Reflectiveness

Reflectiveness. Why is it so difficult for people to reflect on their own actions. I think it's quite obvious. I would say it's because they're afraid to look at their actions because they don't want to know what they have done wrong. Nobody wants to admit that they were wrong because that means you messed up. People don't want to mess up and if you're admitting to yourself you messed up on something, it's degrading to your ego if you don't approach it correctly.

I know lots of people that will stick with what they have said in the past even if they feel it's not correct because the shame they might feel if they admitted their error would be more detrimental. I think that reflection is important in all situations. The only way we grow as people is by making mistakes and admitting them. We're all human and it's good to acknowledge that yes, even ourselves are human beings and we are prone to make mistakes and bad decisions. However, being humans, we have the ability to think about our actions and try to look into them so that we can change them for future situations.

It is most important for teachers to reflect because it's the heart of teaching. Teaching is a career that requires constant individual growth. If teachers refuse to reflect on themselves, they won't be changing. Sometimes change turns out negative, which means you must make another change and hope it comes out positively. If teachers do not reflect, they will become boring, dull, and not in tune to children's needs. If a teacher does not reflect on what is going on in the classroom because what they're doing is "supposed" to be working, that class will be headed nowhere fast. Teachers must recognize this and be willing to change their practices. A lot of times, teachers will think that they are the authority and that they know better than the kids what should be happening. However, this is not always the case. Teachers must be open minded and accepting of even pre-k children's ideas.

I think the most effective way to reflect is situational. In some cases, trying something new and sticking with it for a week before reflecting could be very useful because then you get a good grasp of what went on during that week and you can understand if it worked or not and if you need to change anything to make it better. other times, reflection happens at a larger scale. Sometimes teachers are unaware of why their class isn't responding the best until they try a new approach. This may take up to a year because sometimes teachers will have a certain attitude for a year and then the next year decide they want to try a different attitude and see if it works better. Finally, if something is going horribly wrong, such as kids are not listening at all to what you have to say and are rambunctious, reflection must occur immediately to settle the situation at hand.