In this era where everything keeps changing in fraction of seconds, The best way to keep yourself updated is reflecting about yourself.
As (Baltasar Gracian) has said : “ Self-reflection is the school of wisdom”
Self-reflection is thinking about how you handled past events and whether you could have improved or changed the way you acted or engaged. Learning from past mistakes or recognizing areas of improvement can allow us to make better decisions in the moment.
Thus, reflection on teaching is one of the best tools a teacher can put into practice.
Learning is what students do in school. But in real along with students the teachers are learners too. Every day is an examination for teachers. A teacher passes out with flying colors when all students in the class understand what teacher has explained and thought; However, to achieve this goal of making all students understand and learn what is been explained in the class is not at all an easy task. A teacher can only achieve it by reflection on his/her teaching. To become a better version of oneself a teacher must embrace feedback and criticism and reflect on own teaching (teaching method).
Reflection on teaching means that a teacher takes a look at what she does in her classroom, and think if it works for your students and for herself. In other words, it’s a process of examination and evaluation, a process of self- examination and self-evaluation in which effective teachers regularly engage to improve their professional practices with lots of efforts and interest and willingness to practice it on daily basis.
The process of reflection comes with a cycle to follow:- Teach
- Self-assess the effect of your teaching on learning
- Consider new ways of teaching that can improve the quality of learning
- Try these ideas in practice
And of course, repeat the process again: self-reflection never stops, even if you’re an old hand that has been on the job forever.
When teacher engage in reflective on teaching, they are dedicating time to evaluate their own teaching practice, examine their curricular choices, consider student feedback, and make revisions to improve student belonging
and learning. However, this process is not that easy it requires lot of dedication and sincerity towards the profession of teaching and a self-awareness that teaching is very different than any other profession a teacher needs to be very
honest.
Reflection on teaching requires information gathering, data interpretation, andplanning for the future. Reflective teaching involves examining one’s underlying beliefs about teaching and learning and one’s alignment with actual
classroom practice before, during and after a course is taught.
When teaching reflectively, a teacher thinks critically about their teaching and look for evidence of effective teaching. This critical analysis can draw on a variety of sources: Brookfield (2017) lays out four crucial sources: “students’ eyes, colleagues’ perceptions, personal experience, and theory and research.” Teacher can use various tools and methods to learn from these sources and reflect on their teaching, ranging from low-key to formal and personal to inter-collegial. For example, reflective teaching may include self-assessment, classroom observations, consideration of student evaluations, or exploration of educational research. Because each semester’s students and their needs are different, reflective teaching is a continual practice that supports effective and student-cantered teaching.
Reflective teaching is an example of professional development, starting in your own classroom.
Reflection on teaching is extremely important as the teacher is collecting information about what goes in the classroom when she is teaching and when a proper analyzing and evaluating this new information is done, the teacher can identify and explore their very on practices, which may lead to changes and improvement in the teaching method and techniques. And what is most important is that in the end a teacher may learn even more about herself and the abilities, as the teacher reflects on everything that has been done during the time the teacher was in the class with her students teaching them as well as the time when the teacher was involved in co-curricular activities during the class hours with her students.
A good teachers have desire, a positive attitude, and take risks. Keeping students off balance can discourage complacency and maintain interest. A good teacher knows what motivates each student, and works with the student as a partner in learning. A good teacher is also competent, creative and caring and thus reflection on teaching helps her to achieve the goal in a much-organised way and the out come of reflection on teaching will also give the teacher a sense of satisfaction.
And thus, by reflection on teaching is very important for every teacher; it’s a practice that every teacher should follow and implement in their daily teaching and most important reflection on teaching can help the teacher to do maximum justice to the students and bring out the best in students and the also maximum justice to this noble profession of teaching.
Teaching is an Art and this Art can be changed into a masterpiece by following the process of reflection on teaching; more a teacher reflects the more, she can improve.
Johncy Shine
Students D.El.Ed