Theorists that focus on reflection are:
Dewey:
John Dewey's theory comprises a set of instructional concepts and principles that highlight a learner's active role in their own reflective learning. The baseline of his work is grounded in pragmatism, the tangible consequences of the inner workings of a concept or a practice. Hence, Dewey's theory encompasses the following principles:
*Experiential learning
Learning is an active process that requires hands-on experience, rather than rote memorisation of facts.
*Social learning and social interaction
People learn when they interact and engage with each other because learning is a social process.
*Collaborative learning
An individual's learning outcomes are optimised when they choose to collaborate on a peer-to-peer level and generate shared understandings of shared experiences.
*Critical reflection
Education should be grounded on individuals critically processing all receiving information, instead of settling for third-party explanations or speculations.
*Curriculum integration
While traditional subjects should be part of the teaching syllabus, educators should also focus on integrating subject matters that reflect their learners' interests.
*World experience
Dewey believed that all aspects of real life can provide educational experiences; students should constantly interact with the world to develop new ideas, new understandings, and new habits.
*Questioning
Learners should question the information and stimuli they receive from their surrounding environment to better understand the issue at hand.
*Emotional responses
The learning process relies heavily on emotional responses; educators should strive to integrate topics that stimulate their students' emotions.
As we learn through our actions and experiences, John Dewey's theory has had an impact on education because it was founded on that approach. His theory shows the importance of actively engaging students, providing them with opportunities to gather hands-on experience while encouraging them to ask questions and think intelligently and critically. Through this framework, learners should attempt to intellectualise their understanding of the world and process it within an environment conducive to critical reflection. This way, educators are able to educate efficiently, and learners are able to learn effectively.
Schon:
The first stage of the reflection are:
*What do you already know about the situation?
*How is that information helpful?
The second stage includes reflection in action
*What is happening?
*What are you feeling?
*What other factors are involved?
The last stage of Schon's reflective model is ‘reflection on action’ .
*What happened?
*Why did it happen?
*How can we deal with this situation in the future?
Kolb:
David Kolb suggests that learning is an integrated process where each stage becomes mutually supportive and feeds into the next stage. Kolb believes it is possible to enter the cycle at any stage and follow it through its logical sequence. Kolb's model of learning consists of 4 stages :
Stage 1 : Concrete experience : the first stage of learning is to have a learning experience.
Stage 2 : Observing and reflection : here learners are encouraged to reflect on what they have learnt , how and why they learnt it and whether the experience could have been improved on .
Stage 3 : Forming Abstract concepts : using other experiences as a form of reference, and using other modes and modes of thinking to inform your ideas.
Stage 4 : Testing and learning in new situations : this is the final stage and involves the placement of the learnt material into context within one's life. If this doesn't happen it is likely that the new knowledge will be forgotten quickly.
The learner should also think about implementing the knowledge and how they can make the next learning experience more beneficial.
Gibb:
Graham Gibb's reflective cycle is a process which involves six steps:
1 description - what happens?
2 feelings - what did you think and feel about it ?
3 Evaluation - what were the positives and negatives?
4 Analysis- what sense can you make of it?
5 Conclusion - what else could you have done?
6 Action plans - what will you do next time ?
The last stage will give you feedback into the first stages, making the process a 'cycle' , the reflective learning cycle is a never-ending process. The learner does not stop learning and continues to reflect on their practice.
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