Reflective Level Teaching

Introduction 

Reflective thinking is a cognitive act of analysing some event or phenomenon that has already occurred. The event or phenomenon may also be some item of learning. As per Dewey, the learned material is cognitively revisited for a careful analysis of the belief involved, it’s supporting grounds, it’s consequences. Through such revisit and analysis, the individual reinterprets and judges the learned material with additional perspective and may arrive at new conclusions. Reflective thinking is the basic cognitive process that helps the learner to think over what they have learned, what are the shortcomings that they need to address and in the process they are able to find new conclusions.

Strategies

RT occurs in unstructured situations. The unstructured situations are problematic situations that initiate students inquiry.The students inquiry can be made supportive of reflective thinking when followed by the teachers supporting questions of the why and how type. In brief, the Problem Based Learning is the teaching strategy for RLT. 

Problem based Learning centers around some problem posed in the classroom (a problematic situation). It involves

• Posing a problem situation for the students and asked to find a solution for the problem.

• The students are guided to explore the problem and identify the data needed.

• Guide the students to locate, collect and analyse data. 

• Prompt them to look into the evidence, to think back on what they have collected data, how they collected the data and how they analysed the same to seel alternative solutions.

• Guide them in their evaluation of alternatives and taking decisions.

• Motivate them to think back on the entire process, share with others, observe others' solutions and highlight the new insight that they develop in the process.

 

Instructional Environment

• A free classroom environment that are close to an unstructured classroom situation.

• Free atmosphere to explore, share and discuss.

• Teacher as a support as well as a guide and motivator. Facilitate location of data, its collection and analysis. 

• Students are the active participants - defining problems, collecting data, performing analysis and so on. They are the self monitoring agent in the learning process.

 Ideas