reflective essay

1 What is critical reflection?

A critical reflection generally requires you to analyse your personal experiences in relation to a topic and to explore the social,

political, educational and cultural contexts of that topic in order to expose the underlying assumptions that would dictate your

viewpoint.

Critical reflection is an important skill that will allow you to understand your beliefs, values and biases, to work through seemingly

contradictory feelings and reactions and to assess your learning in order to transform your thinking from a passive learner to an

active and engaged learner.

Watch this YouTube video about the importance of reflective practice. Did you find this useful? Do you think you have been

engaging in reflective practice as a manager on a regular basis? If not why not?

Critical reflection will require you to undertake the following actions (Brookfield 1988):

 Assumption analysis – challenging your beliefs and social structures in order to determine their impact on your practice;

 Contextual awareness – determining the social and cultural contexts that influence your assumptions;

 Imaginative speculation – imagining alternative ways of thinking in order to challenge your current ways of thinking (what if…)

 Reflective skepticism – questioning universal claims or unexamined interactions by suspending or temporarily rejecting previous knowledge about the topic.

This article on relfection and reflective writing is a good starting point for your understanding of this skill.

This diagram which higlights the cycle of reflective practice is a good one for you to use to remind you of the steps.