Reflecting Purposefully

07/10/2006

Say yes when nobody asks.
Lao Proverb

In their Exchange article, "How Do I Relate and Share Professionally?," Rhonda Forrest and Nadine McCrea observe....

"Our values and beliefs underpin the way we act and respond to others. Therefore, a reflective journey that deepens our self-awareness is essential to improving ways we communicate and provide foundations for establishing and maintaining relationships....

"Reflective practitioners critically appraise their professional understandings. There are different forms of reflection including technical rationality, practical action, and critical reflection.... These concepts are pivotal to moving from a basic level of reading for meaning, thinking, and writing through to complex, more advanced metacognitive processes that are expected of professionals. Technical rationality involves the unquestioning use of knowledge to attain defined ends. The next level, practical action, involves analysing assumptions about daily actions and deciding to act based on their practicality. We encourage you to move to critical reflection which is based on asking moral and ethical questions that lead to just and equitable social outcomes.

"A reflective journal can document your professional journey. It is a place where you record your thinking about complex issues. Journal writing represents communicating with yourself about who you are and what you do in your educational setting.... Writing may generate ideas and emotions about changing yourself and the organisation you work in. It is a mode of active learning for deeper understanding. Revisiting earlier entries to see how your thinking has changed may be a useful check of your values and beliefs."

Forrest and McCrea's entire article, which can be viewed on our home page at www.ChildCareExchange.com, served as the basis for a recent Exchange Out of the Box Training Kit.

Out of the Box Kits On Sale! The new Out of the Box Training Kit, "How Do I Relate and Share Professionally?," and 50+ training kits (online versions only) on discipline, assessment, professionalism, families, environments, curriculum development, and health, are on sale this week!

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.