Reflective Practice

Key Messages

• Your reflections should be recorded so that you have information at hand for improving lessons, focusing on pupils’ progression, giving feedback to parents and feeding into the School Development Plan. This will help you as a teacher next class, next week, next year.

• Select a style of note-taking that suits you and will be useful to you. Your notes can be hand -written, on your phone, on post-its – whatever suits you and is easily retrieved.

• Be proactive in your personal journey and look at ways to upskill yourself. Identify your strengths and areas for development. Attend webinars, ask to work with senior teachers and coordinators.

• Reflective Practice is continuous throughout your career. Build up the habit of keeping track.

Ashleigh's Top Tips

Use the 4 Rs to take you through the reflective process.

• Recollect – how did your class go? what went well and how it could have been improved in terms of your lesson

• Reactions – how did the pupils, classroom assistants and school react

• Relevance – what will help you in the future

• Responsibility – to ensure that the detailed reflections/notes can inform all key stakeholders in a pupil’s education. This means not only you the teacher but other key personnel such as parents, education psychologists, speech therapists and SENCO.

To Recap

• What are your strengths and what areas do you need to develop?

• Who or what can help you with your personal development?

• How do you record your reflections? (If you currently do not then how do you plan to?)

• Who do you share this information with? (If you currently do not then who do you plan to share it with?)