Reflection.... We don't always like what we see, do we? I know I am very self critical and yet I walk past a mirror and have to look into it. I am a walking oxymoron. But to reflect on my reflection is something I have not consciously known I do. But by doing task 2C, I have realised it is something I use every day in my work life and home life.
When I am teaching, I constantly have to adapt to situations, as children can be very spontaneous. I never looked at this as a type of reflection before, and just thought of it as thinking on my feet. But I found the statement below very interesting and it made me look at my work with a different approach.
'The practitioner allows himself to experience surprise, puzzlement, or confusion in a situation which he finds uncertain or unique. He reflects on the phenomenon before him, and on the prior understandings which have been implicit in his behaviour. He carries out an experiment which serves to generate both a new understanding of the phenomenon and a change in the situation.' (Schön 1983: 68)
By looking at how I react to situations in my classes, I am able to 'reflect on action', I can make notes of the ways I reacted and create new theories and ideas for the next time something like this happens. I like to talk to other dance teachers and share experiences of things that have and could happen in classes. This helps me to develop new ideas and learn from those who are more experienced than I.
I like the idea that reflection is one taking everything out from their mind, being able to look at it and piece it back together in different ways. I got this idea from a quote I read, 'One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one‟s mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one‟s leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form.' (Rowling, 2000: 518). I like working this way, as I feel it allows me to create many different ideas and theories from reflecting on everything in my mind. I am able to open up more and see more ways I can approach situations.
I have found that by keeping my journal, it really helps with my reflection on my work. By writing down my experiences in my day whilst they are fresh in my mind it helps me when I want to look back later on, 'as reflection is slippery' (Moon, 2004: 4). You can forget something you did, or something that happened and it will be hard to then learn from that if the events are not clear anymore. But with my journal, I am able to make sure I note down everything that happens in my day.
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