If you have questions about reflective practice, using a reflective journal and would like to learn how to reflect meaningfully, this article is for you.
REFLECTIVE PRACTICE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS
What is reflective practice?
It is a way to learn from your experiences and build on what you already know by thinking about and questioning what happened or what you believe.
Reflective journal is a tool to help you become a better educator
Why have a reflective journal?
It’s a tool to help you become a better educator. It is also a way to meet the requirements for reflective practice in the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Standards.
We’ve designed a reflective journal template for you to write down your reflections. You can download it and print as many pages as you like.
Is it best to reflect alone or with others?
Alone is OK but doing it with others is better. This is because you get a lot of different ideas from other people to inform your learning. Consider using this journal with other educators at your centre.
What should I reflect on?
The first level is to reflect on what the children are doing and learning. What is happening with families and the community that influence children’s learning. Culture. Children’s wellbeing and relationships. The curriculum.
The second level is to reflect on what is happening in your room or the centre. Are you working as a team? Are the transitions working well? How are flexible routines working? How does your personal philosophy about working with children fit with the centre’s philosophy or other educators? Teaching strategies and pedagogical philosophies. The centre’s policies and procedures.
The third level is to reflect on what is happening in the industry and even the world that could impact on the work you do or children’s learning. This could come from changes in government policy related to early education and care or big events that children become aware of.
Some ideas on what things you could reflect on?
1. What you feel/think the children are learning from observing them. This could be individual or groups of children or the room.
2. How you are deciding on what the children are interested in.
3. How you are listening to children’s ideas, and what you will do with them.
4. How you work with children with additional needs.
5. How you plan the curriculum and how it is working.
6. How you are including culturally diverse families and cultures at your centre.
7. How are you building on children’s learning?
8. How you document and link children’s learning to create a cycle of planning.
9. How you engage with families.
10. How you engage with the community.
11. How you respond to feedback you have received from families or your manager.
12. How you use your professional knowledge (including your knowledge of the children and their families) to inform your practice.
13. How your philosophy fits with the centre philosophy.
14. How your room or the centre is working as a team.
15. How you are using educational models in your teaching.
16. Something you have learned through reading or attending training.
A simple model for reflecting
There are lots of models to show you how to reflect on practice. Gibbs Reflective Cycle is a common one used in early education and care. The diagram below is a simplified version of the model Gibbs developed to help you understand how to reflect on your practice.
Sample of documenting reflections
Look at the sample of a critical reflection to use as a guide.
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