Reflective Practice in the Early Years

Michael Reed, Natalie Canning, Michael Reed, Natalie Canning

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781446244715
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Elementary Education

Written for anyone working in the field of early years education and care, this book encourages students and practitioners to consider their own practice and to examine practice in a wide range of early years settings. The four sections link closely to the principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage, and support the reader in developing a critical and reflective approach to their own work.

Issues covered include:

@!play in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in England

@!the Foundation Phase in Wales

@!safeguarding children

@!the healthy child

@!leading a team at a Children?s Centre

@!how childminders are working with the EYFS

@!leading and managing a multi-agency workforce

@!Continuing Professional Development for early years practitioners

Ideal for those working towards Early Years Professional Status (EYPS), this book is also a must-read for students on any early years course, and will help the professional development of all practitioners working with the Birth to Eight age range.

Michael Reed is Senior Lecturer at the University of Worcester and Associate Lecturer with the Open University. Natalie Canning is Lecturer at the Open University.

Section 1

Children’s Learning and Development

1

Reflective Thinking;
Reflective Practice

Karen Appleby

Chapter objectives

This chapter examines reflective thinking and practice from the perspective of developing early childhood professionals who are active participants in the process of exploring and developing their own ‘professional identity’ and expertise as reflective practitioners. Key themes are that this process should be personally meaningful and purposeful; that it involves practitioners developing not only key values, qualities, knowledge and skills, but that it also requires the ability to articulate and represent these for themselves and for others. The examination and sharing of personal learning journeys is seen as being central to our developing understanding of ‘who we are’ as reflective practitioners and supporting our understanding of others. It reinforces the notion that the journey will continue. The term ‘reflective practitioner’ here is applied to all early child professionals, regardless of their role and is not perceived as being limited solely to those working directly with young children. As a lecturer in Early Childhood I see myself as a member of this group; consequently this chapter represents my personal interpretation of the role at the time of writing, constructed through my own experiences, the ‘voices’ and pictures of practice of students and colleagues in relation to wider reading.

A picture of practice: setting the scene

Current policy on workforce development embraces the principle that reflective practice is an essential tool within the Every Child Matters: Change for Children agenda. Bertram and Owen (2007: online) describe quality settings as being ‘characterised by staff who are reflective, committed and seeking to “improve on their previous best”’. The Common Core of Skills and Knowledge (DfES, 2005), The Early Years Foundation Stage (DCSF, 2008) and Standards for Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) (CWDC, 2008) include the ability to apply knowledge and experience to reflect upon, think about and improve practice. Clearly reflective practice is seen as having the potential to make a difference for children and their families, as being significant for the way we respond to children and their needs. The challenge for practitioners and those supporting their professional development is how this can be achieved.

Point for reflection

Much has been written about reflective practice resulting in a confusing plethora of interpretations, associated terminology and models. Brookfield (1995: 7) suggested some years ago that one reason for the concept’s popularity is the ‘malleability in its meaning’. As you engage with the ‘process of becoming’ an effective reflective practitioner, consider these key questions:

• Why is reflection relevant to me and my practice?

• What is it?

• What does it look like?

• How do I do it?

• What are the benefits?

In seeking answers to these questions there are inherent dangers: firstly, that there is only one answer and, secondly, that someone else knows the answers and can tell you what they are. The ability to think critically and creatively about reflective practice and the confidence and motivation to construct a personal interpretation of what it means for us as individuals in our particular context, is essential to our role as reflective practitioners. This does not mean that we should ignore different perspectives; to further personal understanding it is essential that we engage with and discuss these with others. Through what Brookfield (1995) describes as ‘critical reflective thinking’ it is possible to examine the personal, social and political ‘assumptions’ surrounding what it means to be a reflective practitioner and to reach a position where we as individuals are able to make informed decisions about our practice. He presents a useful model for achieving this through the use of four ‘critically reflective lenses’ (Brookfield, 1995: 29–39). The principle of looking at any aspect of our practice in relation to our own autobiographies, the ‘eyes’ of those we are working for, our colleagues’ perspectives and theoretical literature is relevant to all of us working within the profession.

Why is it important for us all to adopt a critical stance? Moss (2008: xvi) provides some insight into this when warning us against a narrow interpretation of reflective practice, one that reduces it to the role of a tool for ‘governing early childhood educators’ or for ‘assessing one’s own conformity to externally imposed norms’. He also warns us about the dangers of a mechanistic approach to reflective practice and introduces the notion of the ‘reflective professional practitioner in marked contrast to the worker-as-technician’ (Moss, 2008: xiii). From this perspective, it is not merely a systematic process of acquiring knowledge and skills from ‘experts’ and using their theories or ‘models’ to reflect on practice and make changes. These models provide a common reference point for examining thinking and practice but do not include the application in practice which gives them real-life meaning and purpose. They do not consider the role of the individual, or group of individuals who are exploring the relationship between theory and practice, the ‘praxis’ (Penney and Warelow, 1999) from which personal theories about reflective practice develop and the ‘emotional tolerance’ (Claxton, 2003: 2) required. These and many other factors inform the development of an individual’s ‘identity’ as a reflective practitioner. Reflective practice is in this sense a never-ending ‘learning journey’ involving personal and professional qualities and attributes that merge as the individual assumes ownership of thinking processes and actions and develops a personal sense of responsibility for the ‘outcomes for children’ as individuals and as part of a ‘community of practice’ (Wenger, 1998). Rather than a ‘technician’ or apprentice reliant on ‘unreflective induction’ (Claxton, 2003: 2), the practitioner is perceived here as an ‘artist’ and reflective practice as an art (Schön, 1987), a creative process applied and developed in collaboration with others. With this in mind, the imposition of a strict framework that does not value diversity within the workforce or allow for different approaches and ways of experiencing the learning journey could limit the development of effective working communities and consequently the outcomes for children.

The ‘voices’ of those engaged in the process of becoming reflective practitioners provide individual insights into the process, challenges and benefits involved. Their first-hand experience of applying principles in practice, their responses and interpretation of experience provide other practitioners with a genuine insight into reflective practice in action. Moss’s (2008: xiii) definition of reflective practice as ‘a rigorous process of meaning-making, a continuous process of constructing theories of the world, testing them through dialogue and listening, then reconstructing those theories’ is clearly linked with the Reggio Emilia ‘pedagogy of listening’ (Rinaldi, 2005). Reflective practice as an integral part of professional identity develops most effectively within a culture or learning community where individuals are actively listening and responding to the thoughts and experiences of others. This principle has relevance for anyone working within the early childhood profession, including those leading practice in early years settings such as Early Years Professionals (EYPs) and lecturers in further and higher education. Sharing thoughts and experiences supports the process of making what we know and understand explicit to ourselves as well as to others. This in turn enables us to make sense of experience and practice, to ‘play’ with ideas and new ways of working. This is what makes reflective practice exciting but also challenging; it involves not only thinking critically about our practice, it is also a creative, open-ended process with many potential interpretations. You can engage in this process on your own, but involve others and the possibilities are endless. This demonstrates its value as an essential element within the concept of lifelong learning and ongoing professional development.

What is involved in being a reflective practitioner?

One of the challenges for developing reflective professionals is in understanding what is involved. From a personal perspective some key themes or processes have emerged:

• reflection as a generic term to describe behaviours involving feeling and thinking about thoughts and experiences, in order to identify issues and to develop new understandings and insight;
• reflective learning implying a ‘sense of open exploration’ in order to find out how something is or to find out more about it (Moon, 2008: 26). Askew and Carnell (1998) examine the value of learning through action;
• reflective thinking that implies there is a purpose, either consciously or subconsciously. It can include critical thinking that is ‘active and deliberate’ (Moon, 2008: 26), creative thinking, reflection in action and on action (Schön, 1983, 1987), reflexivity or ‘focusing close attention upon one’s own actions’ and the way ‘I am experienced and perceived by others’ (Bolton, 2005: 10);
• reflective writing as one mode of reflective thinking, expression and representation and stimulus for further reflective thinking;
• reflective action which informs and is informed by the other processes;
• meta-reflection which involves making the process of reflection explicit – reflection on reflection (Julie Davies – student comment, 2008).

Your themes and definitions may be different to these: mine are likely to have changed over time, but that is the point I am making. Do any of us have the definitive answer?

Developing a professional identity: the voices of
professional practitioners

The ‘voices’ that follow represent some of the thoughts and experiences of a diverse group of students of different ages, academic backgrounds, experience in practice and professional roles. The insights gained from individual learning journeys are intended to stimulate questions, thoughts and discussion about the subject, and through this support others in articulating their own thinking and practice. They have provided me with a valuable ‘lens’ through which I have developed my personal ‘voice’ as a reflective practitioner (as represented within this chapter). I have also drawn on the perspectives of colleagues who are continually exploring the issue of how we nurture effective reflective practitioners. All of the issues examined in this chapter apply as much to the tutors involved as to the students.

The course

All of the ‘voices’ in this chapter come from students on a distinct one-year BA (Hons) Integrated Early Childhood Studies ‘top-up’ programme which focuses on the development of students as early childhood professionals, some of whom are or will be practitioners working directly with children and their families. The programme provides a framework for development through core modules that focus on reflective thinking and practice within the context of academic evidence and professional concerns. The learning, teaching and assessment approach is designed to support students’ experience of reflective practice and the examination of their identity and learning journey as reflective practitioners within the context of the wider profession. Optional modules provide students with the opportunity to explore aspects of early childhood most relevant to them and their future careers.

Personal ownership and ‘identity’

Bolton (2005: xviii), encourages us to ‘fly’, to ‘see how it can be done if you just let go’ (Turner, cited in Bolton, 2005: xviii). Personal ownership of the processes involved in being a reflective practitioner can empower us to makes best use of our individual str...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• About the Editors and Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Section 1 Children’s Learning and Development
• 1 Reflective Thinking; Reflective Practice
• 2 Play in the Early Years Foundation Stage
• 3 21st Century Digital Technology and Children’s Learning
• 4 Policy to Practice in Wales
• Section 2 The Unique Child
• 5 Safeguarding Children: Every Child Matters so Everybody Matters!
• 6 A Healthy Child – Direction, Deficit or Diversity?
• Section 3 Enabling Professional Environments
• 7 Children’s Centres and Children’s Services?
• 8 Working Together at a Children’s Centre
• 9 Managing Multi-agency Working
• Section 4 Positive Relationships in a Multi-agency World
• 10 Distance Learning and Professional Development
• 11 Early Years Professionals: Leading for Change
• 12 Defining and Measuring Quality in Early Years Settings
• 13 From Experienced Practitioner to Reflective Professional
• Conclusion
• Useful Websites
• Index