A widening agenda for evidencing reflection
It is probably unwise to attempt to 'teach' people to reflect (whether they be students, professionals, or employees). The process of reflection can indeed be illustrated to those whose reflection is to be improved, but in the final analysis reflection remains an individual act in most circumstances (though the increased benefit of a group of people being involved in shared reflection is even more significant in many situations where collaborative and team activity is to be encouraged).
In this discussion paper, I propose that the most efficient way of helping people both to reflect and to evidence their reflection can be to provide them with questions as devices to help them to focus their thinking, and direct their thinking to those areas of their work where reflection can pay highest dividends. This paper presents some starting-point questions to illustrate the range of reflection that can be encouraged.
The widening agenda includes that of widening participation in higher education, where there are many more students from diverse cultures and educational backgrounds in the system than was formerly the case. This makes it all the more necessary to legitimate student reflection, and for teaching staff to have close encounters with the range of student reflection which can be uncovered, so as to enable them to tune in better to the 'widened' student community.
Moreover, with increased attention to student retention in higher education, student reflection can be one of the most powerful vehicles for alerting teaching staff to the range and nature of problems that 'at risk' students may be experiencing, and allowing for compensation and adjustment to be made to reduce the levels of risk. Furthermore, getting students to reflect on their learning, their aspirations, their triumphs and their disasters can add significantly to the value of their educational experience overall, and help them to work towards being more self-assured and self-aware graduates.
In short, there has been no better time to get our act together regarding evidencing reflection - both our own reflection, and that of our students.