Before we get started on the ideas in reflection, I want to share a couple of new (short) courses:
These courses will give you the fundamentals for learning, plus provide a challenge for your to bring the ideas into your context. Both courses have about an hour’s worth of videos, with a workbook for questions and the challenge. I truly believe that deeply understanding the way learning works will take your work to the next level, making you better at what you do!
Now — onto the ideas about reflection!
Ideas
I chose to name this work The Learning Engine because the name implies motion. One of the main drivers of motion in our learning is reflection, which helps every part of learning.
Take a minute and work yourself through my Model for Learning, thinking about how reflection is used in each part of the model.
[For a much deeper discussion about the entire Model for Learning, read this essay: That’s How Learning Works?!?! A Comprehensive Model for Understanding the Learning Process.]
Reflection and the Model for Learning
A definition: Reflection is the process of thinking about experiences, actions, and knowledge and skills in conceptual models.
In physics, reflection happens when light hits a surface and changes direction; in learning, reflection happens when information from experiences hits our understanding of the world and changes our understanding. Reflection in both physics and learning require an interaction, plus both types of reflection cause some change.
Reflection can — and should! — happen in every part of the Model for Learning:
- Sensing and Focusing: During the experience, what did I sense? How did I focus?
- Working Memory: During the experience, did I get overwhelmed? Or, was I calm, managing the experience?
- Long-Term Memory: During the experience, did I notice any gaps in the knowledge and skills in my conceptual models? How can I make more connections and stronger organization in my conceptual models?
- Forgetting: During the experience, was there anything that made me forget through my working memory? Could I access the knowledge and skills in my conceptual models?
- Practicing and Performing: During the experience, what were the outcomes in practice or performance? How was I reacting to those outcomes?
By reflecting on these types of questions — and many more questions for each part of the Model for Learning — we can gain a deeper understanding in the affective, spiritual, physical, and cognitive domains.
How can we reflect?
Reflection can happen in a bunch of different ways, so let’s go through some of the ways.
Timing of reflection: Immediate, delayed, and scheduled.
Immediate reflection happens during or just after an experience. This can be useful to keep a record of the experience, plus help you adjust for the next experience. A challenge with immediate reflection is that emotions in the experience can cloud our judgment of the experience, changing what we remember about the experience. Finding the right balance between what we feel about the experience and what actually happened in the experience will help us get the most learning from the reflection.
Delayed reflection happens after some time has passed since the experience. This can be useful to clear some of the emotions from the experience, giving us a more holistic picture of every part of the experience. A challenge with delayed reflection is forgetting some of the details of the experience, which could cause us to miss key points of learning from the experience. Combining the record from immediate reflection with a holistic view of the experience with delayed reflection will help maximize learning from the reflection.
Scheduled reflection happens at set points throughout life. The scheduled reflection can have a short, medium, or long time frame, with the power of scheduled reflection coming from a forced pause in the experience. By forcing ourselves to pause, we can use pre-planned questions to consider the experience — gaining strong learning from the scheduled reflection.
Depth of reflection: Shallow and deep.
Shallow reflection is a quick reflection on the experience. What is happening? How am I reacting? Am I overwhelmed? What are the outcomes? Though the word “shallow” may have negative connotations, this quick process actually helps with learning in the experience — making shallow reflection a positive. Answering shallow reflective questions during in an experience helps us quickly analyze our emotions, plus check the state of our knowledge and skills.
Deep reflection is an in-depth reflection on both the experience and our response to the experience. We all have a worldview that colors our experiences, though we need time to compare the parts of our worldview with the experience. We should compare how we acted during the experience with how we believe we should have acted during the experience, which then helps us either update our worldview or do better in the next experience. Using deep reflection during the delayed and schedule timing allows us to consider challenging questions about what we truly believe, which helps us learn through the experience.
Ways to reflect: Structure and methods.
Different structures of reflection can help in different ways. Reflection has a spectrum of fully structured to fully unstructured, both of which are useful. Fully structured reflection helps by forcing us to be specific, which can unearth interesting points. Also, using the same structured reflection over and over gives a record of our changing thinking, which can help us understand ourselves better. Fully unstructured reflection helps by giving us space, which we can use to acknowledge any part of the experience. Unstructured reflection also helps by allowing us to process the experience, gaining space to learn from the experience.
Different methods for reflection can also help in different ways. Reflection can individual or with others: Individual reflection forces us to confront the experience; collaborative reflection can help us see parts of an experience that we may have missed. Both individual and collaborative reflection give insights into the experience, helping us learn from the experience. Reflection can also be with different media: Writing, speaking, visual mapping, and others. Each method can help us process and clarify the experience, deepening our learning in every way.
By considering the timing, depth, and different ways for reflection — plus the way reflection is embedded in the Model for Learning — we can continue to learn and grow through our experiences. Learning and growing through our experiences gives us wisdom, helping us live a more full life!
Stories
I’ve reflected throughout my life; here are a couple of stories.
Story 1: One way I reflect is through a five-year journal. A company has a journal where each page is a day of the year, with space to write about the day for five years. My nightly routine includes writing about the day, which is a structured way to remember the experiences from the day. One of the fun parts of this structure is the memories; I started this journal when my wife was pregnant with our first daughter, so the journals (I’m on the second one!) are a record of our daughters’ lives. I’m excited for our daughters to eventually read the journals, seeing all the experiences in their lives.
Story 2: Another way that I use reflection is with my students. As I design and implement courses, students are required to reflect in many different ways — using the timing, depth, structure, and methods in the “Ideas” section. Although students occasionally grumble (haha) when I make them reflect, they eventually come to trust the benefits of constantly reflecting on their emotions and conceptual models. I also talk to them about extending the reflection outside of my subject, discussing the power of using reflection in every part of their life.
Questions
- How have you used reflection in your life?
- How does reflection connect to my Model for Learning?
- When have you used each timing for reflection? How did each help with your learning?
- When have you used each depth for reflection? How did each help with your learning?
- When have you used each structure and method for reflection? How did each help with your learning?
- What are ways you can reflect today? This week? This month? This quarter? This year?
Learning happens when we share what we are thinking, so I would love to hear your answers! Also, you can use these questions as conversations starters with friends and family — hearing their answers and having a conversation would be great!
If this newsletter resonated with you, please share on the socials and with someone who you think would also benefit; I would greatly appreciate any help in spreading these ideas!
Thanks for reading this newsletter — and all the best!
Nathan
