Now, of course no one is stopping you doing this at the end of summer school, or teacher training course and calling it whatever you like! Since learning and teaching are complex, there is no one best way to reflect, but when sharing reflections with colleagues I have noticed is that we often tend to focus on the negatives hello negatively bias! and are being our own hardest critics but is that really the aim of end of year self-reflections?

 

Why are end-of-year self-reflections useful?

Finding the time to sit quietly and reflect at the end of the school year, or summer school, teacher training course etc. is invaluable for various reasons:

  • reflecting can help us better understand ourselves and can reveal possible patterns in our behaviours. It can help us better understand our emotional responses, attitudes and beliefs. All of which significantly impact our teaching. This self-awareness is crucial, not only for professional development but also for our personal growth.
  • looking back can help us process experiences, acknowledge challenges and guide us in adjusting our approaches and strategies for future. It can help us identify areas that we feel need changing during for next school year, e.g. to avoid a burn-out. We can also identify what it is we need to do or what we need ask for in order for this to happen, for example more support from school management.
  • analysing our achievements can help us decide which aspects of our practice are ‘keepers’. Those are the actions, strategies or behaviours we want to continue doing. In other words, self-reflections provide an opportunity to recognise those achievements, big and small, which contributes to our overall wellbeing.

 

 

What is the difference between self-reflections and self-evaluations?

When self-reflecting it is not uncommon to write something along the lines of "I effectively engaged my students during group activities, but I need to improve my time management skills to…." However, reflecting is more holistic. It involves looking back and examining our experiences, actions, thoughts and feelings related to an experience. Like looking in the mirror and describing what you see without making judgements (not easy, I admit...). It is an objective observation, for example "I noticed that my students were less engaged during group activities, which made the classroom environment less dynamic and interactive.”

The key difference is that self-reflections are about observing and describing experiences and feelings which form the basis for “a purposeful action of thinking and drawing meaning from it” (Marathe & Sen, 2021) whereas self-evaluations are focused on judging skills or a performance against certain standards or criteria and include a value judgment (e.g. effective, insufficient, average, in need of improvement) about the experiences. In other words, the aim of self-evaluations is often to gauge how much progress has been made and identifying strengths and weaknesses in our teaching.

 

 

So how can take the judgement out of end-of-year self-reflections?

Self-reflecting can be messy. Like learning, reflecting is not a linear process but rather acontinuous and cyclical process. Every time you reflect on an experience, you might notice something different because growth in your personal and professional journey can influence and reshape your understanding of a past experience. In addition, there are many layers to unpack such as the description of the event, your thoughts and emotions involved and the developmental aspect: what can be learn from this?

Below are some suggestions to help rethink our approach to end -of-year reflections, to avoid slipping slip into a judgemental approach and getting into negative head space.

Start with an open mind:  Some experiences might be difficult to revisit or make us feel uncomfortable. We might want to deflect and come up with excuses (yes, but...), however, it is okay not to be perfect (after all, no one is...) and identify experiences that you feel were challenging. That does not mean you are not a great teacher! It means you are human. We all are a constant work-in-progress.

Focus on process or outcomes, don’t make it personal: self-reflecting requires critical thinking about experiences, behaviours, thoughts and feelings. Critical thinking involves a thoughtful analysis but this does not mean “find all the negatives” or “find all your faults.” It is more about questioning and analysing processes you applied and the products or outcomes they resulted in. To gain a deeper understanding of what happened and your role in that experience, inquire with kindness and curiosity. This can help us to develop into more self-aware human beings.

 

 

Be kind to your self: When you are listening to a friend would you ever say “oh my…, you are not a good teacher at all” or “maybe your students simply don’t like you”? I’m sure the answer is no. You most likely would withhold any judgement. So, let’s try to control this negative self-talk and be kind to ourselves. When you notice negative self-talking creeping in, view it more objectively: stop and ask yourself: Is this really true? What is my evidence for this? Or reframe it: yes, I got upset with a student, but I also apologised after class. Show yourself some compassion.

Ask questions: instead of judging yourself, ask questions about those experiences that you can’t get out of your head (hello again, negative bias…). The below questions might help you approach self-reflecting in a more systematic way and with some compassion:

  • What experience did I notice this school year? Describe the events/ situations without interpretation or judgment
  • How do I feel about these experiences? Reflect on your personal feelings, attitudes and emotional responses to the situation(s)/experience(s)
  • Why do you think the event(s)/ situation(s) happened? Analyse the reasons behind the event(s)/situation(s)
  • How did I respond and why did I respond this way? Consider your reaction to the event(s)/situation(s) and what thought processes might have gone through your head
  • What else could I have done in that situation? Think about alternative ways that you could have used to respond/manage the situation
  • What do I need next year that helps change that event/situation? Describe what needs to be done (processes or policy or resources maybe) to avoid a similar situation from happening
  • What do I need to do so I can change and manage my response? Consider what you can do to change your response in case a similar situation arises again
  • What have I learned from this experience? Write a summary sentence of what you have learned from this experience and how this will influence your future actions

 

Celebrate the wins, big and small: This last point seems to be often forgotten in self-reflections, however, it is crucial to pay attention to our successes and achievements, no matter how small they are! Recognise the positive impact you have had on your students, the school and your colleagues. It is empowering to write achievements down too and keep them somewhere you can turn to during the year. Collecting the positives will help you acknowledge your strengths and will provide a valuable reference in times of doubt… on those days that you are wondering if you are actually in the right job!

 

 

A final thought

So, before you head off on that well-deserved break, we hope we have encouraged you to find some time to conduct an end-of-year reflection. Without judgement. Without making it personal. But with kindness and attention for the positives. 

Teaching is an impactful profession which does not come without its challenges, but we hope the journey of self-reflecting will help you to appreciate the significance of all your efforts. For now, we just want to say thank you, to each and every teacher out there, for all your hard work this school year. You truly make a difference!

 

References

Marathe, A., & Sen, A. (2021). Empathetic reflection: reflecting with emotion. Reflective Practice, 22(4), 566–574. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2021.1927693