Reflective Practice discussions, 21/4/09 and 23/4/09

Some of the issues/ideas discussed included:

Can you reflect too much : paralysis by reflection ?
Need to discuss situations with colleagues/peers in order to gain insight and become more aware of our responses to situations.
We considered whether there is a particular culture/philosophy/value underpinning teaching in faculties. Would this be something that could be discussed in faculty meetings?
Some areas are involved in peer observation which can be helpful in thinking through different approaches.
Action learning sets can be used effectively to bring people together from across the college when working with particular issues. This is something that could be taken forward if there was enough interest. We could potentially try for money from the innovation fund to organise and facilitate this.
Quality and staff development days could be used to bring people together from either different faculties or with similar curriculum areas, to discuss practice issues and reflect on teaching.
It was acknowledge that EDDG in itself is a forum for reflecting on practice.
How do we help students reflect ? Discussed the use of blogs in helping before lecturers and students become more reflective. The Person and professional development unit can also be used to help students reflect more on their learning and skills development.
Reflecting our own experiences of learning, and sharing these with students can be useful for helping students feel more confident about learning.
· We need to consider the wider context within which reflection occurs.
We cannot take all responsibility for every student’s difficulties or problems, but we can be aware of how relate to students, and how we support them.