Students studying this short course will produce a weekly reflection which looks back upon their own experiences to demonstrate an awareness of personal and professional development. This will capture their new learning where they demonstrate the processes, activities and outcomes that they have undertaken on this short course.
The learning outcomes are:
- LO1 – Critique the key components of influential strategies and their wider implications.
- LO2 – Evaluate selected theories and approaches aimed at improving the quality of experiences for children and their families.
- LO3 – Identify strategies to support children, parents and carers, considering the social and political factors that influence parenting and young children.
- LO4 – Critically reflect on own experiences, demonstrating an awareness of personal and professional development.
This first section will provide information about how to critique, evaluate and critically reflect so that you can demonstrate an awareness of personal and professional development.
Introduction to the concept of critically reflecting on own experiences and demonstrating an awareness of personal and professional development
As part of this unit we are asking you to critically reflect upon your own experiences so that you can demonstrate an awareness of personal and professional development. What does this mean? And how do you do this? How do we use the information we learn about to critically reflect upon our own experiences?
Watch: What is a Critical Reflection? – Introducing the “What, So What, Now What” Model
U of G Library
Watch the video below to learn more about critical reflection. Use this video to write a few sentences of your own understanding of critical reflection.
Develop your understanding of critically reflecting upon your own experiences and demonstrate an awareness of personal and professional development
Terry Borton (1970) developed a model of reflection based on the questions below. This was later progressed by Driscoll (1994).
‘What?‘ helps you describe the situation you want to learn from. You should identify the facts and feelings of the situation.
‘So What?‘ allows you to extract the meaning of ‘What?’. Moreover, you should question what knowledge you and others had in the situation, and what knowledge or theories that could help you make sense of the situation.
‘Now what?‘ allows you to create an action plan for the future based on the previous questions.
Stop and Reflect: What? So what? Now what? | The University of Edinburgh
<undefined><a href=”https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/what-so-what-now-what” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>What? So what? Now what? | The University of Edinburgh</a></undefined>
What? So what? Now what? | The University of Edinburgh
Use the link above to make notes about the types of things you might include under each heading – What, So What, Now what. The examples are useful in helping you explore how the questions might be applied.
Reflect upon critically reflecting upon your own experiences and demonstrating an awareness of personal and professional development
As you progress through the weeks and compile your portfolio, consider how these questions will help you reflect on you own personal and professional development.
Here is an example template for the Driscoll Model of Reflection – What, So What and Now What.
| What? | What … …is the context? …is the problem/situation/difficulty/reason for being stuck/reason for success? …was I/we/others trying to achieve? …was the outcome of the situation? …was my role in the situation? …was the role of other people in the situation (if others were involved)? …feelings did the situation evoke in me? And in others (to the extent you know)? …were the consequences for me? And for others? …was good/bad about the experience? |
| So What? You might want to supplement your own knowledge and thoughts with other people’s ideas, references, and theories. This can be to show what helped shape your thoughts and further explore them. This comes down to how much you are looking to formalise your reflections. This can especially be important if the reflection is assessed. | So what… …does this tell me/teach me/imply about the situation/my attitude/my practice/the problem? …was going through my mind in the situation? …did I base my decisions/actions on? …other information/theories/models/ literature can I use to help understand the situation? …could I have done differently to get a more desirable outcome? …is my new understanding of the situation? …does this experience tell me about the way I work? |
| Now what? Ensure that you are concrete in your action plan and not only saying generic comments such as ‘I will do things differently/better’. The more concrete you can be regarding what you want to do, how you will do it, and how you will remind yourself, the easier and more likely it will be to implement. | Now what… …do I need to do in the future to do better/fix a similar situation/stop being stuck? …might be the consequences of this new action? …considerations do I need about me/others/the situation to make sure this plan is successful? …do I need to do to ensure that I will follow my plan? |
Your portfolio should include your own personal reflections about your learning journey using the template above which you will complete at the end of each week.
How to get started:
Below are some prompts to help you to get started with your portfolio and to give you some ideas of what to include.
- Name – Include your name, student ID and the course name on the front of your portfolio.
- Personal Introduction – write a short introduction about yourself and why you have chosen to complete the course.
- Sections and Headings – Give each of the different activities or reflections you make a heading so it is clear which part of the course you are responding to.
- Honesty – Be open and honest in your reflections; this portfolio is your opportunity to articulate your understanding of the course content.
- Final summary – before you complete and submit your portfolio, write a final personal reflection about your learning journey. Consider what you have learnt and any any challenges you have faced.
Marking Rubric
Below you will find the marking rubric which outlines the marking criteria for this assessment. Please download a copy of this and read through it before the first workshop where we will be discussing it in more detail. You will then have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have.