6.4  Reflecting on your learning

This is the last section of the six-week module, so it’s time for a final reflection.

Figure 6.10  Final module reflections

Look back over the notes you have made in your reflective journal. What have you learned?

You may have found out more about a disability or medical condition. Perhaps you know yourself better and you are more aware of your unconscious biases? Perhaps you have a new strategy for improving your practice: will you be working with parents differently as a result of completing this module?

What were the inspiring moments for you? Were there times when you thought, for example, ‘That’s something I’ve always wondered about’, or ‘I’ve never thought about that before’, or ‘Well, that makes a lot of sense!’

Make a note of any personally inspiring moments in your learning journal.

Now choose three words to describe your most inspiring moment and add them to the module reflection thread in the forum [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

Listen to some final thoughts from Elizabeth Henderson, where she shares the three reflective questions she asks herself if she is feeling muddled or weighed down in her practice. Perhaps these will be a useful set of questions to take with you from the module:

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Transcript: Video 6.2  Three reflective questions

ELIZABETH:
I think how we respond to children depends on our values and what we think education and care is about. One of my great heroes is Paulo Friere. I still have an original book of his that I bought in the 1970s. And he talks about education as a liberating experience.
How can you liberate children when you're working under so many regulations, guidelines, policies, documents? People coming to inspect? Things escaping into the media? How can you remain true to the value of helping to respect a child and help them to be the best that they can be?
After many years of working with children, I came up with three little touchstones that I always reflected on when I got stuck. So I would ask myself of the child, so who are you? What gifts have you brought with you into the world? Not deficits, what gifts have you brought with you into the world? And how can I help you to be the best that you can be? And they became my three personal touchstones, if you like.
So when I got in a muddle or felt I wasn't responding to a child in the right way, I would make myself reflect on these three questions. Who are you? What gifts have you brought with you into the world? And how can I help you be the best that you can be?
End transcript: Video 6.2  Three reflective questions
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Video 6.2  Three reflective questions
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Will you take these three thoughts with you into your practice?

Reflection activity

Timing: Allow 10 minutes

Use your saved learner journal to make notes about this final week of learning, and also make notes on the most valuable learning outcomes from the whole module. (You can also type into the box below and then copy and paste it into your learner journal.)

Remember to save your learner journal and keep it for future reference.

Reflection table for Week 6

Source of knowledge                                              
Key point                              
How has this made me think?                              
So what have I learned?                              
Next steps: what can I improve or what more do I need to know?                              
Next steps: what improvements can I make to my practice?                              

(Adapted from Appleby and Hanson, 2017)

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Now it’s time to complete the End-of-course quiz.

Your role in influencing policies and practice in your setting

Summary