Reflection In Critical Thinking

Reflection on practice has different meanings, in my view it means constructive criticism: being honest with myself, becoming aware of and understanding my own strengths, and being able to review activities and constantly test assumptions related to our work. These have been my approach to critical reflection throughout the year. This is supported by Brookfield, he says that "Critically reflective teaching happens when we identify and scrutinise the assumptions that undergird how we work” (Brookfield, 1995, pg. 11-13). This is further supported by Ghaye, T & Ghaye, k (Ghaye, 1998); he argued that many teachers have benefited from learning through reflection. Their teaching and understanding of what is possible and less possible, impacts of activities on children’s learning and its boundaries have risen as a result of reflection.

The two units that I felt I could connect the most to were the mental health and the factors affecting wellbeing unit. I think I was able to connect the most to these units because some of the things that are talked about in the units applied to my life. In mental health and factors affecting wellbeing, we discussed the different factors that can affect our mental health. One example that we talked about was stress, and this is one reason why I was able to relate to the unit. I often have felt stressed therefore, I know the effects it has on our mental health. Another thing that we talked about was how our mental health is affected every day by little things, and, I agree with this statement because I too have experienced

making Practice-Based Learning work Reflection on PRACTICE A resource commissioned by the Making Practice Based Learning Work project, an educational development project funded through FDTL Phase 4 Project Number 174/02 and produced by staff from the University of Ulster. www.practicebasedlearning.org Author Patricia McClure School of Health Sciences, University of Ulster www.practicebasedlearning.org contents Reflection on Practice 02

Group work and facilitation are foundational to the profession of social work and require a considerable amount of skill and awareness on behalf of the facilitator. Committed to interdisciplinary collaboration, social workers have become emerging leaders in interprofessional healthcare teams (Jones & Phillips, 2016). “Interprofessional collaboration happens when practitioners, patients, clients, families, and communities develop and sustain interprofessional working relationships that facilitate optimal health outcomes” (CIHC, 2010). With this definition in mind, I was excited to share my previous experience within a clinical interprofessional team as well as collaborate with my group members to gauge their understanding and brainstorm ideas. Meeting multiple times over the semester, our group finalized the details of our fictional task group early on and an overview of this information is provided in the appendices. The first half of this paper will outline a critical commentary of the second team meeting, examining my role and behaviour as a co-facilitator, while the second half of the paper will discuss my experience within the development/implementation of our fictional task group.

Before entering this class I had moderate writing abilities and poor analyzing abilities. Since this is a writing class I knew it would consist of a lot of writing. However I didn’t expect this class to be so focused on research. So from this class I learned more than just writing and research abilities, I absorbed the capability to read better as well as reflect.

During the study of this module, textbook readings were commonly read throughout the class sessions, and the topics in the book were frequently raised again during class discussions. The readings and discussions have helped me to gain an insight on the difficulties families with children with special needs are currently facing, and what can be done to aid their situations. Before embarking on this module, I never knew there was such a large number of children who required special needs, as well as the large number of them who were not getting the proper treatment and care needed. Through the readings provided, I learnt further on how much work was required to provide adequate care and attention to

1. What assumptions did you notice as you worked with the paper the second time around?

Coming into this class I knew it would be difficult. Despite that, I know I have to take it and think it I'd best to challenge myself and learn the most I can from the class. Being in the class, a few things stood out to me that I knew were going to be more difficult than others. One of those things was part of the student learning outcomes, revision. I always have a hard time editing my own work, for whatever reason it is hard for me to see the little mistakes that I make. Furthermore, a lot of the time when I write I have a difficult time coming up with a good, well-written thesis or primary claim. In spite of the challenges I know I am going to face I am also excited for what I will be learning and how my writing skills will improve. The

The role of the instructor in online education has been the subject of copious literature and research studies since online education alters the widely accepted traditional role of the instructor in traditional face-to-face educational settings. Berge (1995) in his article, “The Role of the Online Instructor/Facilitator” discusses the presence of the instructor in courses offered primarily at a distance and identifies a framework that consists of four categories that must be fulfilled by the online instructor/facilitator to successfully support learners in distance education. Berge (1995) discusses the pedagogical, social, managerial, and technical roles of the instructor and provides suggestions on the tasks each role entails.

I have faced many fears lately. This is the class before my last class. The thought of “did I waste my money” hangs in my mind. As I complete research topics that involve what employers are looking for, I find myself stacking my strengths against my weaknesses. And it seems not many employers are looking for a guy that cooks a “mean” chicken casserole.

A well thought out critique of one’s actions or thinking is immensely valuable. While hearing this constructive criticism may be uncomfortable, the information one gains from another’s insights is advantageous. When my colleague and I were discussing our self-assessments two points of importance came to light. First, the thirst for knowledge and never being satisfied with the amount of material I have learned is a strength of mine and a path in which I will continue to travel down. Secondly, issues in my thinking process in which I thought were minor, became major areas of concern. In particular, my preexisting unconscious biases are impairing my thinking and could potentially be detrimental to my patients in the future. However, if I can confront

I have learned a lot during this class, which has helped me grow to be a better writer and facilitator. Thanks to all the work I’ve done throughout this class, my writing and writing skills have improved dramatically. As a student, when it comes to writing essays, I have been able to polish my skills in creating ideas. Through working on my artifacts, I have gained even more skills that are going to be useful when I enter the real world working in global business.

What is critical thinking to you? To some it may mean making wiser choices, taking time to critically analyze a situation, or to just put greater thought in your everyday life. According to Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Pauls’ article, “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking”, critical thinking is defined as the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances. To us, critical thinking is a very important aspect of life and something we can all improve on. It allows us to think outside the box and put ourselves in others shoes and really look at things differently. We made sure to think about our own thinking habits while discussing these articles and to notice if we were ever being close-minded.

Another aspect of this course that was different to me, was the fact that we were given very specific course goals that we must complete along our path in that class. You will also frequently visit these goals and evaluate yourself on how well you believe you are achieving these goals. For example, one of these goals was, develop meaningful questions to engage in inquiry. This is pretty much saying that one of our goals is to think of well thought out questions that we can ask during class in order to move your writing, as well as the class’s writing forward. Now you might be thinking, well course goals are just suggestions, but I am here to tell you that you need to take these goals seriously. These goals are what will guide you

How do you know when you are improperly using your personal power? How do you know when your life is out of balance? How do you bring it back into balance?