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Reflective Teaching Practice

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

This module will describe reflective teaching practice and its benefits, review reflective teaching practice frameworks and models, and encourage you to explore strategies you might implement in your own teaching. 

Overview

Welcome to this module on Reflective Teaching Practice! 

Reflective teaching practice is an ongoing process by which educators examine and reflect upon their educational practices to gain insights into how to better their teaching. Developing a reflective teaching practice can help identify new areas of focus to support growth and expertise while enhancing the student learning experience, ultimately creating more responsive and effective teaching. 

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, you should be able to: 

  • Define reflective teaching practice  
  • Describe the benefits of reflective teaching practice
  • Identify various frameworks and models for engaging in reflective teaching practice  
  • Explore strategies for implementing reflective teaching practice. 

Reflective Teaching Practice: What Is It?

What Is reflective teaching practice?  

Reflective teaching practice involves an intentional process of analyzing one’s teaching practices to improve student learning and professional development as an educator.

John Dewey, a renowned philosopher and psychologist in education, defined reflection as “the active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends” (Dewey, 1933, p. 9).

Dewey saw reflection as a tool for educators to process their teaching by critically examining their experiences and using their insights to more effectively approach future practice.  

Similarly, in another influential text – The Reflective Practitioner – written by Donald Schön (1983), Schön emphasizes that a key competence in educators is reflection and being able to respond during and after each teaching situation. This ability could only be achieved through an active practice of reflection and implementation. Hence, reflection is not simply a one-off activity or moment, but rather an iterative and deliberate process.  

In higher education, beyond reflections as a form of learning activity or assessment for learners, reflective writing is often seen in the context of faculty tenure and promotion evaluations. This unfortunately focuses reflection as an output of assessing an educator’s experiences of teaching, rather than utilizing reflection for genuine professional development. An authentic and personalized reflective teaching practice can help educators grow and develop their teaching skills, ultimately improving student learning experiences. This can look like:   

  • Identifying what you do in your teaching (e.g. teaching practices, interactions, decisions) 
  • Actively questioning your own teaching assumptions, decisions, and interactions 
  • Observing and gathering evidence of your teaching (e.g. from your classroom, your students, or peers) 
  • Analyzing what worked, what didn’t work, and why – not only at a superficial level, but probing deeper to issues of assumptions, values, and / or positionality 
  • Making changes and experimenting with new approaches 
  • Refining teaching practices based on feedback and reflection on action 

Expandable List

Maya Sterling is in her second year as an Assistant Professor at a university in the Biology Department. She completed her PhD in molecular biology three years ago and was very excited to find a tenure track professorship where she would have the opportunity to do some teaching. She enjoyed being a TA during her graduate studies and developing different innovative ways to engage her students. While she did not have any formal training in education, she received a lot of positive praise about her approaches. 

Coming into her professorship, Maya has had to take on two lecture-based introductory courses, each with 150 students, as well as an upper-year seminar with 25 students. She had never taught seminar-style classes before, so she decided to mimic the course structures used by her colleagues in their courses in the department.  

During her annual review, Maya received feedback from both students and her department chair. While student evaluations praised her depth of knowledge and enthusiasm, they also revealed challenges: 

  • Students felt the lecture portions of her classes were “too fast-paced” and sometimes “overwhelming.” 
  • A number of students reported they were hesitant to ask questions in class. 

Her department chair encouraged her to “continue developing a reflective teaching practice” to grow as an educator and document this growth for tenure and promotion. Maya left the meeting puzzled. She had heard the term ‘reflective teaching’ mentioned in faculty workshops but wasn’t entirely sure what it meant or how to implement it. Is it like journaling and keeping a diary?” 

References

Dewey, J. [1933] (1986) How We Think, in: J. Boydston (ed.), John Dewey, The Later Works. Essays and How We Think 1925–1953, Vol 8 (Carbondale, IL, Southern Illinois University Press). 

Schön, D. (1987). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York, NY: Basic Books. 

Reflective Teaching Practice: Why Do It?

Why should you engage in reflective teaching practice?  

Reflective teaching practice at its core is professional development for educators. Without any external support, it is the way that any educator can develop their practices, consider what is and is not working (and why), integrate feedback, etc. This makes engaging in reflective teaching practice imperative to anyone committed to growth as an educator. This practice also aligns well with student-centered learning as it recognizes the role of the educator and how they impact the learning experience. For example, rather than seeing low class attendance as a student issue, a reflective approach may encourage educators to consider different approaches to increase student engagement. 

An additional consideration is the reality that teaching is often situated in a context that is dynamic – not only in the knowledge domain, but also in the student body, the socio-political climate, and larger cultural context. Considering these realities, it is crucial to frame teaching and learning practices as iterative processes that can respond and adapt to changing landscapes. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, educators needed to quickly pivot and adapt their practices into the online and virtual space. Engaging in reflective teaching practice facilitates one’s ability to consider with intention what needs to change in the teaching space and evaluate the impact of these sudden shifts.   

Benefits to having a Reflective Teaching Practice

Without a doubt, it is easy to understand that engaging in reflective teaching practice can be extremely valuable to one’s professional development and improve the student learning experience. A different framing by Ash and Clayton (2009) suggests that, by having a reflective teaching practice, one can:  

  • Generate learning – articulate questions, confronts bias, examine causality, compare theory to practice, connect to systemic issues  
  • Deepen learning – challenge simplistic / superficial conclusions, invite alternative perspectives, ask ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions  
  • Document learning – produce tangible evidence of new understanding for evaluation and feedback  

Expandable List

After asking Microsoft Co-Pilot to explain what reflective teaching practice means, and then spending more time reading some literature on the topic, Maya realized that this could be helpful for her. Moreover, she heard that she may need to do so for her tenure and promotion portfolio. She also saw reflective practice as potentially helping her: 

  • Make sense of student feedback and use it constructively (rather than defensively) 
  • Balance her heavy research demands with intentional teaching growth 
  • Create a more inclusive classroom environment where students feel comfortable engaging 

Information Box Group

Question for your reflection:

What specific benefits do you see in engaging in reflective teaching practice as an educator?

References

Ash, S. L., & Clayton, P. H. (2009). Generating, deepening, and documenting learning: The power of critical reflection in applied learning. Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education, 1, 25-48. 

Reflective Teaching Practice: Models & Frameworks

Models and Frameworks for Reflective Teaching Practice  

There are many models of reflection that you can use to build your reflective teaching practice. This is because you may need a different approach to reflection depending on your goal. Just like any good, scaffolded practice, there may be times when you don’t need any model and want to approach reflection in a free-form manner. Consider what your needs are to determine which approach best fits your current context.  

Basic Frameworks

One basic framework for organizing your reflection is based on Borton’s (1970) original model of “What? So what? Now what?” It is commonly used as it is a simple and practical framework to pull out in any context, formal or informal (e.g. after an activity, a teaching session, a course).  

What?

So What?

Now What?
Describe what happened.  Its impact on you and your analysis of the experience  Now where do you apply this? Where do you take this learning? 
What was your experience?  

What happened, looking at the situation objectively? 

What did you particularly notice?  

What worked well and what didn’t? What did you observe to make these conclusions? 

 How did you feel when it happened?  

Was this situation part of a broader pattern or set of observations? 

What might have caused this situation?  

Why might have other people acted the way they did?  

What other insights or hypotheses might be drawn from the experience and data? 

 What lessons can you take forward in similar and other contexts?  

What would you do differently if a similar situation arose?  

How might you better prepare and resource yourself for a similar situation?  

How might you test out your understanding or hypotheses through tests or experiments?
  • Another simple and practical framework is Boud’s Triangular Representation: Experience → Reflection → Learning.  
    • This model emphasizes the cyclical relationship between experience (i.e. what happened), reflective thinking (e. what are your thoughts / feelings on the experience), and learning (i.e. what are you taking away from the experience), and focuses on the transformation of experience into learning through reflection. Its simplicity offers educators a less prescriptive model to reflection.
  • Lastly, two other similar models, with a few added components are Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle and Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle. Both models follow the basic framework of describing, reflecting on and considering the takeaways from the experience, with some minor modifications to encourage the educator to focus on different aspects of the experience.
    • Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle (Experience → Feelings → Evaluation → Analysis → Conclusion → Action Plan)
      • Gibbs approached reflection with more structure, and an emphasis on reflecting on one’s feelings throughout the process. This may be important in contexts where emotions may arise, such as a contentious or difficult teaching topic or in-class activity.  
      • It also orients educators towards defining an action plan, with practical takeaways.  
    • Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle (Experience → Reflective Observation → Abstract Conceptualization → Active Experimentation) 
      • Developed with experiential learning in mind, this cyclical model allows educators to explicitly reflect and abstract the practical experience more theoretically, considering how the practical experience relates to larger thematic ideas and considerations. 

All four of these models (Borton, Boud, Gibbs, and Kolb) emphasize the importance of reflection in and on experience and create simple cyclical models to demonstrate how you can easily use these models to structure a reflection.  

Additional Frameworks

Two other frameworks worth exploring are Bain’s 5R Framework and Stephen Brookfield’s work on Critically Reflective Teaching. 

  • Bain et al. (2002) created the 5R framework to support the development of pre-service educators into reflective practitioners. 
    • Reporting involves considering a particular experience and the contextual factors that surround it.  
    • Responding is when the individual practitioners verbalize their feelings, thoughts, and other reactions that they had in response to the situation.  
    • Relating is defined as educators making connections between what occurred recently and their previously obtained knowledge and skill base.  
    • Reasoning then encourages the practitioners to consider the foundational concepts and theories, as well as other factors that they believe to be significant, in an effort to understand why a certain outcome was achieved or observed.  
    • Reconstructing is when the educators take their explanations and use them to guide future teaching methods, either to encourage a similar result or to foster a different outcome. 
  • Stephen Brookfield – Critically Reflective Teacher 
    • Brookfield describes critical reflection as not just evaluating what happened, but identifying and checking assumptions (e.g. about how students learn, how teaching works).  
    • He proposes four lenses through which you can view your teaching: 
      • The autobiographical lens (examining one’s own experiences, own learning) 
      • The students’ eyes (how students perceive your teaching) 
      • The colleagues’ experiences (peer observation, discussion) 
      • Theoretical literature (educational research, theory)  

Expandable List

Maya is convinced! She decides she would like to find a way to approach reflection that would effectively help her capture her experiences, thoughts and actionable steps. She explores a few different models and frameworks and ultimately decides that a more structured approach like Boud’s Triangular Representation would work for after each class as an easy way to log her progress.  

A few weeks into the semester, this model was working well! She set aside time to keep a log after each class and found it helpful to consider what worked well, things she could do differently and new ideas she had for class activities. That being said, she did run into a few specific incidents that led her to want to reflect a bit more deeply. For example, she facilitated an activity in her seminar style class that she felt really went poorly and she could tell students were confused. She found using Bain’s 5R framework or Brookfield’s four lenses more functional since they allowed her to delve deeper into the situation.   

Lastly, she decided for her tenure and promotion portfolio to do some free-form narrative writing on some topics such as her views on student accessibility in the classroom, since she wanted to share her own opinions and how they’ve developed over time as a new faculty member. What’s great is that she has her structured reflections to come back to for specific examples! 

Information Box Group

Questions for your reflection:

What approach to reflection might work best for you? Are there various contexts, similar to Maya, where certain approaches might work better?  

References

Bain, J. D., Mills, C., Ballantyne, R., & Packer, J. (2002). Developing reflection on practice through journal writing: Impacts of variations in the focus and level of feedback. Teachers and Teaching, 8(2), 171–196. 

Borton, T. (1970). Reach Touch and Teach: Student Concerns and Process Education. McGraw-Hill, New York. 

Boud, D., Keogh, R., Walker, D. (1996). Promoting reflection in learning: a model. Boundaries of adult learning. 1, 32-56. 

Brookfield, S. D. (2017). Becoming a critically reflective teacher (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass. 

Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford: Further Education Unit. 

Kolb, D.A., Boyatzis, R.E., Mainemelis, C. (1999). Experiential Learning Theory: Previous Research and New Directions. Case Western Reserve University. 

Reflective Teaching Practice: Strategies

Strategies for engaging in reflective teaching practice  

Regardless of the reflection model / framework you choose, it is important that your reflections are of high quality. High quality reflection has been characterized by many different scholars. Eyler et al. (1996) organize high-quality reflections using 4 C’s:  

  • Continuous (ongoing practice that occurs regularly) 
  • Connected (integrating experience with learning, related to actual assignment and activities)  
  • Challenging (clarifying values and expectations, encouraging being critical of your own practices)  
  • Contextualized (larger context of the community and world around, responding to changes) 

Some strategies you can use to building reflective teaching practice include:  

  • Using structured reflection tools (e.g., frameworks) 
    • Identify moments in teaching that stand out (positive or problematic) and reflect on these explicitly 
    • Set aside time to do it  
    • Write regularly about teaching events, challenges, and insights 
  • Integrating reflection into course evaluations, peer evaluations and tenure / promotion portfolios.  
    • Use mid‐course evaluation, classroom assessment techniques, anonymous feedback, etc. 
    • Start small – feedback on an activity could be helpful 
    • Have colleagues observe your class and then reflect together 
  • Building a community of reflective practitioners – encourage opportunities to share and engage in discussion on teaching practices.  
    • Faculty development groups, mentorship programs, or peer groups that meet to share and reflect 

Expandable List

Maya has continued her practice of reflecting into the next semester of classes. She has found that when times get busy, it was very easy to skip reflection. However, she tried not to stress too much about it – even if she put a few thoughts down, that’s better than none! The key was spending more time on critical incidents that occurred where she felt she needed to reflect deeper into a situation.  

In receiving her course evaluations from last semester, it was helpful to compare her thoughts on an activity with how students experienced it. She has modified some class assignments to better align her desired learning outcomes with student experiences. Maya feels much more confident in her teaching than she did previously.  

Maya’s reflective teaching practice has also led her to explore scholarly literature on teaching and learning, an area that is not her area of expertise. She connected with her institutional centre for teaching and learning and was connected to a group of other faculty who wanted to engage in discussions on how to improve their teaching practices. She was also able to share how reflection served her this past semester.  

Information Box Group

Questions for your reflection:

What obstacles do you see in your maintaining a reflective teaching practice and writing good quality reflections? How might you overcome those obstacles? What resources exist to support you through this process? 

References 

Eyler, J., Giles, D.E., & Schmiede, A. (1996). A practitioner’s guide to reflection in service-learning. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University. 

Reflective Teaching Practice: Summary

In summary

  • Reflective teaching is intentional and iterative, meaning it is an ongoing practice of reflection on teaching to improve student learning and develop as an educator.  
  • While various models exist to guide reflection, the ultimate approach is determined by your goals and the context. Which model might serve you best?  
  • High-quality reflection should be continuous, connected, challenging and contextualized.  

Expandable List

As Maya builds these habits, she notices a shift. She feels more in control of her teaching development, and her students report greater clarity and engagement. Additionally, she feels more confident discussing her teaching in reviews with her Department Chair, as she can articulate not only what she does, but why she does it and how she adapts in response to student needs. Maya has come to understand how valuable this process of reflection is and how much it has enriched and impacted her teaching. Reflection becomes a bridge between her identity as a researcher – where critical analysis is second nature – and her growth as an educator. 

Having completed this module, you should now be able to:

  • Define reflective teaching practice  
  • Describe the benefits of reflective teaching practice  
  • Identify various frameworks and models for engaging in reflective teaching practice  
  • Explore strategies for implementing reflective teaching practice 

References

Horton-Deutsch, S., & Sherwood, G. (2017). Reflective practice: Transforming education and improving outcomes (2nd ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International. 

Machost, H., & Stains, M. (2023). Reflective practices in education: A primer for practitioners. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 22(2).  

Information Box Group

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