Task 2C: Reflective Theory

Critical Reflection

We all use reflective practice almost all the time, most of the time without even knowing it. Throughout the day each person experiences and reflects to create self improvement. But it is to what extent and how we do this that has been explored by Kolb, Dewey, Schon and many other practitioners. There is endless knowledge that can be learnt from your very own daily life, it just helps to have the tools to examine and process your thoughts. 

I believe this is best and most simply explained in how David Kolb defines reflective practice. 

"Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience" 

(Kolb, 1984, pg 38) 

Kolb states that when we learn something new we go through four stages of learning, a cycle that repeats itself. 

1. Concrete Experience - (a new experience of situation is encountered, or a reinterpretation of existing experience).
2. Reflective Observation (of the new experience. Of particular importance are any inconsistencies between experience and understanding).
3. Abstract Conceptualization (Reflection gives rise to a new idea, or a modification of an existing abstract concept).
4. Active Experimentation (the learner applies them to the world around them to see what results)

I find Kolb's learning cycle very engaging, as someone who manages and teaches others on a daily base I am always interested in how different people learn things, but I had never thought about it as a cycle. 

As someone who defiantly learns through the concrete experiment or "doing" stage of the learning cycle I was also very interested in Kurt Lewin's idea of action research.  

His theory involves a spiral of steps as apposed to a circular cycle of which, 

"each is composed of a circle of planning, action and fact-finding about the result of the action"

I found this article on 'Action Research' very intriguing.  

                                                  /http://infed.org/mobi/action-research/

But which of the cycles is more helpful? Do they create the same out come? Do different people fit into one cycle better that the other? Where does my own style of learning fit in? 

To develop further into this I found the research of Peter Honey and Alan Mumford stimulating. 

Honey and Mumford categories four distinct learning styles that are individual to each person. Each identified style is a preferred or most natural way for different people to maximise their own learning ability.  

• the Activist 
• the Theorist
• the Pragmatist
• the Reflector 

This chart describes how Honey and Mumford convey different students 'characteristics of learning styles', thus placing them in a labeled 'learning style' and finally showing which 'stage' of the learning cycle each student would be on. It also fully describes what would be the most beneficial way for that student to learn. 

Being able to look at the learning cycle in more detail like this has made me question my initial thought process. Having been sure I was a stage 1. experiencing learner I now feel what better describes my own preferred learning style is the stage 4. planning learner. 

I benefit from seeing how things work, putting them into practice to see what happens and then assuming to solve any problems that may have occurred. 

This now categories my own learning style on Kolb's cycle as an active experimentation learner, something I felt I had no connection with in my initial research. 

While this is extremely helpful knowledge Honey also insists the best way to learn to to become an effective learner in all styles, 

 "Learning to learn is your most important capability since it provides the gateway to everything else you want to develop."
(quoting P. Honey:)

I have also found Donald Schon's idea of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action an interesting topic. 

As I spoke about in more detail on my previous blog (Task 2A: Reflective Practice ), I was surprised by how often I use reflection-in-action in my daily professional practice. I am endlessly reflecting "online" throughout the day.  
However through my journal I have only just tired to see the full potential of the "offline" reflection, or reflection-on-action. 

"As we think and act, questions arise that cannot be answered in the present." (Smith 1994: 150)

I have found the work of all of the above practitioners to be fascinating and very eye opening in some cases. Learning to learn is not something I had ever thought about before but the results that I have seen with my own journal writing and within the research I have done so far have made me excited to see just how much more development and understanding I can encounter using reflection tools. 

I feel this quote from John Dewey best sums up,   

Learning is best conceived as a process, not in terms of outcomes.  (Dewey 1897: 79)

References 

http://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html

http://infed.org/mobi/action-research/

http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/gradschool/training/eresources/teaching/theories/honey-mumford

Donald A Schon, The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action (New York: Basic Books Inc. 1983) 

http://infed.org/mobi/donald-schon-learning-reflection-change/

 http://learningfromexperience.com/media/2010/08/ELT-Hbk-MLED-LFE-website-2-10-08.pdf