Qualities and Characteristics of a Reflective Practitioner

• we teach to change the world
• we need to have full awareness of our motives and intentions
• things you assume to be true are not always
• engage critically with ideas and actions
• talk and listen respectfully to those who hold views different from your own
• model respectful disagreement and constructive criticism
• think about what we do: how do you know when you are teaching well? how do you know your students are learning? how could your practice be made more responsive?
• learn more from your students
• use your power with the learners rather than over the learners
• Ask myself: Why do I do what I do and how do I do it?
• work within and outside of preferred learning styles
• can stand outside their practice and see what they do in a wider perspective
• well-grounded rationale for practice
• help solve problems by looking for a manual, workshop, or person
• explain and justify ourselves to others
• we see our practice through other’s eyes
• we know why we believe and what we believe
• model critical inquiry
• the assumption that all teachers meet all students needs all the time lead to us feeling incompetent and demoralized
• see our practice from the other side of the mirror
• inviting colleagues to watch what we do
• engage in critical conversations with colleagues
• seeing ourselves as students makes us aware of actions and assumptions we have
• the learners help us gravitate towards certain ways of doing things and why we avoid others
• we know that students watch us closely and they are quick to notice and condemn any inconsistencies between what we say, we believe and what we actually do
• curricula do not just happen
• models critical inquiry in the practice
• we question institutional definitions of appropriate teacher and student roles
• alert to the presence of power in the classroom
• listen seriously and attentively
• classroom is always needing further investigation
• emphasizes peer learning to show trust
• justice, fairness and compassion - democratic process
• we discover our voice - speak about our practice is consistent
• lifetime voice

~Group Work with Sarah, Don and Connie
This is the wordle of our words:

This is the wordle of the class's thoughts: