Reflection in action and Reflection on action

Learning is a continuous process. It begins from cradle and ends with our last breath. Teaching and learning are the two sides of the same coin which are inseparable. But In some cases educators forget learning aspect. Why does this happen? The only reason is that either they are not aware the concept of reflection or they ignore this due to laziness.

What is reflection? It is associated with mirror for a layman. But it has different meaning in the context of education. It refers to scrutinize our teaching or learning by ourselves or allowing others to act as a critique to explore the weaknesses .It is not merely finding the limitations but to think, modify and change the method of your work. It is a continuous process.

Reflection can be done at two levels:

      1. Reflection in action

      2. Reflection on action

Reflection in action: - It is way of evaluating one’s work while it is in progress. It is an important tool in evaluating teaching and learning process while it is in progress. An educator understands from the situation and behavior of the students. He tries to find whether the development of learning is in the right direction. Otherwise a remedial action is taken by the teacher. For example during my teaching I had come to a situation in which students were getting bored due to less involvement, I used immediately reflected on that and alter my way of delivering the lesson. Mostly I used to give them a small activity after a small discussion.

Reflection on action: - It is a form of scrutinizing our teaching and learning outcomes after conducting teaching session. How can a teacher come to know about the success of learning outcomes? Get feedback from the students directly by assigning some task related to the session or he can take the help of other colleagues. For instance, after delivering my lesson if some of the students were not able to apply that knowledge or they didn't get$ good grades. I used to discuss and take suggestions from my colleagues and do self reflection.

To conclude, a teacher should try to use blended method of reflection in action and reflection on action keeping in mind the efforts and time required to make learning environment interesting and live.