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Educators

Reflective Journal

Name: _________________________________

Setting: ________________________________

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Gibbs Reflective Cycle (1998)

Gibbs, G., 1998. Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning. London: FEU.

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Gibbs Reflective Cycle Explained

Description
Describe in detail the event you are reflecting on. Include e.g. where were you; who else was
there; why were you there; what were you doing; what were other people doing; what was the
context of the event; what happened; what was your part in this; what parts did the other
people play; what was the result.

Feelings
Consider your thoughts and feelings at the time. At this stage try to recall and explore the
things that were going on inside your head, i.e. why does this event stick in your mind?
Include e.g. how you were feeling when the event started; what you were thinking about at
the time; how did it make you feel; how did other people make you feel; how did you feel
about the outcome of the event; what do you think about it now.

Evaluation
Try to evaluate or make a judgement about what has happened. Consider what was good
about the experience and what was bad about the experience or didn’t go so well.

Analysis
Break the event down into its component parts or different stages so they can be explored
separately. You may need to ask more detailed questions about the answers to the last stage.
Include e.g. what went well; what did you do well; what did others do well; what went wrong
or did not turn out how it should have done; in what way did you or others contribute to this.

Conclusion
This differs from the evaluation stage in that now you have explored the issue from different
angles and have a lot of information to base your judgement. It is here that you are likely to
develop insight into your own and other people’s behaviour in terms of how they contributed
to the outcome of the event. Remember the purpose of reflection is to learn from an
experience. Without detailed analysis and honest exploration that occurs during all the
previous stages, it is unlikely that all aspects of the event will be taken into account and
therefore valuable opportunities for learning can be missed. During this stage you should ask
yourself what you could have done differently.

Action Plan
During this stage you should think yourself forward into encountering the event again and to
plan what you would do – would you act differently or would you be likely to do the same?
Think of strategies that need to be implemented. Do you need to change what you do and
how you do it? Do your policies/procedures need updating? Have you documented evidence
to inform planning for this in the future?
Here the cycle is tentatively completed and suggests that should the event occur again it will
be the focus of another reflective cycle.
Jasper M 2003 Beginning Reflective Practice – Foundations in Nursing and Health Care Nelson Thornes. Cheltenham

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At the end of your day working with children, you probably do what a lot of

early childhood educators do: Spend time thinking about what happened during

your day. You are often too busy in the actual moment of working with children

to really stop and think about all that is going on. Is it really that important to

reflect on your work?

Insights from your work

Your reflections and insights help you process, understand, and bring to light your child
care experiences. By recalling events, you uncover what you might not have seen or what
you might not have had time to think about—you become more thoughtful. For example:

A provider was looking at photographs she had


taken that day when she noticed that three-year-
old Sam was always standing in the back, away
from what was going on. She looked at photos
from past weeks and noticed the same thing in
several pictures. She hadn’t noticed this before.
The provider started to wonder: Why wasn’t
Sam entering the play? Was he comfortable? Can
he communicate his ideas? This was definitely
something to explore.

When you take time to reflect, it shows you value the children and yourself. It is the
reflection that helps you question, plan, and understand. Reflection lets you see what is
working, what’s not, and how you might make a change as a professional. In a sense, you
become your own mentor, guiding and enriching the path of caring for children and
yourself. When you take time to reflect, you discover new ideas and begin planning for the
ideas to be applied. The information is beneficial to the whole team: educator, child, parent,
and curriculum.

It is important to document your reflections and ideas. Having your ideas in writing will
help you follow through with what is needed. Almost all providers use reflection, but what
really enriches the reflection is making the effort to document the ideas and move forward
with that information. Reflecting on our work brings the gift of discovery, encourages our
growth as professionals, and brings valuable insights to our work with young children.

Mincemoyer, C. C. (no date) Reflections to move forward:Gaining Insights for your work. Available at:
http://www.betterkidcare.psu.edu/TIPS/Tips1209.pdf (Accessed: 12/06/2012)

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Reflections: Moving forward with new ideas
Reflective practice is a process by which we can generate self awareness, focus on our
practice, and that of others we may work with, and formulate new knowledge and ways of
working.
When you take time to reflect, you discover new ideas and begin planning for the ideas to be
applied. The information is beneficial to the whole team: educator, child, parent, and
curriculum. Look at the examples below that were created after an educator thought carefully
about her day. She documented her reflections, added more reflections, brainstormed ideas
and identified what curriculum areas would be affected.

Experiences Reflection New ideas Areas


Jenna was really I will find some books, Ant books, Curriculum planning,
interested in the ants stories, and pictures about pictures, ant individual support to
crawling on the path ants. I also have an ant farm, child’s interest and
in the outdoor area. farm packed away camera, development, observation,
She kept trying to somewhere. note taking. parent communication,
pick them up. I need to remember to assessment, documentation
carry a notepad/post its
and a pen. Taking
pictures would help Jenna
remember her ideas and
also share the experience.
I also need to take more
notes. I heard Jenna
counting the ants and
sharing comments. I
could add that to her
Learning Story Portfolio.

Mike was really I will show him other Tractor Curriculum planning,
interested in the books with tractors in books, individual support to
tractor in the story I them. I will add a tractor tractor child’s interest and
read today. jigsaw to encourage him jigsaws. development, observation,
into this area. parent communication,
I will take a photo of assessment, documentation
Mike making the jigsaw
to motivate and build his
confidence in making
jigsaws. I will add this to
his portfolio to show
progression in learning.

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Important Discoveries
Almost all educators use reflection, but what really enriches the reflection is making the
effort to document the ideas and move forward with that information. Reflecting on our work
brings the gift of discovery, encourages our growth as professionals, and brings valuable
insights to our work with young children.

For reflection to be really meaningful, it must begin with a shared overall aim to achieve
effective early learning and positive experiences for children.

It is this whole team approach to reflecting on action that is important in early year’s settings.
When educators are asked how they reflect upon their work, they say they do so in staff or
team meetings, or in the incidental conversations they have with colleagues throughout the
day. These valuable interactions should be recognised and appreciated as part of the reflective
process, but they are only a small part.

As teams work together they share ideas, carry out plans, seek solutions to problems that
arise, and develop a shared understanding of their role. The whole team must identify
opportunities to reflect together so they can improve both collectively and individually.

Developing Reflective Skills


In order to develop your skills as a reflective educator, you need to question what you do and
why you do it, rather than just doing what you have been told to do. You may find it helpful
to consider the different elements of your job role and look at them individually.

There may be times when you feel you are making good progress and working efficiently. At
these times, you should ensure you think about what it is that is working well. What skills or
knowledge have assisted your work? Are there any particular practices within your setting
which have helped you to work successfully? Considering these things will allow you to
reflect on the progress you are making and what it is that is helping you to progress. You may
also have days where you feel nothing is going right. Again, you should consider why this is.
Is it a lack of knowledge, lack of resources or poor understanding that has made things
difficult for you? Are there certain practices within the setting that are difficult to conform
with and, if so, could you come up with alternative methods of working?

Listening to others can provide you with vital information to assist you in reflecting upon
your own practice. You should aim to listen carefully to feedback, and not become defensive
or take the feedback personally. The key focus is to improve practice.

Being reflective requires you to take the time to consider your work, reflect on its objectives
and evaluate its outcomes. You should be learning from your experiences and applying this
newfound knowledge to future situations.

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Reflective Analysis
By using reflective practice as a tool for development, you will not only move forward in
your own thinking, but may also support your colleagues to do the same.

You may occassionally find areas where there is only one appropriate response or approach;
however, these are rare, as working with people demands flexibility and understanding of
others’ needs. The ability to reflect means considering other opportunities, approaches, and
possibilities, even if they are strange and unfamiliar. You may have come across professionals
or colleagues who do not appear to like change and who say, ‘But this is the way we’ve
always done it.’ It is important to recognise where things are going well; however, it is also
important to understand that new curricula have been developed as well as new legislation
and theories.

Keep and open mind – Avoid assuming that a different way of working will not work and be
ready to have a go at changing the way you work.

Seek alternatives – Explore and research different ways of working.

Question the way that you do things – Are some things done in a certain way simply
because that is how they have always been done?

Identify and resolve problems – Be proactive in making things work and taking a problem-
solving approach to any difficulties.

Synthesise Ideas – Be ready to look at ideas and then adapt to work in your setting.

Ask ‘what if?’ – Be confident enough to try out new ideas and to think about things in
different ways.

Test ideas – Try out new practices or visit settings that work in contrasting ways.

Think about consequences – Think about how changing practice might affect other aspects
of your work (e.g. changing routines may affect parents, children and colleagues).

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View things from different perspectives – Consider different people’s point of view,
including those of children, parents and other staff.

Reflective Questions

To be a reflective early childhood educator,

You need to ask yourself some questions:

Reflect upon your own role in the setting. What is your role? What kind of educator am I?
How could I improve my practice?

Why do I provide the activities and experiences for the children I work with? What are they
learning from them? Are they learning anything?

What can I provide for the children that will enhance their learning? How can I make learning
fun and stimulating?

What are the children’s individual needs? How can I find out what interests individuals?
What do I know about each child’s development?

How do colleagues see me as a practitioner? Am I working effectively with my colleagues to


provide quality education for the children?

When can I reflect on my practice?

How will I use reflection in my future planning for the children?

Think about your future development. How can I improve my knowledge of children? What
kind of educator do I want to be in the future?

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Daly, M., Byers, E. and Taylor, W. (2006) Understanding Early Years Theory in Practice, Heinemann, Essex.

Important aspects to consider in promoting reflective practice

Time
Reflection on our practice demands time to think about what has happened and time to ‘mull
over’ what should be happening. It’s hard to reflect when you are too busy. It is hard to
analyse experiences while they are happening.

Distance
Using a reflective notebook to record observations, experiences, etc. allows you to step back
from and assess your practice, see patterns emerging over time and come to better
conclusions about how to proceed. Our documentation enables us to note and respond to
pertinent events, responses and comments. We need to reflecting on what we learn from both
standing back and documenting, in order to appropriately support and stimulate a child’s
learning and development. Consider what children are telling us through their engagement
with the world around them. Standing back, however, also means being deeply engaged with
children’s learning and development, responsive to their ideas, and engaging in reflection in
action.

Dialogue
The importance of dialogue with other educators cannot be underestimated in reflective
practice. Educators need support from colleagues. They need a group to bounce ideas off and
a place to receive feedback to their ideas and professional practice. Working with others, both
the children themselves and other adults in the setting is vital to share perspectives on what is
being observed or experienced.

Preferred Vision
A preferred vision is the result of thinking about what your setting would look like if
everything was going perfectly. Before we can make changes in our practice we should have
a vision we are working toward. Change without direction can result in chaos. A preferred
vision allows educators to articulate what they want their setting to look like. Being able to
articulate our preferred vision allows us to know when we are making progress. A preferred
vision is a dynamic concept that changes and grows as one’s knowledge base and
professional practice experiences expand. As the practice evolves, the expectations and
preferred vision we have for our practice expands. Our ability to articulate what we want our

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practice to look like will directly affect our ability to reflect on our teaching. As reflective
practitioners, we have to have some idea about where we are headed before we begin our
journey.

Emotional self-awareness
Being reflective can enable educators to become more self aware about their own feelings.

Think about:

 Are you more focused on what works well for you and what is efficient in terms of
routines
 Does efficiency mean an easy life for the adults thus becoming more important than
how babies or children experience these routines?
 Is it not up to senior staff, inspectorate etc. to tell us what to do or not to do. There is
no point in reflection because ‘they’ set the rules.
 Do we need to develop the habit of asking awkward questions in a professional way
to deal with unwise advice? E.g. Sometimes a clear recommendation goes against a
key element of best practice.
 Everything is fine...why rock the boat....the children seem happy enough....the parents
aren’t complaining. Do children know their daily experiences could be different? Do
parents lack experience/knowledge of alternative approaches within early years?
 I’ve been doing this for years....do not encourage stagnation
 Anxiety about being criticised

Remember
Reflective practice does not always lead to change. In some cases, individuals and teams
rediscover gems of best practice, such as the power of outdoor learning.

Reflection-in-action
This process is also called ‘thinking on your feet’ or ‘keeping your wits about you’. The
reflection is, inevitably in a hands-on profession such as early years, an experience of
thinking swiftly at the time, but sometimes with slightly more breathing space for thought.

In early years practice sensitive educators make many small, of-the-moment decisions and
some of these are active in thought and action. You decide, within a short thinking time,
whether to join a child’s play.

Reflection-on-action
Frequently focuses on thoughtfulness after something has happened. However, it is equally
possible that some of this kind of reflection can happen before an event that will benefit from
forethought. Possibly in a busy working environment educators are more inclined to reflect
when the flow is somewhat disturbed. Reflective practice stresses that the whole point is to
integrate thoughtfulness into daily working life.

Critical thinking as a reflective team

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Thoughtful early years practice is both an individual and a group experience. A practical issue
about discussion within a group can be that contributions from practitioners are uneven. A
team will not progress in joint critical thinking if discussion is dominated only by the few, or
if a senior educator ends up talking to fill a lengthy silence. Speaking up in a team or network
meeting is a shared responsibility, with obligations for the person who leads the meeting and
everyone who is involved. It is important to establish some ground rules for communication.
These should ideally be agreed with everyone, at the beginning of a meeting or to become ‘a
way that works best for us’. Confident speakers need to listen properly to others and resist
filling every silence. Equally, the person who facilitates discussion has to be ready to hold
back the keen contributors in a courteous way.

A staff group becomes more of a team when a habit of discussion is established. Team
leaders, or facilitators in a regular network, need to create the space and maybe ask the open-
ended questions that encourage reflection over what is otherwise not questioned.

Continuing Professional Development

CPD: an ongoing process of learning, even for the most experienced professionals,
through recognising current strengths, addressing areas for improvement and updating
knowledge.

Reflective practice is part of your CPD: the continued thoughtfulness that enhances daily
interaction with children and colleagues.

Focus on what you need to learn rather than drawing up a list of planned tasks and events.
The point is not just about attending a course but ensuring that you refresh your current
knowledge and are brought up to date with any changes. Think about what queries you want
to explore. Do you need to attend a training day to find out more? Would it be a first step to
read something about the topic? Consider making a visit to another setting that has made
progress in the area of practice that interests you. Think about networking with other
professionals and settings who may have good suggestions or tips to help you develop a
strategy or implement new ideas.

It is worthwhile making a note of what you have gained from a training day, conference,
conversation, visit or reading.
Has the experience met your hopes and intentions for what you would gain?
Has the development activity led you to identify further learning needs?
Did the strategy of making yourself a note before the team meeting help you?
Do you realise that, for the time being (but not forever) you can best focus on speaking up
within smaller-group discussion that is often part of a training day?
What have I learned?
Today made me think about....?

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I now know more about....?
I realise I need to find out more about...?
I would like to try...?
I need to talk with my colleagues....?
Taking back an idea for something to do within your practice.......
You need to consider how a practical idea will be integrated and not simply apply someone
else’s technique without much thought.

Through self reflection we learn to appreciate, to be aware and to understand what we have
experienced.

Setting yourself goals for CPD using the SMART criteria

Specific

Home in on the details of what you would like to learn and avoid vagueness.

E.g. Instead of ‘I want to learn more about assessment’ think about ‘I want to have a
learning portfolio for each child that documents the child’s progress and can be used to
enhance his/her learning and development’.

Meaningful

Is it worthwhile and relevant?


It will help inform our future practice

Achievable

Can you achieve your goal? Can staff attend a training programme? Will this new approach
be implemented and supported in the setting?

Realistic

A goal has to be realistic. It is better to be realistic and enjoy greater success by smaller steps.
The staff team need to improve their knowledge on Aistear first.

Time-bound

An unrealistic time limit could turn a feasible goal into an impossible one.

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