This October, I had the privilege of presenting at the Troika Xperience 2024 Conference, where I explored how reflective practice can be extended to student-centred activities that foster critical thinking and autonomy.
After a brief overview of reflective practice in ELT -its evolution, benefits and challenges-, I presented classroom activities inspired by tools teachers use to reflect on their practice. The activities fell into four main categories:
- Learner Journals, focusing on individual reflection,
- Peer and Group Reflection, promoting collaborative reflection,
- Visualization, emphasizing goal setting and future aspirations,
- Culture of Reflection, integrating reflection into broader school initiatives.
- Learner Journals
One-Line Reflections & Reflection Hashtags/Memes: Students summarize key takeaways from lessons in a sentence or a hashtag/meme (e.g. #needmorepractice). This can later expand into class blogs dedicated to reflection with teachers prompting students to describe the learning experience, analyze successes and challenges, and plan future steps (Gibbs, 1988).
Two Stars and a Wish: Ideal for younger learners, this task asks students to identify two things they did well and one area for improvement. - Peer and Group Reflection
Our Class Barometer: This interactive activity transforms the classroom into a Likert-style reflection tool as each area of the room represents a different opinion (e.g. Strongly Agree, Agree etc.). The teacher reads statements (e.g. I can describe my daily routine.), and students move to the area that reflects their view, discussing their reasoning with their classmates.
Color Palette Reflections: Students select a color that represents how they feel about their learning progress (e.g. red for confusion) and explain their choice.
Reflection Bingo: This is an adaptation of Speaking Bingo, where each box contains a reflection prompt (e.g.) A challenge I faced. Students find classmates who match the prompt and ask follow-up questions. Digital Walls of Reflection: Using tools like Padlet, students post reflections and revisit them to assess progress over time.
- Visualization
Short-term Goal Setting & Future Me Interviews: Since long-term goal setting can be challenging, I encourage students to set short-term goals (e.g. for the next month), outlining their importance and planning 2-3 action steps. As an extension, students record questions for their future selves and revisit them months later to answer.
Learning Soundtracks & Our Learning Journey Map: Older students create song playlists capturing their learning progress, while younger learners draw maps illustrating their journey with paths, mountains, and rivers symbolizing struggles and achievements. - Culture of Reflection
This category included both in-class and school-wide initiatives. Classroom activities ranged from writing recipes of teamwork to creating Class Shoutout boards, where students celebrate supportive classmates. Whole-school initiatives involved suggestions for student-led reflection groups and conferences on learning progress.
References
Gibbs, G., 1988. Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Educational Unit, Oxford Polytechnic, Oxford.
Schön, D., 1987. Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Towards a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the Professions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
