self reflection as a teacher essay

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Teacher’s Identity Development Through Reflection

The aim of a person’s professional development is a gradual awareness of one’s own personality, professional and life activity and its planning and perfection, readiness to analyse oneself and find a personally significant meaning in a particular professional activity that defines and forms a person's professional identity. In today's world, the key to successful professional activity is a strong development of self-identity. As reflection makes human actions more meaningful, raises awareness and suggests changes in attitudes, behaviours, actions in individual and professional contexts throughout life, the aim of this study is to reveal how Latvian teachers, working in different educational institutions and with several years of pedagogical experience, understand the essence of teacher’s professional identity by analysing their past, present and future teaching practices. The teaching experience of research participants – 80 Master’s students of Liepaja University, study programme General Education Teacher, are summarized applying a thematic analysis method, which allows to determine the factors influencing one’s own identity, sources of experience, weaknesses, ways for overcoming the obstacles, and specificity of the teacher’s identity. The research questions deal with teachers’ self-reflection, self-perception as educators, and professional activities that shape their professional identity. The research results describe teachers' reflections on their pedagogical activities, revealing several professional identity perfection dimensions, such as social responsibility, attitude change, search for alternative solutions, assessment of progress, and others.

Keywords: Reflection , self-conception , teacher’s experience , teacher’s professional identity

Introduction

Reflection is a key to learning and also to formation of one’s identity. It is a strategic instrument that leads to understanding the professional I-concept, allows using different reflection frameworks allowing analyzing one’s own pedagogical activity, giving opportunity to work independently ( Avraamidou, 2014 ; Brooks, 2016 ; Davey, 2013 ; Mikelsone & Odina, 2016 ).

Globalization of education and personal experiences contribute to modernization of the teacher’s profession, mobility, new values and methods and effects of commercialization and privatization ( Arber et al., 2014 ; Luk-Fong, 2013 ; Ospina, & Medina, 2020 ). The changing policies demand adjustment to the new vision, accountability, management and effectiveness ( Edwards & Edwards, 2017 ). Meanwhile, the teachers can either have faith and hope in the reforms proposed, or oppose them – undoubtedly it will affect the learning outcomes as well as reflection and professional identity; moreover, at the same time teachers as agents of innovations should be loyal to the schools, children and authorities ( Bower & Parsons, 2016 ; Buchanan, 2015 ). Every generation of teachers re-introduces the following questions: what kind of teacher am I; how can I be a ‘good’ teacher; what is the teacher’s scope of responsibility; how can I assess the quality of education. These questions are directly linked to reflection ( Bukor, 2015 ). As Dewey ( 2012 ) has stated: “We do not learn from experience – we learn from the reflection on experience” (p. 35).

The teacher’s professional identity and status have to be defined by the teachers themselves. It is usually difficult to measure the long-term impact of any teaching. Davey ( 2013 ) suggests that the identity of a teachers’ educator is even more complex, and the self-understanding of identity is rooted in reflections, which are, indeed, very common when it comes to the goals and dispositions of teacher’s profession. The historical, economic and political context of a particular country must always be taken into the account ( Bates et al., 2011 ). When developing the individual approach to professional identity, it is important to respect also its wider context. It can take place through listening to oneself, writing and re-storying, but imaging and revisioning is also possible.

Hanna et al. ( 2019 ) have developed an overview of quantitative identity measurement methods and have summarized them under six domains, such as self-image, motivation, commitment, self-efficacy, task perception, and job satisfaction. In another study, the same authors ( Hanna et al., 2020 ) consider the teacher’s identity as a second-order construct (deconstructed into motivation, self-image, self-efficacy, and task perception), and they use through learning, teaching, practicing and autobiographical reports, interviews and observations quantitative and qualitative approaches allowing a factorial design experiment. Although diverse identity theories use different terminology, they usually support solid and strong, emotional and enthusiastic teachers, and speak about role anticipation, occupational values, and feelings of intrinsic satisfaction ( Hanna et al., 2020 ). Another important instrument for exploring teacher’s professional identity is a narrative analysis, which enables understanding of the teacher’s unique multifaceted personality, never applying the existing solutions in the same way, but inventing new ones every day; narrating helps self-positioning and understanding of the ongoing events ( Sultman & Brown, 2019 ; Taylor, 2017 ).

Discourses, longitudinal and life-history studies are instrumental for strengthening teacher’s identity. The personal narratives of teachers, revealed during the teaching, learning, autobiographical reports, interviews and observations reveal the essence and specifics of professional identity, which are essential for teacher’s profession. Also, metaphors are recognized as efficient tools for developing teacher’s professional identity ( Erickson & Pinnegar, 2017 ; Mikelsone & Odina, 2016 ).

Teachers’ interactions are often filled with tensions, and they become aware of the necessity to look at themselves through a critical lens and rebuild their identity while evolving as human beings ( Jenlink, 2014 ). Unfortunately, many early career teachers drop out, and this is often related, among other factors, to their personal identity, which must be supported, reinforced and acknowledged ( Johnson et al., 2015 ; McIntyre & Hobson, 2016 ). Becoming a teacher and continuing to keep up with self-development is a never-ending activity ( Olsen, 2016 ).

The issues of teacher’s identity formation and reflection in the context of Latvia are explored by Silova et al. ( 2010 ); there are studies dedicated to formation of Latvian music and language teachers’ identity ( Fernández & Manuel, 2010 ; Ivanova & Skara-Mincāne, 2016 ). As Mikelsone et al. ( 2014 ) suggests, the self-awareness in teacher’s profession is growing, although the society does not always support the teachers.

Problem Statement

In the times of change the teaching requires new vision. Changes in education system create changes for teachers’ professional activity, as well as identity. The role of teachers has changed; therefore teachers must constantly work on their self-development. Often teachers professionalize and commercialize their work in order to survive these changes, but reflection remains crucial for developing this new professional identity. In other words, changes in education bring on changes in teacher’s work and professional identity, and this can take place through reflection.

Research Questions

The research questions deal with teachers’ self-perception as educators, self-reflection, and professional activities that shape their professional identity. The research questions are:

• What are the main concerns of teachers in Latvia?
• What experience influences teacher’s professional identity?

Purpose of the Study

The goal of this study is to gather and present the ongoing processes related to the Latvian teachers’ understanding of the development of their professional identity through self-reflection. The obtained results help to understand the teacher’s identity within its development.

Research Methods

The data for this phenomenological research study was gathered from analyzing focus group discussions and participants’ essays employing content analysis method. The participants of this qualitative study are 80 Liepaja University Master’s level students, practicing teachers, mostly women (3 men), aged from 23 to 65, working in different parts of Latvia – in big cities, small towns and villages, teaching the regular curriculum, afterschool activities, and different disciplines from pre-primary to higher education levels including life-long education sector. In the process they participated in pair and group discussions, performed video-analysis of their own work and work of others, discussed the content of books, articles and episodes of films. Then they presented short sketches on themes borrowed from everyday events of teaching practice. Later, they wrote essays about their professional career and reflected upon their understanding of teacher’s identity. While perfecting their own professional knowledge, teachers had to retrospectively reflect upon the gains and losses, as well as compare their experience on various stages of professional development working in diverse fields and in various circumstances. They also demonstrated the assessment methods they use in everyday teaching encounters and engaged in the role-plays.

The answers are coded and grouped around the key themes, generalizing ideas and supporting the selected points through the excerpts from the essays. The data will be summarized in following sections: Self-perception of what it means to be a good teacher, Self-perception of teacher’s professional identity, Sources of experience for development of teacher’s professional identity, The factors hindering the development of teacher’s professional identity, The impact of the school environment on teacher’s professional identity, and finally some practical remarks related to teacher’s professional identity, employing teacher’s professional identity components described by Rivilla and Mata ( 2009 ). The obtained results help to understand the teacher’s identity within its development.

According to Rivilla and Mata ( 2009 ), the teacher’s professional identity is formed by 1) knowledge about profession, 2) professional knowledge of how to be a teacher, which includes attitude, morals, professional values; 3) involvement in pedagogic activity, and 4) practice - to know how to act professionally. The results help to understand the teacher’s identity within its development. The research data shows that teachers mostly link their understanding about professional identity with professional knowledge of how to be a teacher or examples of good practice. They rarely talk about their own involvement in pedagogical activities, although it can be sensed when they describe their satisfaction with work and their ideals. When characterizing oneself as a teacher, the respondents tend to describe more the real self – how I perceive myself, and less the reflective self - how I am perceived by others, and the ideal self – how I want to be in the future ( Horney, 2013 ). From 80 respondents, 50 were focusing on the real self.

Further we will illustrate the findings with ideas and quotes from focus discussions and essays written by the respondents reflecting of teacher’s professional identity.

Self-perception of what it means to be a good teacher

For children a teacher is the important Other who differs from their family members but collaborates with them as well as with colleagues. According to the respondents, it is not fair if the child considers the teacher as his/her second mother (or father). The teacher must be tough and nice at the same time, should have authority, and the children should listen to him/her and obey. Pupils feel who loves them and who enjoys being with them. They recognize the value of justice and equality of treatment.

Everybody, and especially teachers, must learn new things all the time because everything around is changing so fast. Teachers can learn from their pupils and pupils’ parents, from colleagues, courses, books, films, etc. When discussing a problem, they learn from a spectrum of opinions and become richer and more flexible than before. Teachers should be ready to detect the specificity of every child’s learning process, to encourage and motivate him/her to overcome the obstacles. Therefore, one should never say that he/she knows how to teach or how to solve a difficult issue, but to continue acquiring new knowledge about the essence of human development.

Questions make pupils think. Photographs taken by the teacher are more interesting than those downloaded from the Internet. Personal views and stories stimulate more than texts from the textbooks. Whenever it is possible, the connection to literature, drama, and improvisation should be established. When children attend school with joy and willingness to learn, it is a success.

Good teaching is comprehensive, systematic, based on humane principles and sustainable development, broad and versatile, without borders, specific, focused on meaningful understanding of the material, which is pragmatically applicable in the future. Self-confidence hatches when a professional is confident in the teaching material, and thus he/she earns respect from the students. The best educators have a charisma, they are confident, they do not need to “buy” attention from the class, they do not concede to provocations, and they work with all pupils.

“As a teacher I do not just want to be a person who helps others (children, teenagers and adults) to obtain some new knowledge, I want to give to my disciples professional skills and to prepare them for their future, to promote their self-development, both physically and mentally, as well as to teach self-evident life skills. I want to be an example for my students helping to find the right way in everything – polite manners, behavior in society. I want them to be interested in education, improve their knowledge, and promote their self-growth and to help them to achieve their goals reaching them as fast as possible. I want to be like a friend to my students, so they feel free to come to me and tell me what is suppressing them, or explain things they don’t understand. Therefore, it is important that children communicate with their peers and adults, not just be with themselves.”

The outer image of the teacher must be calm, self-confident, polite, and emotionally intelligent, but the communication style should be firm, peaceful and friendly. “The strongest teachers were those who put their pupils ‘in place’ but manage to do that gently and without threats.” Teachers should keep the record of everything they do in class and be accountable for their actions because children are watching, judging, copying, imitating, generalizing, or rejecting the world around them.

In participants view, a teacher is not just a profession; teacher is a supportive friend, a trustful and attentive person. Students must realize that they are learning for themselves and for their own future, and the teachers should be aware of the pace in which they demonstrate this road. Moreover, teachers must show how the goals can be achieved and how the knowledge is acquired, so that pupils can organize these processes themselves. Visualization and self-employment are important part of bootstrapping.

Self-perception of teacher’s professional identity

The data analysis shows that often teachers link their self-perception with their memories from the time they were pupils at school. About their past teachers speak with emotions, but often generalizing and not providing particular substantiations and facts. It can be explained with unwillingness to talk about themselves, but others, for example, by saying that “dutiful pupils gained more from school than the rebels who constantly expressed their opinion”.

Several respondents admitted that not all of their educators have been good, but with some they had positive relations. The need for communication in the pedagogical process is acknowledged also for development of self-identity. Respondents stress that the chance to talk and discuss, not only to acquire knowledge, was appreciated. They liked teachers who were interested in their students and who gave positive feedback. Good teachers adjusted their assessment criteria to the interests and abilities of students; they changed along with the new generation and new instruction tools, striving to attain quality, to respect children, to promote their well-being in the society and to love their job. Their inner motivation stimulated the growth of their students, leading to the achievement.

Teachers must be tolerant towards innovations. The participants point out that every teacher has many roles, and a novice educator must try to build simultaneously multiple connections, acquire ways of self-regulation and control over the events. There are no ready-made formulas; open-mindedness, adaptability, endurance, and readiness to try out innovations help a person to evolve as a teacher. Textbooks are not enough; the university gives only guidelines, yet, teachers continue to learn, otherwise they risk becoming boring and using outdated methods. Teachers’ curiosity never ends, as well as their desire to show the joy of discovery to other people.

“I think I am fortunate that the teaching process has gone smoothly. It is probably due to being a dad myself and being an assistant coach for some time. Since I was not associated with the school at the beginning of my teaching career …, it was other teachers who encouraged me to move forward. My family and friends, who often said - I need to become a teacher, also provided a valuable support and encouragement. Of course, before starting my teaching, I studied in-depth various sources and watched different videos about conducting classes in schools. Prior education also played an important role, providing me with the theoretical insights into social interaction, communication, work groups and more.”

Teachers should meticulously observe pupils during all their activities, discovering new ideas, understanding what is going on and comparing already established views to the reality. Teachers need a sense of humor, but also they need to understand the peculiarities of the developmental stage – thus the teachers must be careful when choosing and telling jokes. They give to their audience at least as much as they had once received themselves. “If the teacher has lost his/her pedagogical conviction, he/she has to walk away from this work. No child will benefit from a teacher who does not understand what his/her own job motivation is”.

Sources of experience for development of teacher’s professional identity

The very first childhood encounters relationships in the family, educational institutions and in the playground may reveal the type of personality. Childhood experiences are often transferred to one’s career, as well as role-plays to the profession. Many children like to play ‘schools’, they try out teacher-pupil roles, developing empathy, cooperation skills – skills needed for the teachers. Later, the childhood experiences gain a new quality. Very often, the best students start their pedagogical careers already during their studies: when they succeed in learning, they are involved into teaching as assistants to the main teacher. Moreover, students explain to each other how to solve problems and discuss various subjects. The teachers who treat their pupils with respect continue to be the role models for their former pupils.

It is important that different pedagogic methods and approaches are utilized to avoid uniformity. Despite of old or new teaching methods applied, the teacher’s personality, his/her manners and the language that he/she uses is more important. Another methodological question remains: which teaching is more effective – the one that tries to teach everything to everyone and prepare the pupils for the final examinations or the one that steers up curiosity and fun? The participants mostly endorsed the second approach but could suggest only a couple of cases when it really was implemented.

It is a privilege to be born in a teacher’s family. When growing up, interesting dialogues take place at home. Discussions with one’s own parents, sharing of knowledge, observations of their behavior and explanations they give become an important investment. It is useful to watch educational videos, workshops, blogs and webinars on certain topics. When some tips and hints are needed for solving complex situations, one can start chatting to those who are in the same field to get the clues, ideas and instructions, most of which can be implemented immediately.

Teachers’ own children make them to understand what the teaching means, especially if one has a child whose health is not perfect. A lot can be learnt from the colleagues when they exchange memories of all the that they have had as novice teachers. It helps to take the videos of lessons and watch them alone or in a group analyzing what was successful and what need improvement. Some books, movies and Internet resources may open new horizons.

The factors hindering the development of teacher’s professional identity

According to the respondents, many good initiatives stumble upon limited time, absence of wisdom, deficient willpower. A poor skilled teacher is not able to make decisions, has no compassion, cannot admit errors or refuses to explain them. Such teacher has no ability to notice every pupil’s individual capacities and to engage with pupils in in-depth conversations. The teacher must work with the pupils towards their growth, protecting and nourishing their abilities and their minds.

It shows lack of professional mastery, which manifests itself in lack of methodical knowledge ( Rivilla & Mata, 2009 ). A weak teacher is inconsistent and incoherent, he/she promises and forgets, gives too much of useless homework, punishes and praises without explanation, shouts when children do not listen to, and is simply too lazy to search for new information or to do something outside of his/her obligations. The absence of pedagogical skills manifests itself in handling serious cases, showing helplessness in front of the class. Thus, the obstacles for professional teaching are the lack of academic knowledge and poor understanding of organizational culture.

The learning communities can be oriented towards gossiping and not self-development. It is tricky to work in a small town where people know each other and keep gossiping about everyone. Additional challenge is to work at a school where one of your parents is a teacher and all others know everything about your family; or to work in a school where you studied yourself. The difference between the levels and quality of education that the teachers received before in the same educational establishment can also cause mutual disagreements.

“I think it is important to work on the motivation of pupils, the development of self-motivation, because motivated pupils feel the need for quality education. I am aware that there are many gaps in our education system, and pupils must learn things that later will not be applicable. Neither the assessment system is friendly to them. I've had a lot of tough moments in my life. My hard life experience as a child allows me to understand other children. In the past, my way of thinking was similar to many others. It was easier to see the bad things around than to weigh the situation and act. For self-improvement, I try to attend different courses in which I learn to understand the pupils. I have improved my own way of thinking because I believe that the change in education starts with the teacher. I also read unconventional literature that expands my thinking. In order to be a good educator, one does not need to read purely pedagogical literature. There is also a need to read what children are reading today, because it helps to understand the pupils, as well as address the inner child in yourself”.

Impact of the school environment on teacher’s professional identity

Educational establishment is a place for innovations. Besides, the school must feel like a confident and comfortable space where a common life takes place for the children and teachers. Even if we know some stories about the others, we should every person as individuals. When a class functions like a team and the school is like a second home, the synergy of many souls achieves the best results.

The classroom environment influences the degree of involvement and successful learning. It is much easier for a subject teacher to have his/her own classroom arranged in a way that the children may learn from the environment. A clean, bright, good, informative, joyful atmosphere helps promoting the progress. Too much decorations, games, posters restrict freedom. Structured purposeful teaching aims to lighten the burden of everyday planning; with the help of reflection it is possible to organize the process, to set the rules, to develop the content, to decorate the everyday routine, to liven up the imagination, and to relieve the load of work.

Some practical remarks related to teacher’s professional identity

All parties involved in the pedagogical process must be aware of their rights, obligations, and responsibilities. All parts in the teaching process must contribute to the development of a suitable, confident, and engaging atmosphere. An effective teacher-student interaction is built upon a constructive dialogue. Teachers must look through the students’ eyes in order to solve the problems and find answers. Some teachers are guides, and some are leaders, but all of them must stand for justice and morality and not give up. The initiative of the teacher takes diverse forms (e.g., events) corresponding to different aims. Teachers should seek for interaction with a wider society, cooperate with diverse stakeholders, and not be afraid to get feedback whenever they can.

Novice educators spend a lot of time preparing each lesson hoping that later, when the process becomes familiar and materials are ready, everything will run effortlessly. Flexibility must be squarely equipped. The teacher must constantly follow what happens in the world, in other countries and cultures, as it is beneficial when organizing debates, quizzes, games. “The educator develops his/her personality through nonbinding activities like music, sport, travel, visits of cultural events and, of course, reading, and teacher must be prepared for everything”.

The appropriate body language is important, the feelings must be handled, and emerging problems discussed. The speech of some teachers is too monotonous. Many have problems with their voice and must take care of it; they must also learn how to alternate it. Educational process can also be emotionally draining and therefore requests control over the feelings. Educators must switch from the classroom teaching to their life at home remembering that those who live with them are not their students.

Teachers are people who want to improve the society, who try to be the best they can be: “I love my work; I love the pupils I work with and I hope we can do better together in our surrounding world. The result will come slowly, but it will be worth it!”

“A teacher should not only be a, who serves the people by doing his/her job. A teacher should be an exampleto his/her students, a person in whose footsteps the students would gladly walk”. Improvisation allows the teacher not to stick to the prepared plan but to adjust it anew to the current setting. Still, “it seems that the longer you work at school, the less you know how to do the job”. A self-assessment should be supplemented by valid proofs and evidence. Satisfaction comes when the job is also the hobby.

The teachers who follow a different paradigm struggle to change their point of view.

According to the respondents, communication awakens the thought, thus, it is important that teachers understand the students and. Respondents often idealize the teacher and believe that this ideal can be reached – although randomly, not always and not by everybody. They realize that all the time the students want something new, ambitious, fascinating and exciting, something that would bring joy and significance into the subject teaching. The research participants are against the dullness. This can be viewed as exaggerated statement, because the pupils must also learn to cope with boring things, they must acquire the ability to find activities for themselves and must learn to see some beneficial and practical sides also in the dull situations they encounter.

The teachers learn from their colleagues, students, encounters, and other sources; this is immanent to the profession, although not easy to grasp. Paradoxically, they tend to be conservative but at the same time emphasize the innovative methods; and they do not trust the textbooks too much. A positive, inspiring attitude helps to overcome the difficulties; it stimulates the “ability to smile, joke, and search for opportunities and not for excuses”.

Applying self-reflection, teachers can better understand themselves, develop their pedagogical identity and their teaching methods. The reactions of students help to analyze what was a failure and what can be a success. Many who suffered from their teachers in their childhood can now comprehend their students better.

All participants highlighted the ability of the teachers to have authority and to maintain the discipline. At the same time, they supported the idea of making everybody feel special and of practicing democracy. Not surprisingly, the pupils like active, attractive, interesting and creative lessons the most. Nowadays, the teachers are especially exposed to the criticism and therefore must be brave enough to face the frustrations. It does not mean that the teachers must reject all the comments but that they are obliged to integrate their advanced experience into curriculum.

Teachers confess that they like children, and pedagogy for them is more satisfying than commerce. It seems that all of them want to be great and passionate teachers – teachers in a unique manner; nobody wants just to fulfill the standards. The relationships between students, parents and educators must be developed on the grounds of reciprocal empathy, recognition of rights, fair play, and awareness of emotional impact. The educators must abandon some of their persisting stereotypes and superstitions and evolve into self-confident persons; they are on the way to competence-based approach, ready to accept challenges and invest in the development of the reformed system. The teachers must reflect upon their own skills and find out what their strengths and weaknesses are, and the pupils should do the same. The teachers help their students to develop their own identity, understand the beauty of learning, and to acquire knowledge, competences, and values. Everyone has several teachers behind, and the best reward is when the students make progress and are grateful.

For reflection to be fruitful, it is important to change the way of thinking and attitude. First of all, it is important to understand and accept the reflection as a value, to develop ability to observe, describe and analyse events and activities, search for alternatives. Reflection allows seeing clearer one’s own achievements and growth has well as growth of the students. Reflection and search for teacher’s professional identity go hand in hand.

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Publication date.

15 July 2021

Article Doi

https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.07.02.9

978-1-80296-113-3

European Publisher

Cite this article as:

Protassova, E., Mikelsone, I., & Latsone, L. (2021). Teacher’s Identity Development Through Reflection. In A. G. Shirin, M. V. Zvyaglova, O. A. Fikhtner, E. Y. Ignateva, & N. A. Shaydorova (Eds.), Education in a Changing World: Global Challenges and National Priorities, vol 114. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 67-77). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.07.02.9

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LETTERS AND LEAVES

The craft, and occasional mess, of teaching passionately, creatively, and sustainably.

FIRST YEAR , MINDSET , PEDAGOGY · March, 6

Teacher Self Reflection: A Guide

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure  here .

In this blog post, I share the different modes of teacher self reflection and provide real-life examples of these teacher self reflection practices in action. 

In another blog post , I’ve talked about tips to help you continue teaching, and all those points are essential to keep you motivated and intentional as a teacher. Here, though, I want to focus on an essential skill you must develop at the very start of your teaching career: teacher self reflection. 

Without reflection, you cannot improve as a teacher, or at anything. Reflection helps push you past the unintentional, hindering repetition that happens because you don’t know what else to do. 

Not sure why your fifth period class lacks focus? Struggling with prolonged transitions? Constantly battling students to stop talking? 

While reflection won’t magically fix these, these can all be observed and strategically attacked through the process of reflection. 

Now, before diving into the tips for successful and effective teacher self reflection, it’s important to note there are different types of reflections. 

There are four modes of reflections, as clearly described in the “Reflective practice” page on the New South Wales Education government site . 

Reflection-in-practice

Reflection-on-practice, reflection-for-practice, reflection-within.

All of these are undoubtedly important. However, I assert that reflection-on-practice is the most approachable during your first year of teaching. 

If you’re anything like me, reflection-in-practice, in the moment, did not happen until I was more confident in the classroom. Until I felt like I learned how to force myself to breath, take a step back, and watch . The same with reflection-for-practice, which involved the first and the second together. 

Perhaps reflection-within is approachable for first year teachers, but again I argue this comes with greater understanding of yourself as a teacher, and thus may come more often after a few months in the classroom. 

As I said, this practice was much harder to do when I first stepped into my own classroom. Even with experience using this mode of teacher self reflection while student teaching, it was still a challenge. As a fully fledged teacher in my own classroom, I struggled to separate from the moment to reflect until a few months into my first year of teaching. 

This mode became necessary on days when plans totally bombed, they just fell apart, the train derailed. Whatever metaphor you want to use. Reflection-in-practice needs to happen when things are going disastrously. 

I distinctly remember a disastrous moment. At first, it seemed all was well. I reviewed the directions, handed out the supplies, and set students to work. Within minutes, student after student pelted me with questions. 

“Ms. Kyra, what do we do?”

“Wait, I’m so confused! What are we doing?”

“Why do we need to do _____? Aren’t we working on _____?”

These questions were not limited to the few who typically ask for a bit more explanation. No, it was nearly everyone. My directions didn’t make sense, what I said out loud was completely different than what was on the paper. They were lost. Heck, I was lost! 

In a moment of complete panic, I stopped everyone and said, “People! Stop. This is clearly not working. I messed up. I want us to analyze this story and consider how _____ affects the main character… How can we do that given the materials we have in front of us?” 

This became one of the best moments that could have happened. Immediately I had students thinking and discussing, and then pitching me ideas. Together, we came up with a plan, we wrote the directions on the white board together, and we got to work. 

Rather than see this as only a failure, I saw this as a moment of genius! My students were planning with me, creating their own assignment, and they were invested . 

This reflection-in-practice changed the atmosphere and energy in the room. I was able to walk around and observe them working and take more moments of reflection. How could I replicate this class brainstorm with my next class without the stress and confusion? 

Sometimes, reflection-in-practice happens out of necessity in between periods. You know, those precious minutes when you really need to run to the restroom, but you also need to jot down quick notes on essential changes to your lesson plan for next period? Those passing periods or recess sessions when you only have time to grab a notebook and jot down quick changes in the 5 minutes before the next group plops into their chairs. 

The power of this mode of reflection is undeniable, and it is a mode I use more frequently than any other at this point in my career. Force yourself to try this. Don’t stick with a mediocre or poor lesson out of fear.

My advice? Give students an activity that gets you out of the way , and then you can observe and reflect on what’s going well and what isn’t. And, don’t be afraid to abandon ship and build a better one in the moment, with students as your crew mates.

A more formal mode of reflection is reflection-on-practice . 

As previously noted, you need a notebook for processing, which is after all the very purpose of reflection. While I admit I didn’t reflect-on-practice every day, I did it several times a week. I made myself take 5 minutes before I left my classroom to write down what went well, what could have gone better, and what I want to change for tomorrow. Just those three things. 

By writing these down, I gave myself greater purpose and hope for the next day. There were celebrations—no matter how small—and clear goals. As simple as it sounds, this made it easier for me to walk out the classroom door feeling less defeated, and it made walking back in the next morning doable. 

I don’t mean to paint a dire picture of teaching. It is an honorable and enjoyable career! But it’s hard. In fact, I’m not sure hard covers it. That first year, I was so drained . Every day. And in this way I am not an outlier. 

Thus, to keep the enormity of the teaching task in perspective, to break it down into manageable bits, reflection helps. 

The next morning before the students arrive, I would look at my reflections and come up with changes to the flow of the lesson, the timings, and even my strategies and words. It’s important to take a step away, a night away, and then come back with a clearer set of eyes. Did things implode yesterday because of the tone I used? Did x not work out because of y? Or is x the problem itself? 

Not all the problems can be solved in 15 or 30 minutes before the day starts, but they can be solved over longer periods of time: weeks and months. If you keep a reflection journal, even if only filled with 5 minute reflections, you will start to see patterns. 

Once you’ve trained yourself to reflect-on-practice effectively, you may need to do it less. Especially If things are going well, maybe it’s more reasonable for you to take a bigger chunk of time and reflect once a week.

This mode of teacher self reflection combines the first two with the specific purpose of making changes. This is the proactive form of reflection—the reflection you do as a teacher when you are planning out future lessons and curriculum. “Often called ‘closing the gap’ reflection, it focuses on closing the gap between what is and what might be” (“Reflective practice”). 

Who do you want to be as a teacher? What do you need to do differently to reach that? 

What kind of environment do you want to foster? What actions and words hinder that environment? What actions and words promote it? 

What relationship do you want to have with your students? Colleagues? With the parents? How can you develop and maintain that type of relationship?

What do you want students to walk away with? What needs to happen next unit, next semester, next year, to achieve those end goals? 

These are the types of questions that lead to you identifying the changes you want to make. From there, you need to actually make the changes. For me, it helps to write out what I want to see. What do I want to say when students misbehave so that I am clear that the behavior is unacceptable but I am also respecting them as a human? I write out what I want to say, and thus it sticks in my brain better. These interactions go better once I’ve planned them out. 

Maybe that sounds scripted, but honestly, that’s what worked for me my first few years of teaching. Now, I have those scripts in my brain, but to begin with, you react, you’re emotional, you have to build up your stamina and reflect on how your actions and words appear to students, parents, and colleagues, and then decide if you’re comfortable with that perception. If you aren’t, then what can you say and do differently? 

Another strategy that I highly recommend : asking for student feedback to help you reflect. You don’t always know the answers to some of these reflection questions. Sure, you can make educated guesses and logical inferences, but words from the mouths, or from the fingertips, of students are even better. 

I use Google Form surveys with students to solicit feedback .

Some of what I’ve shared in the previous section applies here too. This mode involves personal reflection on your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs as a teacher. 

Like many things, you learn from other people. So talk to your trusted colleagues, your mentors, your friends, and seek guidance to help you align your practice with your stance . If you are limited in these areas of support, then go old school and find books and authors to guide you. 

There are several books out there that help teachers decompress and reflect as a method of self care. It seems like the last few years self-care guides have exploded across all professions, and there are great options for teachers if you want a guided practice of reflection! These look like some interesting guided practices:

• Kami Guarino has a few editions of the Resilience Journal: Daily Reflection & Self-Care for Educators . 
• Grace Stevens’ A Positive Mindset Journal for Teachers .  
• Rachel Wyant’s And Why? 72 Reflection Questions for Teachers . 
• Tina H. Boogren’s 180 Days of Self-Care for Busy Educators . In addition to daily advice and tasks to take care of yourself, there are also weekly reflection questions! A double whammy. 

If you’re like me, then you might buy one of these guided books and start to use it, but then… you just don’t keep up the habit. Sure, there are strategies we could use to keep up the habit of writing in these guidebooks, such as the epic advice from James Clear’s Atomic Habits . Or, perhaps something a bit more minimal will suffice. 

In my experience, a plan notebook and a pencil often suffice. For creating lesson plans, for documenting random inspiration and ideas, and for reflecting. Honestly, reflection-within does not need to be formal . You can simply write down, daily or weekly, how you’re feeling. Then, try to dig into those less than stellar feelings—what is the root? How can you change that and allow for better outcomes and positivity? 

Like any profession, excellence in teaching takes time and conscious reflection , of various forms. Reflection-within should not be overlooked just because it’s “feeling” based. As teachers, being unaware of our feelings leads to bitterness, discontent, and those feelings too often spill over into our classrooms with how we treat our students. I’m sure you can think back to a teacher who seemed unhappy in the classroom, and who took that out on students. Don’t be that teacher. 

Reflect, realign your actions with your beliefs, and restart.

You’ve reflected. You’ve written it down. Now what? Well, if in the reflection process you did not brainstorm solutions, you need to find them. Once you’ve identified patterns of problems, you can ask for help from colleagues, research theory and practice, and even investigate potential professional developments. 

Essentially, your reflections become evidence . Of successes, of flops, and of absence. What are you doing well? What is going poorly? What are you, or students, not doing (that you or they should be)? Then, seeking answerings and advice becomes the next action you take. 

Reflection is a continual process, and although it is easy to put off and discount, it is vital to your success and longevity as a teacher. Furthermore, it is essential for your students. Teacher self reflection makes you a better teacher, which is in your students’ best interests.

Kelly, M. (2020, March 19). The Importance of Teacher Reflection . ThoughtCo. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.thoughtco.com/importance-of-teacher-reflection-8322

Reflective practice. (2021, January 21). NSW Government Website – Education. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/teacher-quality-and-accreditation/strong-start-great-teachers/developing-focus/reflective-practice

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Teaching Strategies: The Value of Self-Reflection

Janelle cox.

• October 24, 2014

Have you ever taken a moment to step back and think, “Why did I just do that?” Self-reflection is a simple way to dig deeper into your feelings and find out why you were doing something or feeling a certain way.

With a profession as challenging as teaching, self-reflection offers teachers an opportunity to think about what works and what doesn’t in their classroom. We teachers can use reflective teaching as a way to analyze and evaluate our own practices so we can focus on what works.

Why is Self-Reflection So Important?

Effective teachers are first to admit that no matter how good a lesson is, our teaching strategies can always be improved—oftentimes it’s why we seek out our colleagues’ opinions. However, we run the risk of our audience making snap judgments about our instruction without truly having the context to support it. Self-reflection is important because it’s a process that makes you collect, record, and analyze everything that happened in the lesson so you can make improvements in your teaching strategies where necessary.

The Process of Reflection

Connecting self-reflection to effective teaching is a process. The first step is to figure out what you want to reflect upon—are you looking at a particular feature of your teaching or is this reflection in response to a specific problem in your classroom? Whatever the case may be, you should start by collecting information. Here are a few ways that you can do this:

Self-Reflective Journal

A journal is an easy way to reflect upon what just happened during your instruction. After each lesson, simply jot down a few notes describing your reactions and feelings, and then follow up with any observations you have about your students. If it helps, you can break up your journal into concrete sections, such lesson objectives, materials, classroom management, students, teacher, etc. In this way, you can be consistent with how you measure your assessments time after time. You can find specific questions to ask yourself below.

Video Recording

A video recording of your teaching is valuable because it provides an unaltered and unbiased vantage point for how effective your lesson may be from both a teacher and student perspective. Additionally, a video may act as an additional set of eyes to catch errant behavior that you hadn’t spotted at the time. Many colleges actually use this method to teach up-and-coming teachers the value of self-reflection.

Student Observation

Students are very observant and love to give feedback. You can hand out a simple survey or questionnaire after your lesson to get students’ perspectives about how the lesson went. Think critically about what questions you’d like to ask, and encourage your children to express their thoughts thoroughly. It’ll not only be a learning experience for you, but also an indirect exercise in writing for them.

Peer Observation

Invite a colleague to come into your classroom and observe your teaching. Now this is much different and more relaxed than when you have your principal come in and watch you. As a result, you’ll be able to teach more naturally and give your colleague an honest perspective of your instruction methods . To help them frame your lesson critique more clearly, create a questionnaire (you can use some of the questions below) for your colleague to fill out as they observe. Afterward, make some time to sit down with them so they can more accurately convey what they saw.

Questions to Ask Yourself

Whether you’re using a self-reflective journal or trying to get feedback from your students and peers, perhaps the hardest part is actually coming up with the right questions to ask. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

Lesson Objectives

• Was the lesson too easy or too difficult for the students?
• Did the students understand what was being taught?
• What problems arose?
• Did the materials keep the students engaged in the lesson?
• What materials did we use that worked in the lesson?
• What materials did we use that didn’t work in the lesson?
• Are there any resources or techniques that you’d like to see used instead?
• Were students on task?
• With what parts of the lesson did the students seem most engaged?
• With what parts of the lesson did students seem least engaged?
• Where my instructions clear?
• Was the lesson taught at a reasonable pace?
• Did all students participate in the lesson?
• How effective was the overall lesson?
• How can I do it better next time?
• Did I meet all of my objectives?
• How did I deal with any problems that came up during instruction?
• Was I perceptive and sensitive to each student’s needs?
• How was my overall attitude and delivery throughout class?

Analyze and Implement Effective Techniques

Now that you have collected the information and student data, it’s time to analyze it . The first thing you should look for is any recurring patterns. If you video recorded your lesson, did you find anything that kept happening over and over? Look at your student feedback forms. Is there anything that students kept talking about?

Now that you have figured out what needs to be changed, you need to find solutions. There are a few avenues I would encourage you to explore:

• Talk to your colleagues about your findings and ask them for advice. They may have the same issue in their classroom and can offer you some ideas on how do things differently.
• Go online and read up on effective techniques that can help remedy your situation. As an age-old profession, there are bound to be resources that exist for the problems you’re experiencing.
• Interact with other teachers on blogs and on social media sites. Posting questions on popular forums and blogs may open up new perspectives and techniques that you hadn’t considered before. These avenues may also have insight for any new questions that you should include on future surveys.

The ultimate goal of self-reflection is to improve the way you teach. Through the findings you gather, you may gain the insight you need to take your instruction to the proverbial next level, or you may find that you’re already doing a stellar job. In either case, self-reflection is a technique that can gauge your standing honestly and you should strive to implement it throughout the year. By the time the next new class rolls around, you’ll have a much better, comprehensive toolkit to pull from when it’s time to teach that lesson once again.

• #SelfReflection , #TeachingStrategies

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SELF-REFLECTION: ARE YOU A REFLECTIVE TEACHER?

Self-reflection is one of the most powerful practices to improve teaching. When you practice self-reflection regularly, it will completely transform your classroom and instruction.  Furthermore, self-reflection can take you from being a good teacher to being a great teacher. Are you ready to begin the transformation?

The old me – pre self-reflection days

In my early teaching days, I rushed through each day, trying to get everything done. At the end of the day, I left my classroom behind, went home, and began my other job of being a single mom. I was happy when everything in my class went great, but I sometimes blamed it on the kids if everything didn’t go just as I planned. Purposeful self-reflection was the last thing I had time for or wanted to do for that matter. Boy was I wrong!

What changed things?

In 2002, I decided to go through the National Board Certification Process. During the NBCT certification process, you submit examples of your lessons through videos and student products.  You must also include detailed descriptions and self-reflections of your lessons. And, in those reflections, you cite examples of what worked, what didn’t, and give ways to improve the lesson.

This blog post IS NOT about National Board Certification.  Furthermore, I am not advocating you go through the National Board Certification process.  But, I am proposing you adopt using self-reflection to improve you teaching.  Try to find time at the end of the day, unit, or week to reflect on your teaching. Those self-reflections are powerful, painful, humbling, validating, and a thousand other emotions jumbled together. But most importantly, you will learn a lot about yourself and your students!  

Self-reflection tips to remember

1.  there is no such thing as a perfect teacher or a perfect lesson.

Perfect it one word we need to throw out the door! While reflecting on your teaching, you can easily become overly critical of yourself. I have never taught a perfect lesson – sometimes I didn’t wait long enough after asking a question, or I didn’t ask enough high level thinking questions, etc. To this day, I have never reflected on a lesson that I couldn’t find ways to improve. And that is GOOD!  Remember, If everything is perfect there is no growth. 

2.  Use a list of self-reflection questions

When reflecting, I suggest using a list of questions. I have a list of questions I use to reflect on my lessons which you can download and use.  You can just read them and think about them, write your self-reflections in a journal, turn them into a checklist, etc.  These questions were useful to me and I hope you might find them useful as well. For me, a great time to reflect on my day was while driving home in my car. But, if you live where there is tons of traffic, maybe this isn’t such a good idea. Also, I love to take long baths at the end of the day. It is very relaxing, and a great time for reflection.

Initially, I suggest picking one or two areas to focus on and go from there. If you try to pick too many areas, you will become overwhelmed. Also, you don’t want to spend all night reflecting on your lesson!  

Classroom culture/classroom community questions

• Were the students willing to take risks/ try something new?
• Do you feel the students felt comfortable asking questions?
• Did the students listen to the opinions/thoughts/ideas of others?
• Were the students the center of the classroom discussions?
• Did students follow the classroom rules? 
• Do the students interact well with each other?
• Were the students comfortable letting me know they didn’t understand something?
• Did I give students equal attention during the lesson?
• Was I happy teaching this lesson?
• Did I have a positive demeanor during the lesson?
• How do I think I handled any classroom disruptions or student behavior issues? 
• Did the students work well with each other in their groups?  Are there any changes I need to make with grouping?

Planning and Preparation Questions

• What were my goals for this lesson – what did I want the students to know, understand, and be able to do as a result of this lesson?
• Why did I plan this learning experience as a way to achieve my goals?
• Was I prepared for today’s lesson – did I have all my materials prepared and organized?

Self-reflection Questions About Instruction

• What went well in the lesson?
• To what extent were my students engaged in the lesson?
• Did the students appear interested in and/or excited about the lesson?
• What did I do to engage the students or get them excited at the beginning of the lesson?
• Did I modify my lesson based on the needs of the students?
• If I had to teach this lesson again, what would I do differently?
• Did the students accomplish my goals for the lesson?  If, not, what are my next steps:
• What was the most challenging part of this lesson?
• Who did most of the talking?  The students or me?
• Do I feel there were any missed opportunities in this lesson where I could have gone into more depth or expanded the lesson in some way?
• Did any students struggle with this lesson?  What are some strategies/activities I can use that might help them master the content and/or skills in the lesson?
• Were accommodations provided for both high achievers and struggling students?
• What method(s) of assessment did I use to determine the success/understanding/progress of my students during this lesson?
• Were there  opportunities for whole group, small group, and individual work?

3. Recognizing areas you need to improve is the first big step

Everyone finds different areas they need to focus on improving.  Recognizing those areas is the first big step. Now that you are aware, you know areas you need to improve.  For example, you might decide you need to differentiate more to meet the needs of all your students.  Or, you need to provide more opportunities for formative assessment during your lessons.  Finally, you may think you need to increase wait time when asking questions. 

4.  Video is powerful for SELF-REFLECTION

First and foremost, the information you get from watching yourself on video is the most valuable information you can get. Of course, I think everyone hates watching themselves on video. But, watching a video of your teaching is very revealing.  For example, you are able to view your class as a spectator rather than as the presenter of the lesson. There are so many things a video tells you that you will never notice yourself.  When I watched my video, I realized that I didn’t give enough wait time after I asked a question.  Also, I noticed I needed to ask more high level questions. Through video, I could see that when a student gave an answer, I needed to ask more probing questions such as Why do you think that? , What else can you tell me? , or How does that relate to something else we have studied?  

First of all, I suggest asking a friend or colleague to video you. If that’s impossible, set up your phone or camera in the room and just let it run. The first time you video your lesson, your students may not act normally.  However, once they are used to being recorded regularly, they will act more normal. 

Remember, some school systems require permission to video your class.  For this reason, it is important to let parents know how and why you are videotaping the class. In my experience, parents usually consent if they know the videos will not be shared and are for your own professional development.

Suggestions For Watching Your Video

In the beginning, you might tend to focus more on yourself than the students and instruction when reviewing your video.  I know I did.  I said things like: I didn’t know my voice sounded like that!  My hair looks terrible!  I don’t like that outfit. It makes me look fat.  First and foremost, this video is not about your looks or your voice! Get over it! You want to learn about your teaching, not your voice and appearance. With that in mind, here are a few suggestions for watching your video.

• Turn the sound off the first time you watch the video. Silence enables you to focus on the students and watch their faces and body language.  Ask yourself, are they interested in the lesson or turned off?  Do they interact with their classmates?  Are they on task or goofing off?  Remember, if you watch with the sound on, you might miss some of this valuable information. Of course, you should turn the sound on for subsequent viewings.
• Watch with a purpose in mind. You might want to focus on how you introduced the lesson, student engagement, questioning strategies you used, use of wait time, how you called on students or how students worked in groups, etc. Remember, if you try to focus on every little thing you will become overwhelmed.
• Take notes of things you notice. First, put a checkmark on things you think are important or significant. Next, note if they a positive or negative. Above all, don’t just focus on things you think didn’t go well. Take note of what worked and what made you feel good about the lesson. First and foremost, reflection is not just about recognizing areas to improve.  Reflection also validates what you are doing right!

5.  Make a plan

Last, but not least, you need a plan. It is helpful to reflect and identify areas you do well and those that need improvement. However, awareness is usually not powerful enough to evoke change.  Most importantly, you must have a plan. You may have identified a number of areas you feel need improvement, but you don’t want to try to change everything at once.  Pick one or two areas you feel you wish to improve and create a plan. 

Next, decide what action steps you will take to meet your goal. This might include attending a professional development session, reading books, specific strategies you will use, etc.

Finally, decide how you will measure your improvement. Depending on the goal, you will have different data to demonstrate improvement. Will you record yourself? Will you have a friend observe you?  Will you use anecdotal notes?  Will you keep a journal? Will you use assessment scores?  

Bottom Line

To sum it up, and with no reservations, I can say purposeful self-reflection is the greatest practice to improve your teaching.  Self-reflection can be both painful and rewarding at the same time.  Remember, don’t just focus on the areas you need to improve.  Pay attention to the things you do well.  It is easy to get down on yourself when you are reflecting on your teaching.  But you need to realize and accept  there’s no perfect teacher and no perfect lesson. The greatest athletes, authors, and professionals are constantly reflecting on their practice and working to improve and hone their skills. You’ve got this!

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Reflecting on teaching practice.

Reflection is an integral part of the teaching process. School activities in and outside the classroom create a natural environment for reflective teaching. Professional experience, healthy self-awareness, and genuine care for students and colleagues help teachers to reflect effectively. Reflective practices consist of in-the-moment reflection for immediate action, after-the-moment reflection for future action, and outside reflection for exchange of reflective experience among a teacher’s colleagues and professional learning networks. Reflection promotes evidence-based changes in the classroom to advance teaching practices and is one of the cornerstones of a teacher’s professional development and supports the quality of education in today’s ever-changing world.

Questions to Consider

Why is reflection essential to my growth as a teacher?

How do I receive feedback about my teaching and lesson content?

How does reflection impact my next steps towards continued growth as a blended or online teacher?

At-a-Glance Video

• Topic Summary
• Infographic: Reflective Questioning and Strategies
• Infographic: The Continuous Reflection Cycle
• Infographic: Benefits of Reflective Teaching

Web Resources

Reflection resources.

• Ways to be a More Reflective Teacher
• Benefits of Reflective Teaching and Learning 
• How To Apply Reflective Practice when Teaching Online
• How to Encourage Reflective Teaching in Your School
• Self-Reflection: Are You a Reflective Teacher?
• Questions to Tackle When Reflecting on Teaching
• Fun Ways to Reflect on Your Teaching
• Reflective Teaching: 5 Minute Definitions for Teachers in a Hurry
• Reflect on Teaching Practice

Related Online and Blended Teaching Hub Topics

• Building a Professional Learning Network
• Building Effective Relationships
• Culturally Responsive Teaching
• Work-Life Balance

Online and Blended Teaching Hub Tool Pages

• Assessment: Edulastic , Google Forms , Microsoft Forms
• Polling: Mentimeter , Poll Everywhere , Slido

The Role of Self Reflection in Teacher Effectiveness

Amanda Fuechtmann October 14, 2021

While teacher observation has become heavily regulated and utilized in classrooms worldwide, it is important to note that it is not the only method to improve teacher effectiveness. The pressure that teachers endure during observations often demonstrates an inaccurate representation of teacher behavior and assumes that effective classroom practices are known and recognizable.

Additionally, observers often struggle to provide unbiased feedback , leaving teachers frustrated and unsure about what practices to implement or alter in their classrooms. So, how can teachers utilize critical self-reflection to deeper understand their teaching style and determine how to improve their effectiveness?

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Why Teacher Observations fail to represent accurate competency levels

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Throughout teacher observations, many factors are present that suggest conclusions drawn from these findings might not always give an accurate view into a teacher's practice, and educators should utilize alternative feedback processes to improve effectiveness. Teachers experience high levels of stress throughout observations as peers or administrators evaluate their teaching methods, which can cause uncharacteristic behavior to occur. Especially as significant staffing decisions such as reemployment or promotions continue to rest on evaluations, the stress teachers endure during these times continues to rise. Furthermore, as Susan Stodolsky studies in her article " Teacher Evaluation: The Limits of Looking, " teacher evaluations rest on the assumption that effective teaching practices are known and recognizable.

Many school districts assume that because of the high regulation in teacher observations, evaluators will be able to identify effective practices in the classroom and provide a fair examination. However, administrators evaluate based on specific criteria that prompt them to observe if teachers demonstrate chosen actions and provide a summary score on the teacher's class. This evaluation process encourages standardized teaching practices that create consistency and fails to acknowledge systematic variation that boosts classroom engagement (Stodolsky, 1984).

Therefore, it is wrong to assume that small actions observed during an evaluation period represent an accurate picture of a teacher's capabilities. Since feedback from teacher observations often contain bias due to the limited actions evaluated and fails to recognize the variation in teaching practices, it is essential that educators self-reflect on their teaching methods to identify patterns and improve their effectiveness.

What is self-reflection, and why is it important for teachers?

Before we examine how self-reflection enhances teachers' effectiveness, what exactly is self-reflection? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, self-reflection is " the activity of thinking about your own feelings and behavior and the reasons that may lie behind them. " While many individuals acknowledge the importance of self-reflection in their personal lives, some may wonder how this action can improve interactions in the classroom. The act of self-reflection allows teachers to recognize recurring patterns in their teaching to focus on what is most effective, avoid complacency, gain the ability to act more intentionally, and identify areas of improvement.

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Ask yourself questions to recognize patterns:

After a lesson or student interaction, reflecting allows teachers to ask themselves questions about their practice and identify what they can do to improve. What actions am I currently implementing in my classroom and why? Reflecting on the effectiveness of your current methods will determine if you genuinely believe your teaching is most beneficial or if it is what you are most comfortable with. Teachers may also ask themselves, how can I encourage more engagement with my students? You might discover that you need to adjust how you deliver instruction to keep students engaged and involve them in an alternative manner. From these self-reflections, educators can consider what choices they can make to grow in the following areas.

Avoid complacency:

Reflective teaching fosters a mindset of continuous growth that prevents teachers from becoming complacent in their teaching methods. Hibajene Shandomo shares a story that explains if teachers have ten years of experience but simply repeat the same techniques year after year; they only have one year of experience repeated ten times (Shandomo, n.d.). This story suggests that it is critical to reflect on your teaching methods to improve classroom effectiveness and avoid stagnation.

Act deliberately instead of reactively:

Interactions with students and other factors cause teachers to constantly make decisions throughout their lessons, sometimes resulting in random or reactive responses rather than acting intentionally. While reactive actions are inevitable in the classroom, it is essential that teachers strive to limit their reactive behaviors and instead teach with intent. Reflecting on a particular lesson allows teachers to evaluate what went well in that lesson and identify actions that they would modify in the future. Therefore, if a similar situation occurs in the future, the educator has reflected on how they would approach it and can act according to what they feel is most effective.

Identify areas of improvement:

Once an educator has had the opportunity to reflect on their teaching and identify recurring behaviors in the classroom, they can identify areas they want to improve. Often, reflecting on improvement can be a daunting task as many individuals strive to improve in too many places and struggle to stay on track with their original goals. Since many individuals lack specificity in goal setting, one way to combat this tendency is to identify strengths and weaknesses. Educators should set a few goals to help them grow in areas of weakness and develop specific measurements to track improvement towards these goals.

How should I self-reflect?

After examining the benefits of self-reflection in teacher effectiveness, educators are eager to implement reflection into their daily routine but may be hesitant; it takes time and effort to add a review on top of a long list of daily tasks. However, self-reflection does not need to consume inordinate amounts of time to be effective. Critical reflection can take place through actions that will still respect the time of a busy educator.

Journal reflection

Utilizing a journal to reflect can help teachers recall specific events and document significant actions from that day. After a lesson or day of teaching, taking five minutes to reflect on what went well, what could have gone better, and one thing to focus on improving tomorrow takes minimal effort but will reap substantial rewards. Additionally, the physical act of reflective journaling helps educators set clear parameters around their reflection time before moving on to their next task.

Video reflection

Video-based reflection allows educators to observe their teaching both from a teacher's and students' perspective. Teachers have to balance educating students in various subjects, tending to students' varying skill levels, and developing their teaching interests to create engaging lesson plans. Due to the multitude of factors that teachers have to balance while teaching, video allows educators to view aspects they might miss. Furthermore, video reflection grants you the opportunity to evaluate unconscious actions and reflect on correcting these behaviors. While we know that self-reflection helps educators improve their effectiveness, if teachers aren't aware they are performing a particular activity, they can't reflect on how to improve it. Video is the only way to evaluate all factors of your teaching practice in an unaltered and unbiased manner and allows educators to evaluate specific parts of their lesson.

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6 Tips for Making Reflection a Consistent Habit

Reflecting on teaching practices and classroom events is valuable, but it can be tough to regularly make the time for it. These tips can help.

John Dewey once stated, “We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience.” Ongoing reflection is essential for our growth as educators. Consistent reflection on our experiences, and setting clear and meaningful goals for our own progress as teachers, should be a part of each day.

Finding the time to engage in regular personal reflection can be a challenge, with demands such as lesson planning, grading, and other responsibilities. However, reflection and goal setting helps us better understand our professional needs and plan the next steps in our learning journey. Through reflection, we focus on the continued development of essential SEL skills such as self-awareness and self-management and also focus on decision-making in our practice.

With daily reflection, we will grow and consistently improve our skills, while better processing complex or challenging experiences. When we take time to focus on some key questions such as “What went well today in our lessons?” “What is something that could have gone better?” it also helps us with our well-being. Reflecting gives us an opportunity to pause and recognize the impact of our work each day, which promotes more satisfaction and can decrease feelings of burnout that educators may experience.

teacher reflection Tips

Each day, take a few minutes to jot down thoughts about a class you taught, a conversation you had, or a tool you explored. This can help you be more intentional about and supported in your reflective practice. 1. Establish a dedicated reflection time: Being consistent with reflection is key. Consider setting aside a specific time each day or times during the week to reflect. Whether you start your day thinking about goals, focus on reflection during your lunch break or a planning period, or reflect on your teaching at the end of the day, find a time that works best for you. Make this time non-negotiable in your day. I’ve been using Focusable this year to take time to focus, think, and reflect without distraction. Focusable is a fitness tracking app for your mind that helps you to pause in the day and reflect. It will help you to gain a better understanding of yourself and what is important to you and how that can impact your work.

2. Journaling and reflection tools: Capturing your thoughts throughout the day is important. At times, we may think about our experiences and consider new ideas but then lack the ability to capture these ideas. Consider getting a reflection journal or writing space to make notes of your thoughts and observations on a daily basis. Journals do not need to be anything fancy: You can use a notebook or even digital options like Google Docs or a tool like Evernote . You can also get creative—grab a stack of note cards or make a digital reflection board using something like Google Jamboard or Padlet to post ideas. Write down at least two things you noticed that day, and then review your thoughts. Is there something you would change? How might you improve from the prior day? 3. Quick class closers: Try to take a few minutes at the end of each class or lesson to reflect on what went well and what you could improve upon. You can talk with students as they leave class and find out what helped and what they need for the next class. These quick interactions can spark reflective practice. You can also use Google or Microsoft Forms occasionally to gather feedback from students about how the class is going. This can be a quick and efficient way to gather some information to guide your reflection and make adjustments in class as needed. 4. Voice memos and podcasts: When I started podcasting, it was simply a way to reflect on the methods and tools I was using in my classroom. Every Monday for the past three years, I’ve sat down during my lunch break and recorded an episode of the podcast. Even if you don’t publish the podcast, listening to your thoughts helps to promote deeper reflection. Tools like Voxer , Anchor , and Flip can help you record your thoughts. Voxer is a walkie-talkie app that can be used to have group conversations or to store your own audio notes. You can even message and share links. Anchor is a podcasting tool that is easy to get started with, whether you record on your phone or your computer, and for your own use or to share with others. Flip can be used to record short clips of your thoughts that you can then go back and review, or you can even set up a group with colleagues to share your reflections and provide feedback to each other. 5. Professional learning communities (PLC): Teachers can reflect with their colleagues in a PLC by sharing their teaching experiences and discussing ways to improve their practice. Observations by administrators or colleagues can help us to include more reflection in our practice. With options like social media networks such as Slack , it is easy to have quick asynchronous conversations that can help you and your colleagues reflect and provide feedback to each other. If time constraints make those observations difficult to schedule, there are virtual options as well. I’ve used Edthena , a virtual coaching platform. I record myself teaching or upload a video presentation and then use it to guide my reflections as my virtual AI coach asks me to think about my instructional methods. It is helpful to have guiding questions and interactions that give teachers access to their own coach to help them continue to reflect and build professional skills and have access to helpful resources.

6. Avoiding isolation: As you’re reflecting, self-care is important. You can try to make time to take a walk during the day. Be intentional about checking in with colleagues and exchanging ideas. Grabbing a cup of coffee with a teacher friend once a week can make a big difference to your well-being. These are opportunities to share ideas, ask questions, and connect with our colleagues. It’s important to avoid isolation in our days so that we can keep learning and growing together. 

Taking time to reflect on your teaching practice can be a powerful way to grow and improve as a teacher. It can also help teachers to stay motivated and engaged in their work, as they can see the progress they are making and the impact they are having on their students.

12 Reflective Teaching Examples

Reflective teaching is a process where teachers reflect on their own teaching practices and learn from their own experiences.

This type of reflection allows teachers to see what works well in their classrooms and what needs improvement. Reflective teaching also helps teachers to understand the impact that their teaching has on students.

Examples of reflective teaching include observing other teachers, taking notes on your own teaching practice, reading about how to improve yourself, and asking for feedback from your students to achieve self-improvement.

Reflective Teaching Examples

1. reflection-in-practice.

Reflection in practice is a concept by David Schon which involves small moments of reflection throughout your day.

Instead of pausing at the end of your activities and reflecting upon what you did, Schon argues that good practitioners reflect in the moment and make tiny changes from moment-to-moment. This is the difference between reflection on practice and reflection in practice. “Reflection on” occurs once the lesson is over. Reflection in occurs during the lesson.

For example, as you’re doing a question-and-answer session with your class, you might realize that the students are tuning out and getting bored. In order to resolve this problem, you might choose to get the students all to stand up and play heads or tails for questions you ask them. This might get the kinesthetic learners re-engaged in the lesson and salvage it from its impending implosion.

Related Article: 15 Action Research Examples

2. Conducting Classroom Observations

Another way to do reflective teaching is to start a classroom observation routine. Create a template for your observations (e.g. listing each student’s name down the side, with notes beside it) and take notes on students’ work.

You could, for example, choose to observe how well students responded to a new classroom intervention. These written observations can form the basis for changes that you can make to your work as you progress.

Similarly, you could make observations about students’ interactions after changing the classroom layout. This can help you edit and refine your chosen layout in order to maximize student learning and figure out the best location for each student.

3. Pivoting based on Formative Feedback

Reflective teachers also try to obtain formative feedback from students in order to gather data that can form the basis of their reflection.

An example of formative feedback is a pre-test a month before the exams.

This pre-test can help the teacher understand the general areas of weakness for their students, and acts as the basis for a pivot in their teaching practices. The teacher may, for example, identify a specific math challenge that the majority of the students had trouble with. They can then put extra focus on that challenge for the next few weeks so the students can ace that challenge in the end-of-term test.

In this way, formative feedback is a core tool for teachers in their formative feedback toolkit.

4. Keeping a Teaching Diary

A personal teaching diary can help teachers to identify trends in their behaviors (and the behaviors of their students) that can help teachers to improve.

For example, in my teaching diary, I will often take notes about how I reacted to certain events. I’ll note my reaction as well as things I did well, ways I effectively self-regulated , and things I did poorly. If I’m taking notes on an answer to a student’s question, I might note that something I did well was “give a clear answer” but an area for improvement might be “I failed to follow-up later in the day to check my student’s comprehension”.

Incidentally, teaching diaries can be extremely useful for self-performance reviews . Bring your teaching diary into the performance review and go over it with your line manager. They will be super impressed with your reflective practice!

5. Receiving Student Evaluations

Despite how much we may despise student evaluations, they can contain important tidbits of information for us.

I often like to compare my evaluations from one to the next to see if there are changes in the student trend. I’ll also work really hard on one aspect of my teaching and see if I can get students to take notice and leave a comment in the evaluation.

For example, one semester, I decided to implement a tech intervention (I let students use an educational app in class). The students used the app, and it turns out – they didn’t like it!

Without the student evaluation, I wouldn’t have been able to identify this problem and work on solving it. You can read all about that study here, which I published in an academic journal.

6. Debriefing with a Mentor

Having a mentor has been invaluable for me in my career. By sitting down with a mentor, I learn a lot about my strengths and weaknesses.

Mentors tend to bring out reflectiveness in all of us. After all, they’re teachers who want us to improve ourselves.

Your mentor may ask you open-ended questions to get you to reflect, or discuss some new points and concepts that you haven’t thought about before. In this process, you’re being prompted to reflect on your on teaching practice and compare what you do to the new ideas that have been presented. You may ask yourself questions like “do I do that?” or “do I need to improve in that area?”

7. Using Self-Reflection Worksheets

Self-reflection worksheets are a good ‘cheat’ for figuring out how to do self-reflection for people who struggle.

You can find these worksheets online through services like Teachers Pay Teachers. They often involve daily activities like:

• Write down one thing you struggled with today.
• Write down one big win.
• Write down one thing you will actively try to work on tomorrow.

These worksheets are simple prompts (that don’t need to take up too much time!) that help you to bring to the front of your consciousness all those thoughts that have been brewing in your mind, so you can think about ways to act upon them tomorrow.

See Also: Self-Reflection Examples

8. Changing Lesson Plans Based on Previous Experiences

At the end of each unit of work, teachers need to look at their lesson plans and self-assess what changes are required.

Everyone is aware of that teacher who’s had the same lesson plan since 2015. They seem lazy for failing to modernize and innovate in their practice.

By contrast, the reflective practitioner spends a moment at the end of the lesson or unit and thinks about what changes might need to be made for next time the lesson is taught.

They might make changes if the information or knowledge about the topic changes (especially important in classes that engage with current events!). Similarly, you might make changes if you feel that there was a particular point in the lesson where there was a lull and you lost the students’ attention.

9. Professional Development Days

Professional development days are a perfect opportunity for reflective teaching.

In fact, the leader of the professional development day is likely to bake reflectiveness into the event. They may prepare speeches or provide activities specifically designed for teachers to take a step back and reflect.

For example, I remember several moments in my career where we had a guest speaker attend our PD day and gave an inspiring speech about the importance of teachers for student development. These events made me think about what I was doing and the “bigger picture” and made me redouble my efforts to be an excellent teacher.

10. Implementing 2-Minute Feedback

The 2-minute feedback concept is excellent for reflective practice. For this method, you simply spend the last 2 minutes of the class trying to get feedback from your students.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to give students a post-it note at the end of the lesson. Have them write on one side something they liked about the lesson and on the other something they didn’t like. Then, you can read the feedback to reflect on how to improve.

With younger students, you can do ‘hands up’ for students and ask them how confident they are with the topic.

For online lessons, I’ve put a thermometer up on the screen and asked students to draw on the thermometer how confident that are (line at the top means very confident, line at the bottom means not confident at all).

11. Reading Books

Books are excellent for helping us to reflect and contemplate. There is a wide range of books for teachers, from philosophical ones like Pedagogy of the Oppressed to very practical workbooks.

Through reading, we encounter new ideas that challenge our current ideas. As we pick up new ideas and information, we interrogate our current thoughts and find ways to assimilate them into our new thinking. Sometimes, that requires us to change our own current opinions or thoughts, and challenge us to consistently improve.

In this way, reading books about teaching is an inherently reflective practice. It makes us better practitioners and more thoughtful people.

12. Listening to Podcasts

Like books, podcasts enable us to consume information that can help us pause and reflect.

I personally love podcasts because I find them easier to consume than books. The conversations and dialogue in podcasts help me to feel immersed in a conversation with close friends. Good podcasts hosts make you feel like they’re grappling with the exact same concerns and emotions as you are – and it’s a motivating experience.

Good podcasts for teachers include The Cult of Pedagogy and Teachers on Fire. These podcasts help me to reflect on my own teaching practice and continue to learn new things that I can compare to my own approaches and integrate when I feel they offer new insights that are valuable.

There are many ways to incorporate reflective practice into your teaching. By taking the time to reflect on your teaching, you can identify areas where you can improve and make changes to your practice. This will help you to become a more effective teacher and better meet the needs of your students. Through reflective practice, you can also develop a stronger sense of who you are as a teacher and what your personal teaching philosophy is.

Drew, C. & Mann, A. (2018). Unfitting, uncomfortable, unacademic: a sociological critique of interactive mobile phone apps in lectures. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-018-0125-y

Lousberg, L., Rooij, R., Jansen, S. et al. Reflection in design education. Int J Technol Des Educ. 30, 885–897 (2020). doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-019-09532-6

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 100 Consumer Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 30 Globalization Pros and Cons

2 thoughts on “12 Reflective Teaching Examples”

Dr Chris Drew, this article is useful for teachers like me. I really appreciate your hard work. Thank you for being a helpful professor. Sandy

Dr, Chris Drew. First of all Congratulations. This article is handy for me as I am doing my teacher training course. You did a good job, explaining in a simple manner so, anyone can understand easily. Thank you so much. Alka

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How Teachers Use Self-Reflection and Evaluation in Education

Do you consider yourself a reflective teacher? Learning to use self-reflection and evaluation in education to move your career and personal life forward to achieve your goals.

Self-reflection and evaluation are an essential part of my daily routine. Trust me, it works.

Improved class performance, small ‘thank you’ notes from students and their parents, and the appreciation of your peers and supervisors – these are items that testify to you being a good teacher. Go the extra mile to become an exceptional educator. Embrace and model two tools for your students: reflection and self-assessment. This process coincides with the growth mindset concept paramount in education and anyone’s life.

Understanding Self-Reflection and Evaluation in Teaching

As a reflective teacher, you know ‘reflect’ means to ‘contemplate’ and to think seriously. Reflection goes far beyond this meaning in an educational setting. It’s a critical self-regulation factor that motivates teachers to monitor their performance and evaluate their progress against specific criteria.

Through the self-evaluation stage that follows, they can recognize their strengths and identify weaknesses, which, in turn, allows them to formulate strategies for challenging situations. As this is an iterative procedure, teachers will soon begin to recognize improvement. Analyzing this further will enable them to choose more appropriate goals and develop reasonable plans.

Why You Should Reflect and Evaluate Your Work

It’s easy to become the victim of your ego when someone proposes you reflect on and evaluate your current process. After all, you are a capable instructor whom the school chose because of their capabilities, knowledge, and experience. Proposing self-reflection and self-evaluation isn’t to undermine your skills or demean you. It’s an invitation to reap numerous benefits that will transport you to the ranks of a “rocking with the times” teacher. Here is an article from the University of Washington on self-reflection on teaching .

Self-reflection is one of the most efficient ways to acknowledge that your teaching strategies can be improved. Instead of having others make snap judgments about your method without having the context to support it, it is you who collects and analyzes all data to ensure your teaching strategies improve if necessary.

“We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.” ― John Dewey

There is truth to the trending topic of teachers teaching the value of failing intelligently, one of the top 10 education career trends for teachers .

As for self-evaluation, this process allows you to step successfully into your students’ role, their parents and your superiors entrusted you to take care of with expertise. If you don’t take the time to evaluate whether or not your students understand what you impart, your effort and time will go to waste. This process is fundamental if you have ‘at risk’ students who need more attention.

Another reason to evaluate yourself is to enhance your skills as an educator. As an expert on a subject, you understand what you’re trying to say. Your students are another story, though. By asking for their feedback, you’ll be able to discover problems in your teaching style and begin fixing them. However, don’t request feedback if you don’t plan on improving accordingly.

Not only will you offend the people you’ll be working with for the rest of the school year, but you’ll teach your students that reflection and self-evaluation are useless tools.

Opening up to self-evaluation will help close the gap between you and your students. They’ll discover you are a learner with successes, failures, frustrations, and concerns. As a result, they’ll feel safe about sharing what they think. Remain patient and attentive while listening to students’ queries and celebrating mistakes, emphasizing they lead to learning opportunities.

Finally, combining your reflections and self-assessment results lets you gather better data and opinions while strategizing with your supervisor. They will guide you on the best methods and share valuable advice from their experience.

In addition to advancing your career through relevant information, regularly touching base with your supervisor will show your dedication to your students and job. Rest assured, your passion for reflective teaching and helping students won’t go to waste, and you may receive a better compensation package in the future.

The Process of Self-Reflection in Teaching

Once you decide whether to reflect on a specific feature of your teaching or a particular problem in your classroom, you can begin collecting information on the feature or problem. This knowledge lets you determine what you’re up against and take necessary steps, such as the following.

A Journal – A self-reflective journal is probably the easiest way to track the success level of the lesson. After class, jot down a few notes detailing your reactions, feelings, and any observations identified about your students. To ensure your assessment’s consistency, break down your journal into sections like lesson objectives, classroom management, and materials.

Video Recording – A valuable method to facilitate self-reflection, video recording is probably the best. It gives you an unbiased view of how practical your lesson was from both a teacher’s and a student’s perspective. While viewing the video footage later, you may encounter odd behavior you didn’t catch while teaching.

Student Observation – Students love giving feedback, so provide them with the opportunity to share their opinions. Hand out a survey or questionnaire that allows them to express what they feel about your lesson. Remember to write the questions in a way that enables them to express their thoughts thoroughly.

If you think your students won’t fare well writing their thoughts, conduct focus-group interviews or have an outside person take over instead to ensure objectivity. Ask the questions you have in mind and probe the students to get more detailed information and clarification. Only choose this path if your student-teacher relationship is strong and built on trust.

If you’d rather not be as direct, you can evaluate your technique and how well your students are learning by looking at their assignments and test results, provided they’re well-designed to measure students’ learning achievements. Conduct verbal tests after each class; ensure every student participates.

Peer Observation – Have a colleague observe your teaching. As the observation is more casual, you’ll be able to teach naturally, and your observer will be able to provide insight into your instruction. Since your colleague is as busy as you are, create a questionnaire using questions like those below so they can fill it out as they observe.

Was the lesson too easy or too difficult for the students?

Have you taught to make sure students understand the content?

Did any issues arise in class?

During which parts of the lesson did the students seem most engaged?

Which parts didn’t seem as impressive or compelling?

Do you think the materials used in class helped? Which were the most useful and which didn’t work in the lesson?

Do you have any suggestions for better materials I can use?

Were my lesson instructions clear?

Was I delivering the course material at a reasonable pace?

Did all the students participate in the activity?

How practical was the lesson overall? Do you have suggestions on how I can improve to encourage more involvement or increase learning?

How well do you think I managed to handle problems during instruction?

Do you think I was perceptive and sensitive to my students’ needs?

How were my attitude and delivery overall?

After collecting this information, you should begin analyzing it. First, look for recurring patterns. Did your camera record something that kept happening several times during your class? Are several students pointing out the same issue in their feedback forms? Jot down areas that need change and start looking for solutions.

Two excellent sources you should explore are:

Colleagues – Peers will offer valuable advice, especially since they may have faced the same issue. Even if they didn’t, they’d provide you with a list of tips on how to do things differently.

World Wide Web – You can use the Internet (capitalized, I think it’s a proper noun) to locate resources explaining and solving your challenges. Use the World Wide Web to find other teachers on blogs and social networks. By interacting with them, you can ask questions and discover exciting answers.

Remember that the goal of this is for you to improve how you teach. Therefore, make sure to implement any changes to your technique or delivery before your next

How to Effectively Plan Your Self-Evaluation

Subjecting yourself to teaching strategies and instructional techniques for your critical evaluation isn’t enough. After all, you’ll only develop a checklist that allows you to focus on ideas instead of formal structure. For the latter, you need self-evaluation. This more precise method requires more planning since it can help you improve the educational experiences you provide while highlighting the education you’ll need to develop your capabilities and teach well.

To plan for your self-evaluation, use the following five steps.

Define the Context of What You Will Teach

Describe the lesson’s objectives or course, detailing information about the purpose of the assessment and intended uses.

Identify the Stakeholders

Mention those involved (e.g., students, department, instructors, etc.) and list their needs. Recognizing this will allow the assessment process to grow more focused, maximizing the benefits of this procedure.

Establish Central Questions

Determine the purpose of the evaluation by devising broad questions. These questions will help you establish how the assessment should be conducted.

Mention How You Intend to Use the Assessment Results

Establish how you will use the results for each of your fundamental inquiries. Ensure users relate directly to the assessment’s purpose.

Create an Assessment Plan

In this step, you’ll create a plan which includes an overview of how the research will be implemented to reach the objective.

With a plan, you can begin your analysis through paper and pencil classroom assessments, document analysis (for syllabi, exams, etc.), observation, surveys, and even product analysis (examining portfolios or objects designed to demonstrate learning).

The Bottom Line to Advancing Your Career

Self-reflection and self-evaluation are necessary for any teacher who wants to become a capable educator and efficiently advance their career. Both practices are necessary if you value your students and effectively share your knowledge. Enjoy their benefits by practicing them regularly and acting on their outcomes. Start assessing your teaching skills before your next class to join the ranks of great all-star educators.

Using this beneficial strategy, include your experience and success in implementing self-evaluation and reflection when writing your resume and cover letter.

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The importance of self-reflection in teaching.

• The Juice Team
• May 25, 2021

The top priority as a teacher is to give students the absolute best education to ensure their success. You may study all you can in school and learn all there is to learn about teaching, but you never really know what is best for your students until you are standing in front of them delivering a lesson.

So when it’s just you and your students, how do you know if you are giving them your best? Self-reflection can be an invaluable tool to help you answer this question. Taking the time to reflect on your practice can help you improve as an educator, become more self-aware of your teaching, and better understand your students and their needs. 

What is Self-Reflection?

Self-reflection is taking an honest look at your actions and decisions and recognizing how they may have affected you, your work, and the people around you. 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 . If we are open and honest with ourselves, practicing self-reflection can push us to grow both personally and professionally.

How Can Self-Reflection Improve Your Career as a Teacher?

Teachers have an important job, and if we don’t get it right it’s our students who suffer. With different grade levels, different students with different personalities, and different expectations across schools, there is always room to change and refine your skills as an educator. 

Taking the time to reflect on your teaching, your lesson material, and how you engaged with your students can help you recognize areas of improvement . Maybe you realize your students were off-task for most of the lesson because they did not understand the material. Maybe you realize you need to add or change some classroom expectations. Maybe you realize your material wasn’t challenging enough.

You might also recognize some areas of strength . Maybe you felt your lesson went really well and your students made some breakthroughs in their understanding. You might consider sharing your ideas or strategies with a co-worker. Finding things we are good at can boost our self-esteem and increase the love we have for our profession.

Self-reflection also increases self-awareness and our ability to recognize how our words and actions affect those around us . As teachers, it is crucial to use sensitive language, teach with inclusive material, and connect with our students. Being more self-aware of what we say and how we say it can help us make our students feel comfortable and loved. 

Reflective practice can help us realize when our lesson materials need to be updated . We want to make sure our teaching aligns with current curriculum and standards. Outdated material might not be relevant or may be confusing for your students.

It’s easy to get so involved in how we teach our lesson, what materials we need, if we are meeting all our objectives, and if we timed everything correctly, and we can sometimes forget to pay attention to our students themselves . 

Taking the time to reflect on your practice can help you decide whether your students responded the way they should have and mastered understanding of the material. You can better understand your student’s strengths and their needs going forward. It helps us put our students first and recognize that teaching is not just a job to complete each day. We must do it well and acknowledge that we can always improve.

How do I Self-Reflect?

Self-reflection might be something you naturally do already. But if you’ve never tried it and don’t know where to begin, you might be feeling a little lost. The best way to start a reflective practice is to have some targeted questions to ask yourself. Here are some ideas:

• Was my lesson effective? Why or why not?
• Were my students on task?
• If not, was it because they didn’t understand or because the expectations were not clear?
• Which parts of my lesson could I improve for next time?
• What were my strengths?
• What areas did my students excel in? What areas did they struggle with?

Remember to be kind to yourself and look for strengths along with areas of growth. Be honest with yourself and reflect on what is best for your students.

Activities for Self-Reflection

There are many activities you can try to make self-reflection easier or more effective. Play around with some of these ideas to see what works best for you.

• Record your lessons and watch them back without the stress of being in front of your students. Pay attention to how you react to students, how your students react to you, your pacing, and the effectiveness of your lesson. It can be difficult to monitor your effectiveness in the moment.
• Ask your students to fill out an evaluation form so they can rate you and give you feedback. You can even have a student “observe” your lesson and highlight your strengths and growth areas.
• Keep a journal or take notes each day. Sometimes it can be difficult to remember what you wanted to change or add to a lesson. Write everything down so you have a plan for the next day. Writing down your thoughts and getting them out of your head can also keep you from unnecessary dwelling or stressing over things you want to improve.
• Have a specific time set aside for self-reflection. A great time to reflect on the day might be your commute home, while walking your dog, or maybe writing down your thoughts before you go to bed.

What to do After Self-Reflection

Practicing self-reflection can allow you to recognize and make changes in order to grow as a person and in your profession. But self-reflection is only the first step. What do you do once you’ve taken the time to reflect and have recognized a need for improvement?

Make a plan. Decide how you are going to implement these changes. What strategies can you use to improve tomorrow’s lesson? If your classroom expectations are not clear enough, make some changes and try again the next day. 

If your lesson was not effective, try to supplement your material with other resources. Ask your colleagues for help and advice. Make small changes and collect the data to monitor your improvements. And most importantly, continue to practice self-reflection.

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Self Reflection Essay

What goes through your mind when you have to write a self reflection essay? Do you ponder on your life choices, the actions you take to get where you want to be or where you are now? If you answered yes and yes to both of the questions, you are on the right track and have some idea on what a reflection essay would look like. This article would help give you more ideas on how to write a self reflection essay , how it looks like, what to put in it and some examples for you to use. So what are you waiting for? Check these out now.

10+ Self Reflection Essay Examples

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Defining Self

A person’s self that is different from the rest. On occasions it is considered as an object of a person’s view.

Defining Self Reflection

A self reflection is often described as taking a step back to reflect on your life. To take a break and observe how far you have become, the obstacles you have gone through and how they have affected your life, behavior and belief.

Defining Self Reflection Essay

A self- reflection essay is a type of essay that makes you express the experiences you have gone through in life based on a topic you have chosen to write about. It is a personal type of essay that you write about.  It makes you reflect on your life and journey to who you are today. The struggles, the fears, the triumphs and the actions you have taken to arrive at your current situation.

Tips on Writing a Self Reflection Essay

When writing a self reflection essay, there are some guidelines and formats to follow. But I am here to give you some tips to write a very good self reflection essay. These tips are easy to follow and they are not as complicated as some might believe them to be. Let’s begin. To write a good self reflection essay, one must first do:

• Think : Think about what you want to write. This is true for the title of your essay as well. Thinking about what to write first can save you a lot of time. After this tip, we move on to the next one which is:
• Drafting : As much as it sounds like a waste of time and effort, drafting what you are preparing to write is helpful. Just like in the first tip, drafting is a good way of writing down what you want and to add or take out what you will be writing later.
• State the purpose : Why are you writing this essay? State the purpose of the essay . As this is a self reflective essay, your purpose is to reflect on your life, the actions you did to reach this point of your life. The things you did to achieve it as well.
• Know your audience : Your self reflection essay may also depend on your audience. If you are planning on reading out loud your essay, your essay should fit your audience. If your audience is your team members, use the correct wording.
• Share your tips: This essay gives you the opportunity to share how you have achieved in life. Write down some tips for those who want to be able to achieve the same opportunity you are in right now.

How long or short can my self reflection essay be?

This depends on you. You may write a short self reflection essay, and you may also write a long one. The important thing there is stating the purpose of you writing your essay.

Writing a self reflection essay, am I allowed to write everything about my life?

The purpose of the self reflection essay is to reflect on a topic you choose and to talk about it.

Is there a limit of words to write this type of essay?

Yes, as much as possible stick to 300-700 words. But even if it may be this short, don’t forget to get creative and true in your essay.

A self reflective essay is a type of essay that people write to reflect on their lives. To reflect on a certain topic of their life and talk about it. Most of the time, this type of essay is short because this is merely to take a step back and watch your life throughout the beginning till the present time. Writing this type of essay may be a bit difficult for some as you have to dive deep into your life and remember the triumphs and the loss. The beauty of this essay though is the fact that you are able to see how far you have reached, how far you have overcome.

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Write a Self Reflection Essay on a time you overcame a personal obstacle.

Reflect on your personal growth over the last year in your Self Reflection Essay.

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The Importance of Self-Reflection: How Looking Inward Can Improve Your Mental Health

Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

Dr. Sabrina Romanoff, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and a professor at Yeshiva University’s clinical psychology doctoral program.

Sunwoo Jung / Getty Images

Why Is Self-Reflection So Important?

When self-reflection becomes unhealthy, how to practice self-reflection, what to do if self-reflection makes you uncomfortable, incorporating self-reflection into your routine.

How well do you know yourself? Do you think about why you do the things you do? Self-reflection is a skill that can help you understand yourself better.

Self-reflection involves being present with yourself and intentionally focusing your attention inward to examine your thoughts, feelings, actions, and motivations, says Angeleena Francis , LMHC, executive director for AMFM Healthcare.

Active self-reflection can help grow your understanding of who you are , what values you believe in, and why you think and act the way you do, says Kristin Wilson , MA, LPC, CCTP, RYT, chief experience officer for Newport Healthcare.

This article explores the benefits and importance of self-reflection, as well as some strategies to help you practice it and incorporate it into your daily life. We also discuss when self-reflection can become unhealthy and suggest some coping strategies.

Self-reflection is important because it helps you form a self-concept and contributes toward self-development.

Builds Your Self-Concept

Self-reflection is critical because it contributes to your self-concept, which is an important part of your identity.

Your self-concept includes your thoughts about your traits, abilities, beliefs, values, roles, and relationships. It plays an influential role in your mood, judgment, and behavioral patterns.

Reflecting inward allows you to know yourself and continue to get to know yourself as you change and develop as a person, says Francis. It helps you understand and strengthen your self-concept as you evolve with time.

Enables Self-Development

Self-reflection also plays a key role in self-development. “It is a required skill for personal growth ,” says Wilson.

Being able to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, or what you did right or wrong, can help you identify areas for growth and improvement, so you can work on them.

For instance, say you gave a presentation at school or work that didn’t go well, despite putting in a lot of work on the project. Spending a little time on self-reflection can help you understand that even though you spent a lot of time working on the project and creating the presentation materials, you didn’t practice giving the presentation. Realizing the problem can help you correct it. So, the next time you have to give a presentation, you can practice it on your colleagues or loved ones first.

Or, say you’ve just broken up with your partner. While it’s easy to blame them for everything that went wrong, self-reflection can help you understand what behaviors of yours contributed to the split. Being mindful of these behaviors can be helpful in other relationships.

Without self-reflection, you would continue to do what you’ve always done and as a result, you may continue to face the same problems you’ve always faced.

Benefits of Self-Reflection

These are some of the benefits of self-reflection, according to the experts:

• Increased self-awareness: Spending time in self-reflection can help build greater self-awareness , says Wilson. Self-awareness is a key component of emotional intelligence. It helps you recognize and understand your own emotions, as well as the impact of your emotions on your thoughts and behaviors.
• Greater sense of control: Self-reflection involves practicing mindfulness and being present with yourself at the moment. This can help you feel more grounded and in control of yourself, says Francis.
• Improved communication skills: Self-reflection can help you improve your communication skills, which can benefit your relationships. Understanding what you’re feeling can help you express yourself clearly, honestly, and empathetically.
• Deeper alignment with core values: Self-reflection can help you understand what you believe in and why. This can help ensure that your words and actions are more aligned with your core values, Wilson explains. It can also help reduce cognitive dissonance , which is the discomfort you may experience when your behavior doesn’t align with your values, says Francis.
• Better decision-making skills: Self-reflection can help you make better decisions for yourself, says Wilson. Understanding yourself better can help you evaluate all your options and how they will impact you with more clarity. This can help you make sound decisions that you’re more comfortable with, says Francis.
• Greater accountability: Self-reflection can help you hold yourself accountable to yourself, says Francis. It can help you evaluate your actions and recognize personal responsibility. It can also help you hold yourself accountable for the goals you’re working toward.

Self-reflection is a healthy practice that is important for mental well-being. However, it can become harmful if it turns into rumination, self-criticism, self-judgment, negative self-talk , and comparison to others, says Wilson.

Here’s what that could look like:

• Rumination: Experiencing excessive and repetitive stressful or negative thoughts. Rumination is often obsessive and interferes with other types of mental activity.
• Self-judgment: Constantly judging yourself and often finding yourself lacking. 
• Negative self-talk: Allowing the voice inside your head to discourage you from doing things you want to do. Negative self-talk is often self-defeating.
• Self-criticism: Constantly criticizing your actions and decisions.
• Comparison: Endlessly comparing yourself to others and feeling inferior.

Kristin Wilson, LPC, CCTP

Looking inward may activate your inner critic, but true self-reflection comes from a place of neutrality and non-judgment.

When anxious thoughts and feelings come up in self-reflection, Wilson says it’s important to practice self-compassion and redirect your focus to actionable insights that can propel your life forward. “We all have faults and room for improvement. Reflect on the behaviors or actions you want to change and take steps to do so.”

It can help to think of what you would say to a friend in a similar situation. For instance, if your friend said they were worried about the status of their job after they gave a presentation that didn’t go well, you would probably be kind to them, tell them not to worry, and to focus on improving their presentation skills in the future. Apply the same compassion to yourself and focus on what you can control.

If you are unable to calm your mind of racing or negative thoughts, Francis recommends seeking support from a trusted person in your life or a mental health professional. “Patterns of negative self-talk, self-doubt , or criticism should be addressed through professional support, as negative cognitions of oneself can lead to symptoms of depression if not resolved.”

Wilson suggests some strategies that can help you practice self-reflection:

• Ask yourself open-ended questions: Start off by asking yourself open-ended questions that will prompt self-reflection, such as: “Am I doing what makes me happy?” “Are there things I’d like to improve about myself?” or “What could I have done differently today?” “Am I taking anything or anyone for granted?” Notice what thoughts and feelings arise within you for each question and then begin to think about why. Be curious about yourself and be open to whatever comes up.
• Keep a journal: Journaling your thoughts and responses to these questions is an excellent vehicle for self-expression. It can be helpful to look back at your responses, read how you handled things in the past, assess the outcome, and look for where you might make changes in the future.
• Try meditation: Meditation can also be a powerful tool for self-reflection and personal growth. Even if it’s only for five minutes, practice sitting in silence and paying attention to what comes up for you. Notice which thoughts are fleeting and which come up more often.
• Process major events and emotions: When something happens in your life that makes you feel especially good or bad, take the time to reflect on what occurred, how it made you feel, and either how you can get to that feeling again or what you might do differently the next time. Writing down your thoughts in a journal can help.
• Make a self-reflection board: Create a self-reflection board of positive attributes that you add to regularly. Celebrate your authentic self and the ways you stay true to who you are. Having a visual representation of self-reflection can be motivating.

You may avoid self-reflection if it brings up difficult emotions and makes you feel uncomfortable, says Francis. She recommends preparing yourself to get comfortable with the uncomfortable before you start.

Think of your time in self-reflection as a safe space within yourself. “Avoid judging yourself while you explore your inner thoughts, feelings, and motives of behavior,” says Francis. Simply notice what comes up and accept it. Instead of focusing on fears, worries, or regrets, try to look for areas of growth and improvement.

“Practice neutrality and self-compassion so that self-reflection is a positive experience that you will want to do regularly,” says Wilson.

Francis suggests some strategies that can help you incorporate self-reflection into your daily routine:

• Dedicate time to it: it’s important to dedicate time to self-reflection and build it into your routine. Find a slot that works for your schedule—it could be five minutes each morning while drinking coffee or 30 minutes sitting outside in nature once per week.
• Pick a quiet spot: It can be hard to focus inward if your environment is busy or chaotic. Choose a calm and quiet space that is free of distractions so you can hear your own thoughts.
• Pay attention to your senses: Pay attention to your senses. Sensory input is an important component of self-awareness.

Nowak A, Vallacher RR, Bartkowski W, Olson L. Integration and expression: The complementary functions of self-reflection . J Pers . 2022;10.1111/jopy.12730. doi:10.1111/jopy.12730

American Psychological Association. Self-concept .

Dishon N, Oldmeadow JA, Critchley C, Kaufman J. The effect of trait self-awareness, self-reflection, and perceptions of choice meaningfulness on indicators of social identity within a decision-making context . Front Psychol . 2017;8:2034. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02034

Drigas AS, Papoutsi C. A new layered model on emotional intelligence . Behav Sci (Basel) . 2018;8(5):45. doi:10.3390/bs8050045

American Psychological Association. Rumination .

By Sanjana Gupta Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.