Reflection On and In the Workplace for Students

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. What is Reflection?
3. Types of Reflection
4. Definitions of Reflection
5. Becoming a Reflective Practitioner/Worker
6. Kolb's Learning Cycle
7. Time for Reflection
8. Keeping a Reflective Diary
9. What is the Purpose of Reflection?
10. Where do you Put the Reflections in Your Portfolio?
11. What Makes Good Evidence?
12. Learning from Significant Events
13. Tools for Reflection
14. Individual Reflection
15. 2: Roles For Reviewing In Pairs
16. Reviewing for Two: Walking And Talking
17. Reviewing for Two: Changing Partners
18. Summary
19. References

Reviewing for Two: Walking And Talking

Something that goes particularly well with paired reviews is 'walking and talking' - especially if you have a suitable outdoor location. 'Walking and Talking' can be combined with any of the above roles. A classic problem in paired reviews is that one person dominates and the time is not well shared. One solution is to divide the total time into two halves by having a clear 'swap over point' at half way (see 'Out and Back'). Another solution is to have a turn-taking system in which there is frequent swapping of roles (see 'Chat Cards'). These and other variations of 'walking and talking' are described next:

1. Out and Back: 'Out and back' helps to ensure that the time is divided equally between each person. Pairs walk out to an agreed point, swap roles and walk back in their new roles. (See previous section for ideas about 'roles'.) Ideally, each pair heads for a different point to avoid distractions from other pairs.
2. Chat Cards: Each card has a reflective question. Each person takes it in turns to answer as they walk. One question per card helps people to focus on one question at a time. Just one good question may be enough for some pairs, but other pairs may need a plentiful supply of questions to keep a reflective conversation going. It is better to have too many questions than too few.
3. Scavenger Hunt: Pairs work together to collect symbolic objects that answer reflective questions.
4. Walking Round the Active Reviewing Cycle: As pairs walk through each stage the cycle, they focus their reflective conversation on the stage they are walking through. In practice this takes two or three minutes in each stage, so you either need a huge cycle or people simply stop and talk until they are ready to move on to the next stage.