Course Brief

Rationale In all professional practice, reflection is an integral part of personal development, even if this is not consciously recognised or undertaken at a conscious level. Reflecting on what has been done, how and why and what can be learnt from the experience is a means of developing knowledge and developing personal practice. Reflection can be applied to develop learning from practice and to develop practice from learning. Some have a natural ability to reflect on and analyse their actions, interpretations etc, but for others the skills have to be learnt and then further developed over the period of their professional practice. Many professional bodies now build in reflection skills to Continual Professional Development.

  • This course is offered in 0 hours

At the end of this course students should be able to:

  • Understand the principles of reflection and how the concept has developed.
  • Undertake a detailed self-analysis in relation to their professional practice.
  • Understand their own learning style and how to apply this in the process of reflection and learning.
  • Develop skills in reflective practice and apply these to every day events with the view to improving practice where necessary and/or having a better understanding of situations.
  • Develop skills as a change practitioner in the forum of training.

The course provides a historical perspective to the concept of reflection and briefly evaluates the key works of Dewey, Habermas, Kolb and Schon. The course then goes on to develop a deeper understanding of the concept of reflection, thinking and learning together with a knowledge of self through self analysis and an understanding of personal learning style and how this can influence personal reflective action. Frameworks for reflective practice are presented together with their applications in practice. The role of the change practitioner is explored as most practitioners have a training function. The individuality of reflection is also addressed.

 

This course will be delivered by distance learning. It will be presented in a generic format so that students from a range of disciplines can use the principles of reflective practice in their own profession and in ways that best suits their own background and learning style. Throughout the study guide, students will be provided with Self Assessment Questions [SAQs] to test their knowledge and understanding of what they have read, and to enable them to apply the principles discussed to their own professional practice with a view to improvement and/or better understanding. Students are encouraged to work through the SAQs without reference to the answers which are provided at the back of the Study Guide. As the SAQs are generic in format there will be no definitive answers, but guidance to the issues/questions etc that should have been covered is provided.

This course comprises one (1) assignment