria were any peer-reviewed empirical studies that were published between 2014–2024 and were published in English that discussed the influence of reflection teaching methods with students. The focus was any undergraduate HCPs students in the context of higher education settings, including any associated clinical placements. Articles were excluded if they were reviews, grey literature or focused on any theoretical discussions, debates or opinion pieces as well as dissertations and theses. Articles that did not focus on reflection teaching methods, higher education settings, were published before 2014 or were published in non-English were excluded (see Table 1 ). Inclusion criteria Exclusion criteria -Peer-reviewed empirical studies (quantitative, qualitative or mixed-method designs) that discussed the influence or effectiveness of reflection teaching methods -Reviews -Grey literature, policies, opinion piece, debate, theoretical discussion -reflection of certain experiences which did not include the influence of effectiveness of reflection teaching methods -Articles that focussed on undergraduate healthcare professional students -Articles that did not focus on undergraduate HCPs students -Higher education settings -Clinical placements associated with higher education institutes -Any contexts beyond higher education -Articles published in English -Non-English Articles -Articles published between 2014–2024 -Articles published before 2014 From December 2023 to March 2024, three databases were searched: PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). Eight duplicated articles were removed (see Table 2 ). One article was retracted by the journal due to systematic manipulation of the publication process and was subsequently removed from the screening process. Five articles were not accessible, leaving 1929 articles for title and abstract screening. 93 articles were further assessed for eligibility with the full-text reading. Database Search terms No. of articles found PubMed 1255 337 1143 CINAHL Plus (reflection or reflective or reflective practice) AND (medical students or nursing students or healthcare professional students) AND (university or college or higher education) 1126 (reflection or reflective or reflective practice) AND (medical students or nursing students or healthcare professional students) AND (university or college or higher education) Limiters - Publication Year: 2014–2024; English Language Expanders - Apply equivalent subjects Search modes - Boolean/Phrase 588 ERIC (reflection or reflective or reflective practice) AND (medical students or nursing students or healthcare professional students) AND (university or college or higher education) Limiters - Published Date: 20140101-20241231 Expanders - Apply equivalent subjects Narrow by Language: - english Search modes - Boolean/Phrase 212 (reflection or reflective or reflective practice) AND (medical students or nursing students or healthcare professional students) AND (university or college or higher education) 393 The Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied and 76 articles were excluded: 24 articles were not related to students’ capacity to reflect 20 articles were not related to teaching of reflection 16 articles were not related to undergraduate HCPs students 12 articles were opinion pieces, debates, dissertations and student theses Six articles also were manually searched from the reference lists; five articles were excluded and one was included for the final analysis 2 . Together, the final numbers of the included articles were eighteen (see Figure 1 ) 21 . Data extraction Data from the included articles were extracted into Microsoft Excel. The extraction process was iterative and the focus of the extracted data was revised to ensure that they were relevant to the aims of the review. The final data extraction file included: Title, Author’s name, Year, Country, Type of study, Aims, Teaching methods employed, Data collected/generated, Data analysis techniques, Underlying theory/pedagogy, Participants, How the teaching methods influence reflection, Themes and Limitations of the study. Data analysis Narratives were used to describe the findings. The author read and reread the included articles to see the patterns, similarities and differences within them. The focus related to the aims of the review. Given that there were diverse types of study from several countries within different groups of students, the underlying theory and pedagogical approach was examined to conceptually capture the findings in a more meaningful way. The included articles were not critically appraised since this review did not intend to determine the quality of each article and intended to explore a broad range of existing practices. General description of the included articles The included 18 articles were published from 2014 to 2024. There was a well-distributed geographical distribution of the included studies. The majority of the included articles (5) were conducted in the United States 5 , 22 – 25 , followed by the UK (3) 26 – 28 . Two articles were conducted in Australia 10 , 29 . One article each originated from The Netherlands 30 , New Zealand 15 , Norway 31 , Singapore 32 , Spain 33 , South Korea 34 , Taiwan 35 and Thailand 2 . Eight articles had qualitative study designs. Six articles had quantitative designs and four had the mixed-method designs. The HCPs students in these articles were also diverse. Almost all of the articles predominantly focused on students from one field which were medical students (8), nursing students (8) and healthcare assistants (1). Only one study focused on the first-year students from various fields 35 , indicating a universal interest of reflection from the educator’s standpoint from various disciplines. The most frequently used underlying theory employed in these articles was Constructivism (4) followed by social constructionism (2), Sociocultural learning theory (1), Social cognitive theory (1) and Sociocritical paradigm (1). Kolb’s experiential learning theory were mentioned in two articles. Seven articles did not explicitly mention their underlying learning theory utilised; two were implied to utilise positivism research paradigm and five were implied to base on constructivism (see Extended data 1). This section respectively discusses the findings and relates them back to the aims of this review. How the concept of reflection is taught in higher education Based on the included articles, the teaching of reflection could be categorised as a spectrum, ranging from: ⅰ) structured format of reflection ⅱ) semi-structured format of reflection The structured format of reflection approach usually involves any teaching with reflective templates or reflective models that students could use to enhance and demonstrate their reflection. The reflective models used were Gibb’s reflective model 2 and Bain’s reflective framework 10 . Often, structured tools such as a reflective journaling 34 , or post-activities debrief were offered to students to facilitate on how they could express their reflection. In such instances, reflection was often not the main focus of the activities but students could demonstrate their increased capacity to reflect as well. This mainly occurred in high fidelity simulations with debriefing 5 , 10 , 32 which suggested multiple benefits of the learning activities. This approach, whilst perceived as useful, was paradoxically seen by students as rigid. Students from several articles expressed a dislike of this approach since it was perceived as inauthentic and repetitious 15 , 22 , 30 . Pedagogically, students could even become a reflective zombie 36 ; that is, they might emulate the reflective process but did not actually reflect thus making it more challenging to ascertain the authenticity of their reflection 1 . Alternatively, the semi-structured format of reflection provides more flexibility to students to express their thoughts but still offers scaffolding of their reflection. This approach includes Balint student support group 28 , Schwartz round 27 , video recording of students’ performance 31 and AI generative arts 25 , problem-based learning group discussions 22 , virtual classrooms 23 and concept mapping 30 and in-verse reflection workshops 29 . The teaching methods under this approach tend to include group learning experience, utilise social constructionism and offer several methods for students to express their reflections e.g., either verbally or in writing. The process almost always includes an extensive preparation for the students before during and after the sessions and is mainly dependent on facilitator’s skill to lead the sessions. For instance, Reed et al. (2023) piloted a novel approach to integrate the use of generative AI to facilitate nursing students’ reflection. The learning process included students, who are also the coauthors of the article, creating AI prompts to create photos that were related to nursing. They were subsequently encouraged to write and reflect on the photos and subsequently joined a small group discussion. As the description attest, the process is rather laborious and comprised of several preparations, making this approach relatively time and resource extensive. This limitation is similar to what Gleeson et al. (2020) acknowledged. That is, they agreed with the usefulness of the medical Schwartz round to enhance students’ capacity to reflect yet found it financially and logistically challenging to facilitate the sessions thus may not be applicable to scale within their institution or beyond. Finally, the flexible and creative format of reflection almost always relates to art-based pedagogy. This approach leverages the use of art forms to empower students to creatively express their reflections without any constraints. The studies included an offer to use various creative outlets namely poetry, visual arts, narrative prose, photography, sculpture, music, needlework 15 . Or, one alternative approach over the formal reflection form of writing was offered such as poetry 26 or narrative writing 24 , 33 , 35 . Still, despite the creativity freedom within this approach that empower student’ agency, some expressed concern over their learning process since they found it harder to express themselves or could not fully relate its relevance to a more ‘formal’ reflective assessment which tends to be dominated by a written format 15 , 26 . This was compounded from the educators’ standpoint; that is, it is impossible – and even inappropriate – to assess the quality of students’ reflection with this approach due to their subjectivity. As such, the flexible and creative format may be suitable for learning activities that do not involve any assessment. How the teaching of reflection influences students’ capacity to reflect All of the included articles reported that students had either an improved understanding of reflection or improved reflective capacity. This claim was usually asserted by validated instruments to demonstrate students’ improved capacity to reflect before and after the class such as the Groningen Reflection Ability Scale (GRAS) 22 , 23 , 32 , or the Reflective Thinking Level 34 . Zhang et al. (2020) conducted a study to assess 63 third year nursing students GRAS post-class and one week after the class after their high-fidelity simulations with the use of video-assisted debrief. Results showed that participants had significantly improved their debriefing reflective abilities (p<0.01) after the video-assisted debrief intervention from the median of 84 to 87 pre- and post-class; this trend is also similar to other included studies, indicating the usefulness of the teaching methods employed. For qualitative or mix-method studies, students’ textual outputs or interview transcripts were often used to support the claim that they have a better understanding of reflection. McBain et al. (2015) offered 14 fourth year medical students to freely choose their medium to reflect which could be either a traditional reflective essay or more creative options such as poetry, visual arts, or sculpture; their textual commentaries that accompany their works were used for the analysis. Participants universally expressed that creative outputs were more effective for them to express emotion or ideas that are difficult to articulate. This is particularly important since these students were doing a clinical rotation in a palliative care department which may be rather emotionally demanding, indicating that it might be useful to have certain tools to ease the cognitive load of participants when they were reflecting 24 , 31 , 33 . Students also stated that the arts created were helpful since they could reflect in a different way that was not as repetitious or perceived as just another reflective essays 15 . Still, most of the studies tend to capture participants’ self-perceived of enhanced reflection. Or it could come from educators’ perception that these students had a better capacity to reflect which might be challenging to verify. Suggestions to enhance the teaching of reflection Findings from this review indicate that there are several approaches to enhance student’ capacity to reflect. This could be achieved either via a more structured approach which could be perceived as repetitious and inauthentic 15 , 30 . Or, students could be offered a semi-structured approach or even more creative and flexible form of reflection to empower their autonomy 24 , 26 . Despite the various approaches to teach reflection, both the educators and students suggested that there is a need to balance between being directive and being flexible 28 , 30 . That is, for students who are relatively new to the concept e.g., those who are in the first year of their programme or have limited exposure to clinical experience, it might be more appropriate to have a structured guidance to scaffold their learning process 29 , 32 . Conversely, those who are in their later years or are more experienced reflective practitioners may find the structured reflective format repetitive or even restrictive to their reflection. Consequently, a more flexible and creative expression might be an alternative option for students to demonstrate their reflection. Strengths and limitations To the author’s knowledge, this is the first review that has explored the way in which the concept of reflection is taught in higher education for HCPs students. The review demonstrates a comprehensive view of the teaching methods available that educators could consider and apply the most appropriate ones to their contexts. The review process was also thoroughly described hence making it transparent and replicable. Still, this review poses few limitations: First, despite the attempt to outline the screening process, this review was conducted by one person. As such, there might be certain articles that the author has overlooked. Second, the review only included articles that were published in English. This further perpetuating the dominant Western-centric scholarship, restricting the latest call for citational justice and may not be fully transferable to wider contexts 37 . Still, this review was conducted with a limited time and resource hence the author could not include more diverse scholarly outputs that were not in English. Third, although this review did not intend to appraise the quality of the included articles, some articles indicated either poor study designs or superficial level of analysis that lack criticality. Also, almost all of the included studies except two were conducted with a relatively small sample size from a single institute thus makes it even more challenging to transfer the findings to other contexts. This narrative review has identified several teaching methods that help facilitating HCPs students’ capacity to reflect. Even though findings are unable to recommend the most efficient way to teach reflection, it might be more appropriate to consider students’ learning needs and adjustments the teaching method accordingly. This could be achieved via a more relational approach to teaching that might begin with a structured format of reflection which gradually increases students’ autonomy to express their reflection throughout. Given that there is no one-size-fits-all to teaching due to different leaning contexts, the focus should be how educators could scaffold the students’ learning process to empower them to become a lifelong reflective practitioner. [version 1; peer review: 2 approved] Funding Statement The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work. Data availability Version 1. MedEdPublish (2016). 2024; 14: 53. Reviewer response for version 1 Tanisha jowsey. 1 Bond University, Robina, Queensland, Australia Hi there, thanks for undertaking this work, which I read with interest.  Here are recommendations to make this solid paper even better: The title and introduction suggest your review is of the entire higher education field; we need clarity on the scope of your study throughout. I suggest you reword the title from higher education to 'undergraduate health professions students' and hone the focus of your introduction to match that focus. methods suggest replacing this sentence: "Articles that were published during 2014–2024 within three databases, PubMed, CINAHL and ERIC were searched. 1929 articles were eligible for screening. 93 articles were further assessed for eligibility." I suggest this instead: "I searched three databases (PubMed, CINAHL and ERIC) for articles published between 2014–2024 using the following search terms and their derivatives: XXXX    1929 articles were eligible for title and abstract screening. 93 articles were further assessed (full text screening) for eligibility." Methods is fine. I found it unusual and insightful that you've applied a narrative focus to the included studies but I didnt see a evidence of this unique method in the way the results are presented. Did I miss something? Results - Ah yes, the reflective zombie - a constant frustration for teachers (!) I found Reed's approach to this - the Gen AI image reflection - a great example of one possible avenue to engage students and get them out of zombie mode.  The paragraph about "creative format of reflection almost always relates to art-based pedagogy" - I was surprised that creative outputs as evidence of reflection were deemed impossible to assess. There are whole schools of practice that do exactly that. For example, critical arts therapy. I myself published a book called Medicine Reflections (2017 1 ) where we showcased how creative elements in the reflective portfolios of our undergrad medical students were assessed. I would suggest that it can be done. The question of whether this is appropriate or not is another matter. Perhaps you could rework those last two sentences of the paragraph to split out whether you can assess from whether you should assess? The remaining sections read well. Thanks. Is the review written in accessible language? Are all factual statements correct and adequately supported by citations? Are the conclusions drawn appropriate in the context of the current research literature? Is the topic of the review discussed comprehensively in the context of the current literature? Reviewer Expertise: I have used critical reflection in assessment in medicine for the past 12 years and currently supervise a doctoral student who is researching the role of critical reflection in paediatric surgery training. We have a published literature review in this space called 'Reflecting on insight and insights into reflection: a systematic review of insight and reflection in post graduate medical education.' I have also published a book called Medicine Reflections. I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard. Weeratian Tawanwongsri 1 Walailak University, Thai Buri, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand Well-written article. Your insights into this interesting topic are enlightening and comprehensively supported by citations. The use of easily understandable language makes the content accessible, and the conclusions drawn are appropriate in the context of the current research literature. The comprehensiveness and clarity of your article make it a valuable resource. Some suggestions: 1. The title may be edited to reflect the specific issue on healthcare professional students/learners. 2. The methodology is well-written, constructed, and valid. 3. 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In this section, from time to time, students are prompted to look back at examples of their writing or think back to moments during writing time. Using Reflective Writing to Deepen Student Learning Using Reflective Writing to Deepen Student Learning Research in learning sciences illustrates the many benefits of reflective writing. When provided with clear and authentic prompts and given repeated opportunities to think about their course work and educational, professional, or clinical experiences, students are better able to retain and transfer learning to new contexts. Reflective writing ... My Student Teaching Experience: Lessons Learned The student teaching experience allows you to put everything that you've learned about education and your subject matter into action. You get to test the waters under the supervision of an experienced teacher who can guide you along and help you become the kind of teacher that you want to be. If you embrace the opportunity, you can learn a ... Reflective Essay on Learning and Teaching In light of the afore-mentioned, this reflective essay deals with some of my personal experiences in learning and teaching from my secondary years to my tertiary years and beyond. Reflection as a core student learning activity in higher education The materials provide teaching staff with concrete approaches that can be readily integrated in their teaching, for example ways to allocate time in the day-to-day work for written and oral reflection, and specific activities that support students at all levels of reflective skill. The Power of Reflection and Self-Assessment in Student Learning Self-assessment is closely linked to reflection and involves students evaluating their learning and performance. It empowers students to take ownership of their education by actively participating in the evaluation process. Through self-assessment, students develop a deep sense of responsibility and accountability for their progress ... What Benefits Might Reflective Writing Have for My Students? Many teachers across the curriculum strongly believe in the value of reflecting on one's knowledge and practices, particularly in clinical, professional, and classroom settings. To sum up responses to the question, then, reflective writing benefits students because it. Helps students identify their tacit knowledge as well as gaps in that knowledge. Teaching of reflection in higher education: a narrative review How the teaching of reflection influences students' capacity to reflect. ... were helpful since they could reflect in a different way that was not as repetitious or perceived as just another reflective essays 15. Still, most of the studies tend to capture participants' self-perceived of enhanced reflection. Or it could come from educators ... Critical reflections on teacher education in South Africa This book delves into curriculum scholars' critical reflections on teacher education (TE) in South Africa, aiming to provide insights into key considerations for TE in light of the country's socio-... assignment essay homework paper phd report resume review speech thesis