REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Reflective practice is referred to as a professional development process that ensures that people acquire an awareness of their normal actions and assumptions while considering the importance of those actions relative to the consequences (Nolan & Sim 2011). Reflective practice can be applied in early childhood education setting to enable the practitioners to achieve positive behavioral change. Reflective practice basically refers to creating a routine or structure to enable a practitioner to examine his or her experience.
The following paper describes how I engaged with reflective practice in a childcare setting. I applied my reflective practice in the day-to-day work as a Childcare practitioner. The paper expresses the methods that I used to ensure effectiveness of carrying out the reflective practice. It also describes a critical view of the practice and explains the action plan that can be used to approach similar situations in the future.
I participated in reflective practice while working in a childcare facility for one year. This way I got a chance to understand reflective practice and its different dimensions. In a childcare facility, a practitioner is supposed to undertake a range of skills and tasks required in the daily care of the young children attending the facility. A practitioner is required to show supervisory skills, planning skills, implementing and reviewing tasks vital for the young children’s needs (Nolan & Sim 2011). In Childcare setting, reflective practice comes in handy so as to ensure that the children develop in physical, social, emotional, cognitive and linguistic aspects (McFarland et al. 2009). There are several important methods that I used in order to apply the reflective practice in the profession. For example, writing an Autobiography assisted in reflecting on my own life experiences with other people. An autobiography is a valuable resource that can be used to re assess one’s own beliefs as a childcare practitioner. It enables a practitioner to understand the various matrices of people and events that have been vital in shaping one’s qualities. An autobiography explores the goals that one has had in his life and makes one understand his own hopes for the future. The autobiography can be written as journals or diaries whereby the practitioner notes down various experiences and milestones that one encounters in daily activities.
Dialogue with the children makes the childcare practitioner to hear what the children have to say about the teaching. This can be done by asking the older children (those old enough to understand diverse situations) about one’s teaching. They may be told to air their views about how their day has been in regard to the teaching and communication of the practitioner. This makes the practitioner to understand what it is that hinders effective communication during the childcare sessions. Reading of literature related to childcare also can be used as reflective tools. I realized that reading can be difficult or even non-existent especially because of lack of time. Reading such kind of literature helps one to stretch his mind beyond the profession by creating a vision and imagination of the situation. Enriching and deepening the knowledge that one has, creates an opportunity to reflect on the experiences he has had by comparing it with the reading material (Thompson & Stryker 2010).
Also sharing one’s experiences with colleagues can be beneficial in using reflection to develop professionally. After the end of business each day, I would ensure that I discussed my day with my colleagues. Conversation with peers can be termed as a way of gathering one’s concerns about values, beliefs, actions, doctrines, methodologies, and others. For this kind of reflective practice to be effective, the colleagues need to be non-judgmental. They should be accommodating and hospitable enough to encourage honest opinions. Stewart, 2010, asserts that mutual openness should be encouraged by the leaders of a childcare setting so that people can freely discuss their issues in an open and honest manner. It helps to nurture confidence among colleagues and prepares them for challenges and affirmations about their professional practices. Fostered ways for childcare practitioners to reflect upon their practice in a systematic way can be very beneficial to professional development of workers. Reflective workers perform better since they are able to locate their strengths and weaknesses in an effective manner (Nolan et al. 2011).
Critical view and plan to approach similar situation in future
I used reflective practice in various stages of dealing with children in the childcare setting. I used the reflective approach mostly in problematic and inter determinate situations. In some cases, one can encounter an unsettling situation that may not be easily solved with standard operating measures. It is hard to avoid a troublesome event or experience when dealing with children in their early years. Every day poses different or similar experiences like the other previous days, and a practitioner can use reflective practice to decide on how to handle each particular situation. Once confronted with such a challenge, I used to step back and reflect upon my experiences so as to understand what the nature of the problem was, what my intentions were, what I did in such a situation and what the repercussions were. This brings discrepancy between real versus ideal, action versus intention and action versus effects, which then stimulate someone to inquire and learn more, as a way of searching actively for better strategies and answers. I found out that reflective learning is an experiential learning cycle that consists of concrete experience, observation & analysis, reconceptualization and active experimentation.
The importance of reflective practice can be said to be the improvement of the quality of our professionalism. The action plan to approach similar situations in the future must be done through the cycle of experiential learning (Nolan et al. 2011). Concrete experience refers to the process of identifying the problematic situation during the professional practice. It is important to understand that problems usually appear by creating a desire to change in a person or bringing a sense of discomfort in a person. In some cases, one can easily solve the problem presented but in other cases, a practitioner needs to consider his/her experiences. In problem identification, information from another source may help a practitioner to see a problem, and also a dilemma may help the practitioner to identify a problem.
Once a problem is identified, a practitioner needs to observe it and analyze it critically. The practitioner in this case, assumes the work of a researcher by gathering more new information about the experience. To analyze the situation, a practitioner must step aside, observe it critically and describe it thoroughly by considering the cognitive and emotional sides of the behavior (Thompson & Stryker 2010). This way, one can easily reflect upon the behavior or situation and achieve a detached perspective of the experience.
After comprehending and meditating upon the course of action, one can then move to the reconceptualization stage whereby any alternate way of thinking and acting is considered. This stage comes with active search of new strategies or ideas through exploration of theories, processes and techniques. The main objective must be to form an alternate hypothesis that can help to develop more effective strategic and conceptual problem- solving approach.
The reflective cycle ends with active experimentation whereas a practitioner; one must test the conceptualized behavior or assumptions. At this point, one should make conscious decisions and engage in behavioral experiments. This last stage completes the reflection cycle and starts a new one. Each cycle ensures that the reflective skills continue to develop and self-awareness becomes significantly focused. Referencing
Conclusion
The paper has described how I engaged with reflective practice in a childcare setting. I applied my reflective practice in my daily work as a Childcare practitioner. The paper has explained the methods that I used to ensure effectiveness of carrying out the reflective practice. It also described a critical view of the practice and explained the action plan that can be used to approach similar situations in the future. Reflective practice is built around questions, stories and dialogues. Stories and dialogues (journaling is linked to dialogue) usually bring a complex and culturally potent manner of expressing what people think, feel or experience in their day-to-day lives. By reflecting upon the experiences, practitioners may derive meanings from their behavior and spot the significance of the problem in a bigger context of their profession.
McFarland, L, Saunders, R, & Allen, S 2009, 'Reflective Practice and Self-Evaluation in Learning Positive Guidance: Experiences of Early Childhood Practicum Students', Early Childhood Education Journal, 36, 6, pp. 505-511, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 18 April 2012.
Nolan, A, & Sim, J 2011, 'Exploring and evaluating levels of reflection in pre-service early childhood teachers', Australasian Journal Of Early Childhood, 36, 3, pp. 122-130, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 18 April 2012.
Stewart, K 2010, 'The Role of Reflection: Preschool Teachers' Use of Reflective Thinking to Translate Higher Education Learning into Teaching Practice', Proquest LLC, ERIC, EBSCOhost, viewed 18 April 2012.
Thompson, J, & Stryker, A 2010, 'Tale of Two Talents: How Two Early Childhood Teacher Educators Use Peer-Reflection to Examine Their Practices', Journal Of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 31, 2, pp. 185-199, ERIC, EBSCOhost, viewed 18 April 2012.
