What does reflective practice look and sound like?
Just as leadership involves an ongoing flow of decisions, reflective practice consists of an ongoing flow of questions. The questions are designed to encouraging an exchange: of experiences, thoughts, feelings, and ideas. “Can you describe what happened?” “Have you ever experienced anything like this before?” “How was this different from what you had expected?” “Is there something you have seen work elsewhere that might work here?” These are all questions that feed reflective practice–although the question is just the beginning. Listening to the responses is at least as important. And to be effective, it is done with full attention. Good communication strategies–such as clarifying, expanding, and rephrasing–are part of the process as well. Judgment is suspended, but decisions are made and a course of action is determined. Reflective questioning is an art that requires careful crafting and practice. In the busy lives of educators at all levels, it might seem that just asking more que
