Misunderstood
One of the concepts I find students often struggle with, is reflective writing. Students’ previous learning experiences play a big role in how they conceptualize reflection. Students who are familiar with essay writing tend to write how they know and summarize the facts, and their writing remains surface-level without delving deeper into what the topic they’re learning means for them. The students who have had previous experience with reflections are better to reflect on their understanding, apply this to their learning, and make meaning for themselves. The more time we as educators take to review concepts we may assume are common knowledge, provide more context and demonstration for students who are unfamiliar, and provide opportunities for students with experience to extend their understanding, the more we are able to guide students based on a more equitable foundation.
The reflective writing analogy I chose, is describing your favourite book, show, or movie to a friend.
You watched it (or read it) and you loved it! How would you tell someone why you love it, and why they should read or watch it too? Would you just describe the plot, or would you also share your favourite parts, scenes, quotes, how it made you feel? If you look up movies described badly, they make for great laughs. But if you’re trying to convince someone why you love it or why they should read or watch it, it takes some work.
What meaning does it have for you? What do you do with this information? Will it influence the next book you read, or what you watch next? Do you compare new books, shows, or movies to how your favourite made you feel, or how it has impacted you?
When reflecting on learning, I find the process is similar. You have learned something new, and something stands out for you- a takeaway you have, a detail. You then synthesize with what you already know with new things you’ve learned, consider how it fits with your style, what you agree or disagree with, what you’re not sure about. To reflect on this, you’re doing more than just re-stating or summarizing details. It’s as if you’re telling someone about what you learned, sharing your favourite parts, quotes, analogies, references, and how it made you feel. You’re telling them about what meaning this piece of learning has for you, what you might do with this information.
How will you then bring this information along with you throughout your learning journey? Compare what you now know with new learning you make? Incorporate parts into how you shape your learning overall? What you bring with you to the field? Describe how this has impacted you?
The visual representation, the image I chose, connects to my analogy, which is how we describe our favourite book, show, or movie. Depending on how much detail and passion we give it (dropping the pebble) will impact (ripple) how we entice the person we’re describing it to, to watch or read our recommendation.
The water rippling gives the impression of change, which really ties in well with reflection, and the rocks and pebbles can represent things that might be getting in the way of understanding the concept; what you drop in the water (creating the ripple effect) can influence how far the ripple travels. If it is a small pebble, it won’t go very far. But a larger pebble or rock will go further, even beyond the rocks that are sticking out of the water. A vague or brief description of your favourite book, show, or movie, won’t necessarily have the same effect as a strong, passionate description that shares your passion!
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