TEY-10.2

Ask yourself Questions Reflective practice is needed nowmore than ever, says Dr Helen Edwards . Here are some tips to help you on your way... DR HELEN EDWARDS IS CO-FOUNDER OF TAPESTRY AS THE NEW ACADEMIC YEAR begins and nurseries open to even larger numbers of children, it is worth pausing for thought and reflecting. In the past few months we have all had to cope with new ways of working, adapting to a great deal of new guidance and operating in very different ways to those we are used to. These changes require reflection so that we can all focus on what is working, adapt what isn’t and continue to grow and improve teaching and learning experiences for children. I am sure that many practitioners have been busy thinking about a whole host of things - how roles and routines have changed; how resources are used and rotated; keeping staff safe and supported; and how a growing number of children can be welcomed back. It may not feel like it, but much of this planning has probably included a large dose of reflective practice. Here are some practical ideas that you might want to implement for autumn. CELEBRATE SUCCESS Reflection starts with a simple ‘taking stock’: the process of stepping back, thinking about what we have been doing, what has gone well and what could be better. Here are some helpful ‘taking stock’ questions: ● What area of our practice/ environment are we going to focus on? ● What have we been doing? ● Who benefits from doing it this way? (Children, staff, families?) ● What has gone well? ● What needs improving and why? ● Who/what else do we need to think about? ● What can we keep/adapt to meet these needs? ● How are we going to do this? (You could include external CPD, in-house training, who will do what, when will you return to this area of reflection to see how things are going?) Remember to celebrate all the things that have worked well. It’s so easy to slip into the treadmill of ‘what next?’ and a never-ending to do list. Make sure you acknowledge the really good things, share with your colleagues and congratulate others. QUICK WINS AND ACTIVE REFLECTION There will be areas where you feel things could be improved. Think about quick wins that would solve some immediate problems. For example, what if you can’t think of a way for children to access all your resources safely. How do you choose which ones to use? Is it easier to put into storage those resources that are just too hard to clean daily? Sometimes reflective practice can sound like we need to tuck ourselves away in silence before we can even start. I don’t know any practitioners that can do that easily! Instead think about ‘active reflection’, something that can be part of your day-to-day practice. ● Be mindful – use your observations as a starting point. What can you see/hear? How do you feel? How might you be contributing, what influence are you having on the area you are thinking about? ● Make a quick record of your thoughts – this could be in a notebook or using an online tool. Not only will this help you to remember what you are thinking, it will also create a timeline so you can record this reflective journey, big or small. ● Share with colleagues – whether your reflection is about your individual practice or about teaching and learning in the setting as a whole, it’s good to talk! USING TECHNOLOGY IN REFLECTIVE PRACTICE Lockdown forced many of us to embrace the use of technology more fully. We saw this first hand at Tapestry where the number of videos and postings increased dramatically as practitioners devised new ways to In this new educational era, we face a great deal of uncertainty. 34 Teachearlyyears.com