Reflective_Thinking_Final.doc

8/12/2019 Reflective_Thinking_Final.doc

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Reflective Thinking1

Reflective Thinking

Ken Harbit

East Carolina University


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Reflective Thinking2

While there are many skills involved with e !eriential learning" # will foc$s on reflective

thinking for two reasons% Reflective thinking is at the core of e !eriential learning" so m$ch so"

that e !eriential learning does not e ist witho$t reflective thinking% &y other reason is more

!ersonal' reflective thinking is not something # do well%

While researching reflective thinking # had an ()h*Ha+ moment when # reali,ed that scholars are

not thinking in terms of teachers and st$dents' they are thinking in terms of facilitators and

learners and in many cases the facilitator and learner are one and the same% How can this be-

How can # be both teacher and learner- #t came to me thro$gh reading abo$t .ohn /ewey 01 3

and reflecting on his theories of learning% /ewey4s starting !oint was the trials and trib$lations of

everyday life% That is im!ortant beca$se in today4s world ed$cation is no longer confined to

!rimary thro$gh 5h/ levels% 6eca$se of today4s fast*!aced society and ever*changing knowledge

base" learning today m$st go on indefinitely" and it m$st be more a !art of o$r everyday life than

a formal (ed$cational+ e !erience%

What /ewey 01 3 was saying was that ed$cation is an e !erience in which we make a

connection between what we do to things 0or !eo!le3" and what ha!!ens to them or $s in

conse7$ence% The val$e of an e !erience lies in an individ$al4s !erce!tion of relationshi!s or

connections among events or sit$ations% Those connections and !erce!tions come to $s thro$gh a

!rocess of making the s$b8ect of o$r thinking become the ob8ect of o$r thinking% 9or e am!le" #

solve a !roblem $sing s!ecific strategies" # then think abo$t the strategies" assimilate them and

relate them to new !roblems or for rea!!lication to !revio$s !roblems to yield new or $!dated

res$lts%


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Reflective Thinking

E !eriential learning is learning thro$gh reflective thinking on doing something or something that has

been done% E !eriential learning foc$ses on the learning !rocess in the style of the learner' that is" the

learner determines how to learn" a (h$man+ teacher is not an essential !art of e !eriential learning% The

most critical !art of e !eriential learning is !$r!osef$l reflective thinking for analy,ing and making

8$dgments abo$t what has been done" or what the learner may believe will ha!!en in the f$t$re% /ewey

01 3 s$ggests that reflective thinking is an active" !ersistent" and caref$l consideration of a belief or

s$!!osed form of knowledge" of the gro$nds that s$!!ort that knowledge" and the f$rther concl$sions to

which that knowledge leads% :earners are aware of and control their learning by actively assessing what

they know" and what they need to know" then how to a!!ly newly ac7$ired knowledge in order to make a

!ro!er 8$dgment of a sit$ation or come to a concl$sion or reassessment of a !roblem%

Reflective thinking also !rovides an o!!ort$nity for an individ$al to ste! back and think abo$t how to

solve !roblems and how a !artic$lar set of !roblem solving strategies is !ro!er for achieving the goal%

This is becoming increasingly im!ortant in today4s world beca$se o$r society is becoming more com!le "

information is becoming available and changing more ra!idly than in the !ast% This in t$rn is !rom!ting

individ$als to rethink" go in new directions" and change !revio$sly a!!lied !roblem*solving strategies%

This is why it is im!ortant to !rom!t reflective thinking d$ring learning' it will hel! learners develo!

strategies to a!!ly new or changing knowledge to com!le sit$ations and !roblems% Reflective thinking

hel!s individ$als develo! higher*order thinking skills by !rom!ting them to relate newly ac7$ired or

changing knowledge to !rior $nderstanding' think in both abstract and conce!t$al terms' a!!ly s!ecific

strategies in new ways" and $nderstand their own thinking and learning strategies%

Can reflective thinking be ta$ght- # str$ggled with that 7$estion% # began my research with 6o$d" Keogh

and Walker 01 ;cmiede 01 ??3" who em!hasi,ed $sing a str$ct$red a!!roach to


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Reflective Thinking@

kee! the mind on*track d$ring reflection% Why (str$ct$re-A Reflective thinking is more than 8$st

thinking of ways to solve !roblems' it4s an organi,ed tho$ght !rocess% /a$delin 01 ??3 defined reflection

as (B the !rocess of ste!!ing back from an e !erience to !onder" caref$lly and !ersistently" its meaning

to the self thro$gh the develo!ment of inferences+ 0!% 3% That !rocess forms a str$ct$re $sed when

reflecting on how to a!!ly !revio$s strategies to new !roblems% That str$ct$re can be develo!ed thro$gh

many forms of individ$al reflections and social interactions s$ch as disc$ssions" reflective 8o$rnals" and

reflective essays" all of which co$ld be !erformed online%

/isc$ssion boards have been aro$nd for a long time and have been one of the mainstays for b$ildingrelationshi!s among st$dents% #n Reflective Teaching nline" /r% 5awan 02DD 3 s!eaks of asynchrono$s

disc$ssion boards $sed to facilitate (reflection*in*action+ and (reflection*on*action%+ Reflection in action

refers to st$dent reflections while doing an assignment s$ch as writing a !a!er% >t$dents talk among

themselves" gaining insights to the s$b8ect matter from each other while refining their individ$al !a!ers%

Reflection on action ha!!ens after a reading or writing assignment% >t$dents disc$ss newly fo$nd data"

teacher remarks" and how they co$ld im!rove on their writing' st$dents co$ld reflect on strategies $sed

and how they might be a!!lied to the ne t assignment or lesson%

/isc$ssion boards also serve as a comm$nal diary and 8o$rnal for st$dents to refer back to and refine their

reflections as they !rogress thro$gh lessons% 9acilitators can monitor the disc$ssion boards" reflect on

st$dent res!onses" and fine*t$ne the disc$ssions to kee! them on track% The str$ct$re !rovided by the

disc$ssion board hel!s to kee! st$dents on track while they do research% 0=$thrie" &cCracken 2D1D3

(&yself and another st$dent always seemed to be on the disc$ssion board at the same time% We were

talking in almost real time% #t was a great way to reflect on the material+ 0!%1 3% 6$ilding st$dent

relationshi!s is another benefit of online disc$ssion boards%


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Reflective Thinking% 01

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