For me, the idea of a reflective teacher used to conjure up images of a wizened-- yet pretentious-- English teacher, sipping tea, alone in a classroom with some classical musical playing in the background. In part, I think this is due to the fact that we consider reflection and contemplation as something elitist. The truth is, we don’t really have a lot of good role models for reflection. For most of us, we likely never saw behind the curtains of our favorite teachers. In fact, chances are we made most of our judgments about what makes a good teacher through the process of “apprenticeship through observation” or the process of constructing mental models of good and bad teaching simply by what we observed as we sat through years of schooling (Lortie, 1975). The logic is that since we have not seen teachers reflect and think, we do not think it is important. And since we do not think it is important. . . we don’t do it. And yet research typically shows that really skilled teachers spend time thinking about their practice and how they can change or improve it (Bieres & Fook, 2020).
But again, what exactly does this look like? There truly is no one path in this regard. Some systems of reflection are a little more formal and concrete than others, but each can serve the personality and lifestyle of the individual differently.
Here are some helpful elements to consider as you work to make reflection a better part of your day:
Time. Listen to your body and brain on this. As we learn more about our individual biological differences, it makes sense for some people to set aside time at the start of the day, some can appreciate a moment of calm at mid-day, while others prefer to do their processing just after school or in the evening. As far as the amount of time, it will change depending on the circumstances. Even on my busiest days, when I feel a sense of urgency, I set aside at least five minutes, but typically, I hold fast at about 15 minutes. At the start, it will take some training. If you are not accustomed to contemplation, (especially if you are trying to direct that contemplation) five minutes will feel like an eternity.
Place. For me, I like to do my reflection within my classroom. I’ll even spend a little bit of time visualizing what that room will look like later in the day. But, I know of one teacher who does his reflection on a run. He will finish his school day, spend about an hour or so working with students and prepping or correcting, and then just before he heads home for the night, he will go on a run, where he will mentally work through his day.
Method. I use a combination of methods. Most often, it happens at the start of each day for fifteen minutes at my desk in my classroom. I start by thinking about the big pieces and move to the small. Big pieces include the important review of my mission and how I hope to work toward that mission in my coming day. It includes thoughts of gratitude, and acknowledgement of pain or grief that might be tugging at my heart. Beyond this, I also try to do more formalized written reflections on lesson plans and trimesters. Typically, I will type out these thoughts and either place them within my lesson plans (where I can easily access them the next time I teach the course), or in an online journal where I can write out my reflections and tag them so that I can find them more easily at a later time.
Béres, Laura, and Jan Fook. Learning Critical Reflection: Experiences of the Transformative Learning Process. Routledge, 2020.
Lortie, D. (1975). Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study. London: University of Chicago Press.
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