WAPA Leadership PL - Reflective Practice

As part of a symposium hosted by the West Auckland Principals' Association, the Strategic Leadership Team had an opportunity to listen to American educator, Pete Hall, share his ideas around creating a culture of reflective practice within a school setting.

When there is a culture of reflective practice, the commonalities define the culture, whether it is good, bad or mismatched. Hall identified the following fundamentals or building blocks for reflective practice:

• Relationships, roles and responsibilities (based around interpersonal safety and identified strengths)
• Clear expectations and communication
• Celebrating and also calibrating - when things go ary
• Goal setting and follow through
• Professional learning communities (PLC) and teacher leadership support
• Transformational feedback
• Differentiated coaching strategies

There are 4 stages along the continuum of Self Reflection - Unaware, Conscious, Action and Refinement. Pete walked us through the tool he has designed for self reflection, it is part continuum and part matrix, but is a comprehensive tool for exploring where you may be sitting in terms of your development as an educator. 

The video below provides a metaphor for understanding the Continuum of Self Reflection.

We need to consider that when we categorise people, we often miss the  important details, both the good and the bad that give us a fuller picture of that individual. We have an obligation to recognise people's strengths, to name them and to build upon them. As a leader, it is important to pay attention, to know what motivates and inspires an individual, and how each team member wants to be celebrated and acknowledged. 

An interesting point to keep in mind is, the way each of us teaches is a reflection of self. Observable behaviours and actions are just the tip of the iceberg. Below the water, the unseen, the driving forces include each individual's decisions, feelings, thoughts and beliefs. When exploring choices made by educators, a useful question could be to ask, " I noticed you did this...What other actions/options did you forgo in order to do this?"

Building teacher capacity needs time. We need to consider how to increase collective capacity - through robust professional learning communities, and also how to increase individual capacity - differentiate supervisory, coaching and feedback practices. You can't just work on a team, you need to work on both the team and individuals. We need to ensure we match our teachers needs and work deliberately towards point B.

The Cycle of Reflective Teaching

"The more reflective you are, the more effective you are." Hall & Simeral.

Reflection is thinking with purpose, that leads to outcomes. There are 4 key steps in the reflective cycle.

1. Awareness: keeping ideas, goals and outcomes in mind
2. Thinking intentionally
3. Assess impact: pay attention. Ask "Am I getting better?"
4. Responsiveness: make adaptations

The reflective cycle is like going up a spiral staircase, there is a little more expertise with each iteration.

Awareness

"Leaders don't change people. They create environments where people change themselves" Justin Tarte.

Educators need to know their why - why is it that they are in teaching in the first place? They need to know their learners, what they are teaching and the most effective pedagogical approaches to convey this.

Thinking Intentionally

Clarity precedes competence. Visionary leadership supports this when there is:

• a common language - so everyone knows what is meant by 'buzz phrases'
• common goals
• a clear plan for communicating these goals

4 Key Questions:

• What does success at our school look like?
• What are we truly trying to accomplish here?
• Why all this emphasis on reflective practice?
• How is reflective practice going to help us improve our results anyway?

Know your why. It makes a difference, as illustrated in the video, when we are connected to a purpose (the why). We often experience burnout when we've forgotten 'why?'

Assess Impact

"The applause is a celebration, not only of the actors, but also of the audience. It constitutes a shared moment of delight." John Charles Polanyi

Celebrate what you value. Constantly assess the impact, results, effectiveness and short comings of anything you try.

Responsiveness

This is all about goal setting. Never mistake motion for action. Keep in mind that planning allows you to be adaptable, as opposed to blindly following the plan. We looked at SMART goal setting, with some tweaks and adjustments:

S: Strategically aligned to each other and our clear, compelling vision

M: Measurable

A: Attainable -Aggressive - Audacious (going from a low rung to a running jump)

R: Relevant

T: Time bound

Teachers need to reflect on:

1. What are we focused on as a school or team?
2. What is my personal, professional goal? What do I want to get better at?

So overall, a thought provoking day, with some useful tools and questions to apply to change leadership at Matua Ngaru School as we support our learners, educators and school community to ride the wave of change.