...Reflection through Poetry

Can writing a poem support personal or professional development?

The potential benefits of reflecting on experience, and specifically written reflection, are documented throughout this site and in a wealth of published literature. 

Poetry has documented and influenced human civilization for centuries, encapsulating significant events and powerful emotions, often with economical brilliance.

This post reflects on the impact of poetry writing - from the perspective of a poetry retreat facilitator - and draws this together with ideas of reflective writing, to present a developmental writing exercise.

...Reflective Practice - So What?

This post briefly reviews what reflective practice is, before explaining a relatively simple model which can be used to engage in professional reflection - Borton's Developmental Framework. 

In a nutshell, reflection is a learning tool.  It can help us to learn from our mistakes and to find solutions to problems. With a little more critical thinking thrown in, reflection can enable professionals to better understand their work, build on positives or identify areas for development and, therefore, improve their effectiveness.

...Student Perspectives on Case Study

Last week my students developed their understanding of case study.  I asked them to do some independent reading and in their taught sessions I provided them with a range of sources which attempted to define the research approach.  They were to identify key themes and characteristics of case study...  I then gave them just ten minutes to create one-minute presentations for their peers.

Here is a sample of the work they produced to support their presentations. (Click on an image to enlarge it.):

...Reflective Journals

I often recommend that teachers keep a reflective journal, to support their ongoing professional development. This brief post describes the What? Why? & the How? of reflective journal writing, and includes an explanation of the value of this particular approach to learning.