Reflective teaching

While thinking about how I involve reflective practice in my teaching to become a critically reflective teacher, I identified four different areas in which reflection was part of the process:

Elementary education: Working with children in integrative kindergarten and being in a team of 2-3 persons of educators per group of around 15-20 children, we roughly planned the daily activities and took once a week to reflect on the past week plan the new one. In the team, we reflected on our own capacities and abilities. For me, a personal reflection usually took place in the evening hours, after work. I wrote down some major events and my thoughts and feelings in a journal that gathered different formats and colored papers. In happy times there were almost no entries. When problems occurred, there were more notes. The writing style varied from easy-going conversational style to serious letter-of-complaint tone. I got feedback from my colleagues in general and for special situations by collegial feedback and regularly from the kids and parents.

Language teaching: When taking the Teaching English to adult learners course (CELTA), our preparation and interaction were observed, and the lessons were assessed. After each lesson, we wrote a one to two-page reflection on the just-finished lesson. The other teachers gave oral and one-page feedback on the lesson. The tutor also gave oral and written feedback. All together went into the self-reflection and shaped my approach to future lessons.

School children: From time to time, I had a self-reflection paper with a few questions, which I did monthly. It war about mindset, teacher behavior, and interaction values.

Vocational training: In my job in business administration, as part-time responsible for apprentices, I recalled my teaching practice usually by limiting it to goal-oriented topics, easily ticked off.

Adults - administration of the intranet Wiki platform for educators in childrens' daycare facilities: Adult educators use an internal wiki as a knowledge basis. Up to now, few authors have written specialized articles. All other users read. My goal is to encourage publishing, discussing, and collaborating online to have an up-to-date, fun, and inclusive wiki platform. The means and methods are described on this website and summed up in a booklet.

DigCompEdu self-assessment

The EU website for assessing digital competencies offers a self-assessment tool, which I took at various times before, during, and after the three modules. You surely have noticed that I love visuals, as they allow grasping information quickly, so here we go:

In October 2020, at the beginning of module 1, my score was 40 out of 88, a B1, Integrator.

This means: You experiment with digital technologies in various contexts and for a range of purposes, integrating them into many of your practices. You creatively use them to enhance diverse aspects of your professional engagement. You are eager to expand your repertoire of practices. You will benefit by understanding which tools work best in which situations and fitting digital technologies to pedagogic strategies and methods. Try to give yourself some more time for reflection and adaptation, complemented by collaborative encouragement and knowledge exchange, to reach the next step, Expert.

In module 1 of the DigCompEdu course, my goals were to develop my skills in area 4: assessing students, by

experimenting with different digital solutions

getting to know about, exploring, and adapting digital assessment tools

exploring digital tools to make feedback provision more effective

In the middle of module 1, the self-assessment showed a score of 53 of 88 and an improvement in areas 3-6, corresponding to B2, Expert.

This means: You use a range of digital technologies confidently, creatively, and critically to enhance your professional activities. You purposefully select digital technologies for particular situations and understand the benefits and drawbacks of different digital strategies. You are curious and open to new ideas, knowing that there are many things you have not tried out yet. You use experimentation as a means of expanding, structuring, and consolidating your repertoire of strategies. Share your expertise with other academics and develop your digital strategies to reach the Leader level. My goals were mainly reached, yet.

I still aimed to improve in area 4 - knowing how to individually assess learners and learn more about area 2 - how to quickly choose secure and adaptable digital resources for changing needs.

After module 1, in December 2020, my final score is 67 of 88, which makes me level C1, Leader.

This means: You have a consistent and comprehensive approach to using digital technologies to enhance pedagogic and professional practices. You rely on a broad repertoire of digital strategies from which you know how to choose the most appropriate for any given situation. You continuously reflect on and further develop your practices. Exchanging with peers, you keep updated on new developments and ideas and help other lecturers seize the potential of digital technologies for enhancing teaching and learning.

When starting module 3, my score was 83 out of 88, which left me amazed, as I didn't realize how fast my knowledge and skills grew. Now I am a C2, a Pioneer.

This means: You question the adequacy of contemporary digital and pedagogical practices in which you are a Leader. You are concerned about the constraints or drawbacks of these practices and driven by the impulse to innovate education even further. You experiment with highly innovative and complex digital technologies and/or develop novel pedagogical approaches. You lead innovation and are a role model for other lecturers.

After finishing module 3, I improved my skills some more. As the website for assessment was removed, I took the Portuguese tool for DigCompEdu assessment, which was slightly different than the EU test.