Background_of_Reflective_Practice

What is reflective practice, and how can noticing and attending to emotions enrich the quality of practice with children and young people' Reflective practice: Definitions: ‘In its broadest sense, reflective practice involves the critical analysis of everyday working practices to improve competence and promote professional development.’ (Clouder, 2000) ‘Reflective practice is a mode that links thought and action with reflection. It involves critically analysing one’s actions with the goal of improving one’s professional practice.’ (Kottkamp, 1990) ‘[Reflective practice is a] genuinely critical, questioning orientation and a deep commitment to the discovery and analysis of positive and negative information concerning the quality and status of a professional’s designed action.’ (Bright, 1996) The original definition (Schön, 1983) defined reflective practice as thoughtfully considering your own experiences in applying knowledge to practice Moon (1999) defines reflective practice as "a set of abilities and skills, to indicate the taking of a critical stance, an orientation to problem solving or state of mind." (100) Background: The Socratic Method: Reflective practice can be traced back to the Socratic method of enquiry in which questioning and exploration of the implications of another's viewpoint are employed to enlighten the enquirer. Socrates was born in 469 bc and died 399 bc. His method is a way to seek truths by ones own reasoning. It is a system, a spirit, a method, a type of philosophical inquiry, an intellectual technique all rolled into one. (Christopher phillips). Although socrates himself never emphasised this as a particular 'method' , the Socratic method is named after him because he did model a philosophy which can be practiced by anyone, an inquiry that allows one to interrogate from many vantage points. A Princeton university professor and Socrates scholar, Gregory Vlastos, described Socrates' method of inquiry as '' among the greatest achievements of humanity. '' this is largely because , it makes philosophical inquiry '' a common human enterprise , open to every man '' as opposed to bearing allegiance to a particular analytic tecnique. The Socratic method'' calls for common sense and common speech. '' and Vlastos is further quoted saying '' is as it should be, for how man should live is every man's business. '' Other scholars have further gone on to add that Socrates method goes beyond Vlastos description. this has led to the position that it does not ordinarily refer to the use of common sense but actually goes on to examine what common sense is. the Socratic method asks : '' Does the common sense of our day offer us the greatest potential for self-understanding and human excellence' or is the prevailing common sense in fact a roadblock to realizing this potential' The Socratic dialogue unravels the fact that outlooks on everyday concepts can be varied and thus when subjected to Socratic scrutiny ,reveals that there is not any universal agreement on the meaning and understanding of any given(300) concept and therefore every single person has a relatively different take on each and every concept. As opposed to focusing on the outer cosmos, The Socratic method is primarily focused on human beings and their cosmos within. This opens up new realms of self-knowledge and at the same time exposes a great deal of error and superstition. Many Scholars have often refered to the Socratic method as the ''elenchus'' which is the Hellenistic Greek for inquiry or cross-examination. This is not just any type of inquiry but that which actually ' reveals people to themselves ' thereby making them see what opinions actually amount to. According to a German philosopher Leonard Nelson who wrote on subjects as ethics and theory of knowledge is quoted as saying '' The Socratic method forces people to confront their own dogmatism '' , by doing so participants in Socratic dialogue are in effect, '' forcing themselves to be free '' . Nelson goes further that they may also be confronted by an array of hypothesis, convictions , conjectures and theories offered by other participants as well hence honestly, rationally and imaginatively confronting the dogma by asking such questions as : what does this mean ' What speaks for and against it ' and(200) Are there alternative ways of considering it that are even more plausible and tenable' (the Socratic cafe pp18-24) John Dewey 1909 We now briefly examine the works of John Dewey a philosopher and educationalist in his seminal work, How We Think, published in 1909 claimed that: ''we learn by doing and realising what came from what we did''. He gave insight into the concepts of reflective practice, as he wrote '' emphasizes the consequences of ideas and implies future physical action ; it is not merely an exercise in theoretical manipulation or intellectual entertainment ''. As can be seen consistent with the Socratic model philosophy, using methods of rational and systematic inquiry , reflective practice can be used to tackle and resolve varied personal and professional obstacles. Dewey advocated cultivating three attitudes to imbibe in practicing reflective thought : Whole-heartedness, openmindedness and intellectual responsibility. ''Openmindedness'' (Dewey,1909/1933, p. 30), implies an intellectual respectiveness, a willingness to dipassionately consider multiple and novel ideas. such openmindedness is accompanied by a sense of convergent attention or ''whole- heartedness'' (Dewey ,1909/1933 ,p.31). all of the individual's mental, emotional, and physical resources are committed to the resolution of the problem. Ultimately, though, these admirable qualities of openmindedness and whole-heartedness are dangerous if not tempered by notions of ''intellectual responsibility'' (Dewey 1909/1933, p.32) (200) The works of these scholars constitutes the background of the more recent philosophical contributions of modern day practitioners like Kurt Lewin (1952) ,David Kolb (1984) , and Donald Schon(1987) .