The call for learners to become accomplished in reflection is increasingly prevalent across much of the world (van Velzen, 2017). To aid this, a wealth of practical paper-based manuals, online tutorials and face-to-face training is available for teachers to learn from to help foster student engagement. However, a noticeable gap in this support is evident when teachers seek to engage learners in self-reflection. This blog entry aims to positively address this by offering adapted extracts from a literature-based thoughtpiece entitled Asking key questions of self-reflection which was written by Dr. Simon Brownhill and published in the journal Reflective Practice (2021). Let’s start with a very important question: what is self-reflection?

What is self-reflection?

In simple terms, Neale (2019) describes self-reflection as ‘taking time to think, contemplate, examine and review yourself as part of increasing your self-awareness.’ This resonates with the thinking of Shaw, Kuvalja and Suto (2018, p.2) who see self-reflection, in the context of students, as ‘reflect[ing] upon their own learning, which includes their personal experiences, perspectives, beliefs and claims.’ Synergies here are noted in the description of self-reflection proposed by Jonassen, Howland, Marra and Crismond (2008, p.3):

by reflecting on [a] puzzling experience, learners integrate their new experiences with their prior knowledge about the world, or they establish goals for what they need to learn in order to make sense out of what they observe.

Whilst some authors regard self-reflection as a trait or a state, self-reflection is commonly considered to be ‘a processof self-analysis, self-evaluation, self-dialogue and self-observation’ (Yip, 2006, p.777; added emphasis). Just as there are various types of reflection, so too are there different types of self-reflection. These include:

• Self-reflection which embraces a problem or solution-focused approach – this is where learners constructively reflect on how best to reach their goals.
• Self-reflection which utilises a self-focused approach – this is where learners attempt to understand, contain or dissipate their negative emotional, cognitive and behavioural reactions. This approach connects to the idea ofcritical self-reflection which refers to the process of questioning one’s own assumptions, presuppositions, and meaning perspectives (Mezirow, 2006).
• Collaborative self-reflection – self-reflection is typically seen as a solo venture whereas collaborative self-reflection (involving two or more individuals, be they peers, teachers or family members) can be specifically used ‘to better understand the needs of [others]’ (Sutherland, 2013, p.113).
• Structured and unstructured self-reflection – this is either ‘organised around one or more questions, either evaluative or exploratory’ [structured] or ‘letting thoughts flow without restriction, permitting ideas, insights and connections to randomly surface’ [unstructured] (Johnson, 2020, p.26).

So, if we know a little about what self-reflection is, another key question that needs to be asked is: why is it important?

Why is self-reflection important?

Ardelt and Grunwald (2018) recognize the importance of self-reflection by arguing that it "foster[s] human development and personal transformation and, ultimately, a better society" (p. 188).