Reflective Practice Statement
Teaching can come with many challenges. For example, classroom management issues, lack of time, and the constraints of policy and standards. In response to these challenges. Therefore, I think it is important to make time to reflect on my teaching, to identify any gaps in lessons and decide how they can be adjusted for future lessons. Throughout my school placements I placed a huge importance on teacher reflections as it is a process which can help me to collect, record, and analyse a lesson. I took part in weekly reflections in relation to targeted questions on my own teaching, reflecting on how the Unit of Learning was progressing, evaluating students work, and reflecting on my approach to the curriculum specification. I also used a reflective journal throughout my teaching practice to evaluate my teaching and the progress of the lesson after every class. I found these reflections helpful to kept me aware and accountable of my teaching.
Critical reflections involve testing beliefs around teaching and learning. It is dependent on having a genuine desire to learn about teaching through informed inquiry, If they do not give time for reflection then you won’t make any improvements. I conducted my reflections using the Brookfield Four Lens. My experience of using this model of reflection has informed my understanding of critical reflection and how multiple perspectives should be used to gain a better understanding of your practice. These multiple lenses as Brookfield describes them include yourself, the students, a colleague, and a theoretical perspective. This multi-layered approach to critical reflection has supported me throughout a number of assignments including the SEN Differentiation Case Study, Action-Research Report, and lesson planning throughout placement. I found it was essential to regularly evaluate my teaching to find out how effective the teaching methods I implement really are and how they affect student learning. While I have developed these essential skills during my PME, I intend to continue and improve these reflections throughout my teaching career
