Student reflection is an appealing concept. Being reflective is a pleasant characteristic in a person, after all. And it feels like being able to reflect on your work must enhance your learning, somehow. But there are quite a few steps for teachers to consider between reflection and improved learning.
When I returned to the UK after nine years of international teaching in Bahrain and Hong Kong, I was struck by the difference in approach to reflection in everyday practice in the national curriculum compared with the International Baccalaureate (IB).
The IB recognises and rewards reflection in its diploma. In the extended essay (the completion of which is a passing condition of the diploma) almost 18 per cent of the marks awarded are for student reflection.
Developing student reflection
Research commissioned by the IB found that reflection had both academic and psychosocial benefits. Among the study’s findings were that student reflection fosters “a sense of personal accountability” and that it helps learners to “think outside the context of their own experiences… critically examining their own beliefs and judgements”.
But research on the effects of student reflection is mixed: one study by Derek Cavilla found no quantitative proof that reflection improved academic performance and motivation. However, the same study found some valuable qualitative effects of reflection. Students fed back that the reflective activities they took part in “caused [them] to think about their approach, motivation and efforts with regard to completion of their tasks”.
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My personal experience of using reflection is varied: across my career, some of the best conversations I have had with students have been when there has been genuine reflection, and I have sensed that they left the conversation with the motivation and the skills to improve.
But there have also been times when I have felt that reflection was artificial and arbitrary, with students saying what they thought I wanted to hear. Ultimately, I do believe that students should be encouraged to monitor and evaluate their learning strategies and that reflection is key to discerning evidence of metacognition. So, how can we get it right?
Reflection doesn’t have to be formal
Reflection does not need to be a formal process of writing out the strengths and shortcomings of one’s performance in a particular task (which often seems to be the most common approach).
Instead, use questioning on the spot to get your students thinking about what they are doing. In my experience, moments of pausing for reflection in lessons can be really valuable. You can use compare-and-share tasks, such as showing a model answer and getting students to share how their current work compares and how they can take steps to meet the standard of the model.
None of this is to say that post-task or post-unit reflection is without value. It can be useful, but if a task isn’t going to be redone then we should be judicious with the time and resources that we allocate to this.
Consider the mode of reflection
Should reflection be verbal, written or digital? Should it be a process between peers or between teacher and student?
If your chosen medium for reflection is written, either by hand or digitally, then make sure you provide a template and sentence stems. For example: “Initially, I attempted to… After a conversation with my teacher, I realised that…”.
This will help to reduce the cognitive load for students and allow them to focus more purely on their learning process. Tools such as Padlet or good old Post-it notes can be an efficient way to gauge how your students are thinking about a task or topic.
But written reflection is more likely to be forced, with students possibly saying what they think you want to hear. My preference is for verbal reflection between teacher and student. Ideally, there is time and space to have this conversation one on one, but whole-class reflections can work, too.
If reflective conversations are not happening organically then the culture of reflection may not be present in the classroom.
Make the reflection subject-specific
The Education Endowment Foundation is clear that metacognition and self-regulation strategies are “most effective when embedded in a school’s curriculum and a specific-subject lesson”.
Therefore, reflection should be on the topics being covered, rather than on general skills.
Guide students to reflect on precisely what they have learned and what they have yet to master. Break down the skills and knowledge, so that they can accurately assess precisely where they are in their learning of a topic.
When I am having reflective conversations with students, I guide them away from broad reflective statements such as “I need to have better time management in exams” and towards statements such as “I need to use flashcards to embed my knowledge of (for example) diminished responsibility, so that I can recall this information more quickly in exams, which will mean that my time management improves”.
Ultimately, it’s tricky to get reflection right and impossible to know in the short term if it has been a worthwhile use of our ever-precious time. For me, the act of reflecting can facilitate and improve conversations with students, which is enough reason to have it as part of the learning experience.
Erin Miller is a teacher at a sixth-form college in Somerset
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