Conor Burke

Reflective practice is one of the most important aspects of teacher development In my opinion. It is some thing that I have found has greatly impacted upon and improved my development as a teacher throughout the teacher training and education process. Taking the time to analyse the pros and cons with regard to the presentation and implementation as well as student understanding, of a given lesson can really help to refine and develop your approach in subsequent lessons. Critically reflecting upon your approach and application to various aspects within the context of a given lesson plan or unit of learning more broadly can help to highlight areas that need improvement while also making clear the areas that worked and that students responded well to, this can help to set you on the right path and to ensure that you are implementing the best approach in the interest of students. When we are setting out lesson plans there is a certain necessity to generalise to an extent, and because students are all very different, certain approaches will tend to work with some while different approaches will tend to work with others. It is only upon implementing a lesson plan or unit of learning initially that we can then begin to assess our own approach and analyze what works and what needs to be changed to suit specific individuals or groups. In this context reflective practice becomes an essential aspect of being a teacher.