Reflection On Critical Reflection

Metacognition is a complex notion that encompasses numerous mental processes in all areas of life. It is often simplistically described as “thinking about thinking.” However, there is no commonly recognized definition of metacognition. In his article “The Power of Reflection”, Stephen Fleming, a well-respected cognitive neuroscientist, agrees with the definition of metacognition given by John Flavell in 1970 as “our ability to evaluate our own thinking” (2). Fleming also accepts Flavell’s proposition that metacognition is “key to educational success”; indeed, the development of metacognitive thinking is vital in learning processes (1). Metacognition is a teachable concept, and has been proven to be crucial in education.

Established on these aspects of reflection I will discuss in this section the importance of critical reflection on development of my teaching. I will firstly aim to explore theories on critical reflection on teaching. Secondly I will explore critical reflection in the context of my own teaching. This includes reflecting on planning, delivering lessons, using activities and the role of assessment for learning.

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

Critical reflection what does it mean? As a result of pulling the word apart, ‘critical’ itself has the meaning ‘important’ and ‘reflection’ itself means ‘evidence’, therefore adding them together to get the meaning ‘important evidence’. Reflection helps teachers review and analysis

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

In 1990, the American Philosophical Association defined critical thinking as “purposeful, self-regulatory process that results in reasoned judgment”. Critical thinking can be defined in a number of similar phrases that all seem to focus on the importance of conscious analysis. Our text starts off with the working phases of critical thinking as analyzing thinking, evaluating thinking, and improving thinking. The process of critical thought is cyclical and not linear. Being a “fair-minded critical thinker” is not a permanent attribute, and it must be consistently worked at as applying intellectual standards and elements of reasoning instead of emotion can be difficult. Overall, to be a strong critical thinker you must work toward strong intellectual traits such humility, courage, and integrity to better represent issues and or arguments.

• Attending year level meetings and planning days where I have been able to cooperative and contribute to create learning experiences

Looking at Reflective Practice as a stand-alone discipline for self and system improvement was an enlightening process. I have worked with teams to critical dissect a situation, to develop a plan for the next time an incident occurs, to understand a student’s behavior and in efforts to build stronger teams. I have come home from a social situation and run the scenario through my mind trying to figure out what went well and what did not. However, to purposefully and systematically unpack and repack an experience with the goal of improving one’s practice is far more powerful then exercises I have done in the past.

The Practice of Critical Reflection, (n.d.) provided four didactical lenses which encourage the practitioner to lead as well as cautiously take note of power shifts that may encourage disengaging the practitioner within the practitioner’s contextual role. As a result, the connection between leader and power tightly established, increases reflection for the practitioners, shifts reflection from a linguistic to a technical meaning, leading to informed knowing due to a conceptualisation that reflects on informed actions (S. D. Brookfield, 1987; Moon,

Critical thinking is a vital task that must be done in our everyday lives. In “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking” found at criticalthinking.org, Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul explain critical thinking as “the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances”. Even tough there are many different types of methods to achieve a better quality of critical thinking, Dr. Elder and Dr. Paul discuss four specific ones in the article. All strategies, however, force you to put yourself in an uncomfortable and difficult position to develop a better quality of thinking.

lessons at my experience. When I was a teenager at 2005 - 2006, I am getting trouble

There has been an increasingly large amount of interest around the areas of reflective practice and critical reflection. This interest has led to an increasing amount of literature around reflective practice and critical reflection.

What concepts, principles, or ideas that you have learned, do you think you will remember the most after you leave this class?

In the book, “Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking (Ninth Edition), by M. Neil Brown and Stuart M. Keeley”, the authors examine the benefits of critical thinking as it relates to the process of asking the right kinds of questions. What are the right kinds of questions? These authors maintain that critical thinking is a method used to improve the way we think by asking the questions that would enable you to reach a personal decision that would eventually give credit to both sides of the discussion. Critical thinking is in essence the analysis, synthesis and evaluation of one’s experience, as it relates to the worth of the discussion at hand. The authors define

The aim of the reflective essay is to highlight my own personal development skills that I have developed during first semester of my module. However, in this report I will make sure my learning ability phase and what this module has allowed me to work and understand in improving my personal skills and purpose. My major aim is to develop and assess an in depth range of my personal traits as a student in order to endorse my future development plan.