Why Most Experience Doesn't Produce Expertise
The Reflective Practice Cycle
A lesson, an activity, a student interaction — any teaching event.
What happened? (Just the facts, without evaluation.) 'I introduced the passive voice using a gap-fill exercise. Three students completed it quickly. Two seemed confused.'
Why did this happen? What factors contributed? 'The gap-fill gave no context for why the passive is used. Students who completed quickly may have guessed from sentence position rather than understanding the concept.'
What does this tell me about the activity, the students, or my teaching assumptions? 'Context-free exercises may present passive voice as a grammatical option rather than a communicative choice. Students need reasons to choose passive.'
What will I do differently? 'Next time: introduce with authentic examples where passive is clearly the natural choice (science reports, news journalism). Have students identify why active voice wouldn't work here.'
Reflection Practice Formats
Teaching Journal
5 minutes after each lesson — the most sustainable and highest-impact format
Peer Observation
Watching and being watched — accelerates development faster than self-reflection alone
Video Review
Record one lesson per term and watch it back — reveals blind spots invisible in real-time
Teacher Tip
“Use the WHAT/SO WHAT/NOW WHAT framework for speed journaling: What happened? So what does this mean? Now what will I do? Three short answers, 3-5 minutes total. This framework converts vague impressions into actionable insights without requiring an hour of writing time.”
Frequently Asked Questions
How is reflective teaching different from just thinking about lessons?
Structured reflection uses explicit frameworks that surface things intuitive thinking misses: underlying beliefs about teaching, patterns across multiple lessons, theory-practice connections, and alternative interpretations of events. Informal thinking rarely reaches beyond 'that went well' or 'that didn't work.'
What should I reflect on?
Critical incidents — moments of unexpected outcome, positive or negative. Student responses that surprised you. Activities that consistently fail. Assumptions you made that turned out to be wrong. Anything that generates a genuine 'why did that happen?' question.
How do I know if my reflection is improving my teaching?
Look for sustained change: do you still make the same mistake you reflected on 3 months ago? Are student outcomes improving on specific issues you identified? The test of reflective practice is behavioral change, not the sophistication of the reflection itself.