My previous post provided teachers with practical steps to become more reflective. Reflecting on one’s accomplishments and areas for improvement is all well and good, but only half the way to becoming an effective teacher. The other half is deliberate practice-using reflection to change what we do. In fact, the keynote speaker at Education 2020 Conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Dr. Linda Price, made an interesting observation about the word reflective. She noted that ‘reflective’ means to ponder or think about one’s actions without necessarily acting on them, but ‘reflexive’ implies using reflection to change what we do. So how can we be more reflexive after reflecting?
According to the Oxford Dictionary, deliberate means, “done consciously and intentionally; fully considered, not impulsive”. In an article entitled, “Deliberate Practice: How to Develop Expertise”, Dr. Richard Jenkins (2012) states, “the best practice demands that the learner be attentive to his or her errors, weaknesses and deficiencies, and consciously work to remedy them”. Dr. Robert Marzano (2012) relates the success of several famous musicians, athletes and businessmen to their perseverance at practicing a specific skill (p. 7) and become more proficient. “Research has shown us time and again that the more we utilize certain neural pathways for building skills – such as throwing a ball or multiplying by fives or recalling all fifty state capitals – the more effectively we ingrain those patterns in our brains.” (Jenkins, 2012) Jenkins has a point, but we must be careful not to associate expertise with ‘automaticity’ of the skill (Marzano, 2012, p. 7). I disagree with Jenkins about the skill becoming automatic. In education, the art of deliberate practice is not in making the skill automatic, instead we must always be mindful of the action; we must think about our thinking related to our increasing expertise in a skill. In fact, monitoring all students in the classroom requires a deliberate mindset. Once we begin to do things automatically, we are less likely to pay attention to what is going on around us. For example, have you ever gone through a traffic light and then wondered if it was green? Once a behavior is automatic, it is easier for our mind to wander.
Being mindful and deliberate about classroom practice allows teachers to continue growing and learning; even master teachers. The bottom line is – teachers must be reflexive – focus on student needs and plan/practice deliberately; the most effective way to increase their students’ achievement.
Do you reflect and act, or reflect and intend to act? Feedback welcome!