View Content #24056

By Christopher Daradics, CASLS Language Technician

Reflection is an essential ingredient in meaning making and knowledge production. In practical terms, reflection helps learners become better at navigating life. In more technical terms, reflection is the complex, multi-sensory process of becoming aware of the connections between life’s various experiences (Costa, 2008).

Fortunately, this powerful skill can be developed using an array of approaches. Discussions, interviews, questioning, logs and journals, and modeling are all effective strategies for inspiring reflection (Costa, 2008).

Consider the following example which uses discussion and journaling to help students reflect on their experience of their physical environment.

Keli and her high school class are studying Environmental Awareness (P21). Keli sets up a very simple reflective sequence for her class by giving the students 5 minutes to discuss, with a partner in the target language, the difference between the meaning of words “here” and “there”.

After a bit of moderated discussion Keli and the pairs of students largely agrees that “here” is where “I” am and “there” is where “you” are.

Next, Keli and her students read through an article which introduces the students to the term “NIMBY” (not in my back yard). After reading the students are provided with a  scaffolded worksheet for reflective journaling structured around the following themes: “What is my space?” and “what is your space?”

Keli’s invitation to explore and consider the spatial nature of experience invites her students’ minds (and pens) to reflect on everything from personal space bubbles (how much of “here” do I have the right to claim?) to insights about territory disputes, NIMBY and otherwise.

Reflection, with questions as simple as Keli’s, are easily woven into any topic and/or content domain. Reflection is an an essential ingredient in knowledge production and has the power to draw together insight from across experiential domains. As students attune to the connections between their experiences, the terrain of life becomes easier to navigate.

This week’s Activity of the Week provides a scaffolded reflection on a similar theme, how physical environments shape our experience. By exploring images on social media using hashtags, the activity allows learners to explore and reflect on how different kinds of physical environments allow for different kinds of experiences. 

References

Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (2008). Learning and leading with habits of mind: 16 essential characteristics for success. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

http://www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework