reflective essay behaviour management

Inside the learning life of Miss Warwick

Reflection of behaviour management within the classroom.

Behaviour management is one of the most important factors, but can also be the toughest within an educational setting. There are many reasons that behaviour needs to be managed; to create a classroom setting where learning can flourish and the children need to feel successful, to allow the children to feel safe, to have and gain respect, and to teach the children about socially appropriate and acceptable behaviour. However, it is important for teachers to consider the style they approach certain situations in order to gain the correct behaviour management. For example, (Hook and Vass, no date, p.9) state that effective teachers approach behaviour with a very positive attitude. It is important that you emphasise more on positive statements rather than negative, the use of praise and rewards, and to highlight on their success rather than highlighting when they make mistakes. If a child is talking and not paying attention, some teachers may approach this situation by saying “can you stop talking and pay attention please?” However, a more positive outlook to this situation can be “I need you to choose to face the front and listen to me. Thanks” This is focusing more on what they should be doing, rather than what they are doing wrong.

Leading up to my MA1 Professional Practice placement, I felt that behaviour management was going to be the most intimidating factor for me. Because of this, I read up on a lot of behaviour management books and texts on how to deal with certain situations involving behaviour in the classroom. I felt that this helped me prepare myself for my placement, and gave me a bigger wealth of knowledge. However, during my placement, I had to deal with a wide variety of behaviour management, and could not believe how well and confidently I dealt with it. Moving on to my MA3 Professional Practice placement, I feel this will now be one of my stronger areas.

Hook, P and Vass, A. (no date) Behaviour Management Pocketbook, United Kingdom: Teachers’ Pocketbooks.

Share this:

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Glow Blogs uses cookies to enhance your experience on our service. By using this service or closing this message you consent to our use of those cookies. Please read our Cookie Policy. OK

Search menu

Behaviour management: using reflective language.

One of the biggest challenges facing primary school staff can be dealing with children’s behaviour in a way that has a positive impact on them, is not detrimental to their self-esteem, and enables them to make realistic changes.

For many staff working in primary schools today their desire to support and encourage learning is disrupted by children who do not conform to the expectations of engaged participation in daily school life.

We may know of children who have refused to follow instruction, appear to be deliberately disruptive and challenge staff. We may also know of children who are withdrawn, overly eager to please and unable to build and sustain relationships. In some schools there may only be a few children causing concern, in others there may be many.

Reflective language

Reflective language uses simple tentative statements that articulate what you observe, what may be going on for a child and how they may be feeling. For example, “I can see you looking out of the window, I wonder if you are not sure what to do next, perhaps it would help if I explained it again.”

Using reflective language which considers and explores the possible reasons behind the behaviour is a useful tool for any member of school staff. It focuses on increasing understanding of why a child may be doing something, rather than just looking at the behaviour the child is displaying.

Reflective language is a subtle way of providing positive messages to children. It conveys to the child that you are seeing them, trying to understand them and acknowledging any feelings they may be experiencing. It enables adults to tentatively explore the child’s experience without making judgements or assumptions about it.

Using reflective language clearly communicates to a child: “I see you, I hear you, I am trying to understand you,” and thus enables them to feel seen, heard, valued and understood. For some children this can be a relatively new experience and may result in increased self-worth and self-esteem.

By using this with children, adults are providing a positive message to them: “You are worth thinking about and trying to understand, I am trying to help you to work out how you feel and support you with understanding and managing your feelings.”

It can be beneficial to use reflective language rather than always reprimanding children or telling them what to do, because it acknowledges and validates the child’s feelings and experiences.

When to use it

The use of reflective language can be easily integrated into the school day. For example, if a child is struggling or finding a task difficult, it can help to reflect: “It can be difficult when we get things wrong” or “It can feel frustrating when we are trying to do something and we can’t work out how to do it.”

This enables the child to feel noticed and understood, along with helping them to identify how frustration feels. Over time this enables the child to link the feelings with the word and to make that connection themselves. This may result in them being able to use the word themselves when they next have that feeling. Children who are able to understand and express their feelings are able to achieve success at school and reach their potential more easily.

When a child is unable to put their feelings into words, they can be at a disadvantage in terms of fully accessing the curriculum and engaging in all aspects of school life. Affirmative responses

When a child feels an adult is trying to help and understand them, they may start to feel more positive about themselves, therefore enabling them to make changes to their behaviour. The use of reflective language within schools encourages a sense of safety and security rather than fear and anxiety.

If a child is able to have their feelings accepted, acknowledged and validated without judgement or reprimand by an adult, they learn that all feelings are acceptable and this can impact on their behaviour in a positive way.

When a child’s behaviour is explored in a gentle and reassuring way by using reflective language, it provides them with an opportunity to begin to acknowledge their own mistakes and gradually learn to start taking responsibility for their actions. These are small but essential steps towards learning about choices and consequences and ultimately making positive changes to their behaviour.

Enabling children to ask for help

When children have learnt self-sufficiency at a young age they may try to manage on their own as they have learned “it’s not okay to ask for help or if you do no-one responds”. A reflection, such as “you may need some help from an adult with this, and I can help you if you would like me to”, provides the message that sometimes children need help from an adult and it is acceptable to ask for it.

It enables the child to have the choice and decide whether they need help, rather than the adult controlling the situation and deciding for them. This can help to reduce any feelings of anxiety and fear that the child may be having.

It is also useful if children see school staff asking for help, as this can be very liberating – for example, “I’m going to ask Mr. Bell to help me with the display because everyone needs help from other people sometimes”.

Acknowledging your own feelings

School staff can be positive role models for children when dealing with and expressing their own feelings during the school day as this provides children with concrete experiences of this. This is particularly important for children who may not have this demonstrated to them outside of school, for example, a child who sees their dad punch the wall when they are angry, rather than voicing it.

School staff can use opportunities during the school day to admit and acknowledge their own mistakes, for example: “Even grown-ups get things wrong sometimes.”

There are many opportunities during the school day where staff can acknowledge their own feelings where appropriate, for example: “I felt cross when the photocopier was broken.” Staff can also identify and acknowledge difficult times during the school day, such as: “It’s raining again and that can be frustrating when we were looking forward to doing PE outside.”

Why is it important?

The use of reflective language has a positive impact on both children’s emotional wellbeing and their behaviour. Some children may find it difficult to express their feelings and may have learnt that it is not safe to do so. Their anxieties may manifest in their behaviour, for example a child who is unable to sit still or is always fiddling with something.

It can help if their feelings and behaviour can be identified and acknowledged in a gentle and supportive way, rather than reprimanding them for not being able to express or manage their feelings, for example: “I can see that it’s really difficult for you to sit still and relax until you know what we are going to do.” This kind of reflection may enable children to manage their anxieties more easily.

Using reflective language can be a powerful tool to change children’s behaviour and set them on the path to improved mental health and wellbeing. The use of reflective language enables school staff to become more aware of what, why and how children communicate through their behaviour along with increasing their awareness of how they respond to this.

This may result in improved staff confidence and self -esteem along with a better understanding of themselves which may then affect how they respond to children. When adults are open to making small changes in the way they view and respond to children’s behaviour, this can have a positive impact on children, enabling them to feel more accepted and understood.

• Cath Hunter is a play therapist, trainer, therapeutic consultant and author who has worked in schools since 2004. She is the author of Making a Difference: A practical guide for the emotionally focused school practitioner, which introduces reflective language and other strategies to respond to behaviour and meet emotional wellbeing needs. The early bird offer of £13 is available until June 30. For details, visit www.therapeuticfamilyinterventions.co.uk

Related articles

The links between language ability and behaviour, one small step towards good pupil behaviour..., behaviour: a language of compliance rather than defiance.

• +44 (0) 207 391 9032

Recent Posts

• What Is an Internship? Everything You Should Know

How Long Should a Thesis Statement Be?

• How to Write a Character Analysis Essay
• Best Colours for Your PowerPoint Presentation: How to Choose
• How to Write a Nursing Essay
• Top 5 Essential Skills You Should Build As An International Student
• How Professional Editing Services Can Take Your Writing to the Next Level
• How to Write an Effective Essay Outline
• How to Write a Law Essay: A Comprehensive Guide with Examples
• What Are the Limitations of ChatGPT?
• Academic News
• Custom Essays
• Dissertation Writing
• Essay Marking
• Essay Writing
• Essay Writing Companies
• Model Essays
• Model Exam Answers
• Oxbridge Essays Updates
• PhD Writing
• Significant Academics
• Student News
• Study Skills
• University Applications
• University Essays
• University Life
• Writing Tips

A complete guide to writing a reflective essay

(Last updated: 3 June 2024)

Since 2006, Oxbridge Essays has been the UK’s leading paid essay-writing and dissertation service

We have helped 10,000s of undergraduate, Masters and PhD students to maximise their grades in essays, dissertations, model-exam answers, applications and other materials. If you would like a free chat about your project with one of our UK staff, then please just reach out on one of the methods below.

“The overwhelming burden of writing my first ever reflective essay loomed over me as I sat as still as a statue, as my fingers nervously poised over the intimidating buttons on my laptop keyboard. Where would I begin? Where would I end? Nerve wracking thoughts filled my mind as I fretted over the seemingly impossible journey on which I was about to embark.”

Reflective essays may seem simple on the surface, but they can be a real stumbling block if you're not quite sure how to go about them. In simple terms, reflective essays constitute a critical examination of a life experience and, with the right guidance, they're not too challenging to put together. A reflective essay is similar to other essays in that it needs to be easily understood and well structured, but the content is more akin to something personal like a diary entry.

In this guide, we explore in detail how to write a great reflective essay , including what makes a good structure and some advice on the writing process. We’ve even thrown in an example reflective essay to inspire you too, making this the ultimate guide for anyone needing reflective essay help.

Types of Reflection Papers

There are several types of reflective papers, each serving a unique purpose. Educational reflection papers focus on your learning experiences, such as a course or a lecture, and how they have impacted your understanding. Professional reflection papers often relate to work experiences, discussing what you have learned in a professional setting and how it has shaped your skills and perspectives. Personal reflection papers delve into personal experiences and their influence on your personal growth and development.

Each of these requires a slightly different approach, but all aim to provide insight into your thoughts and experiences, demonstrating your ability to analyse and learn from them. Understanding the specific requirements of each type can help you tailor your writing to effectively convey your reflections.

Reflective Essay Format

In a reflective essay, a writer primarily examines his or her life experiences, hence the term ‘reflective’. The purpose of writing a reflective essay is to provide a platform for the author to not only recount a particular life experience, but to also explore how he or she has changed or learned from those experiences. Reflective writing can be presented in various formats, but you’ll most often see it in a learning log format or diary entry. Diary entries in particular are used to convey how the author’s thoughts have developed and evolved over the course of a particular period.

The format of a reflective essay may change depending on the target audience. Reflective essays can be academic, or may feature more broadly as a part of a general piece of writing for a magazine, for instance. For class assignments, while the presentation format can vary, the purpose generally remains the same: tutors aim to inspire students to think deeply and critically about a particular learning experience or set of experiences. Here are some typical examples of reflective essay formats that you may have to write:

A focus on personal growth:

A type of reflective essay often used by tutors as a strategy for helping students to learn how to analyse their personal life experiences to promote emotional growth and development. The essay gives the student a better understanding of both themselves and their behaviours.

A focus on the literature:

This kind of essay requires students to provide a summary of the literature, after which it is applied to the student’s own life experiences.

Pre-Writing Tips: How to Start Writing the Reflection Essay?

As you go about deciding on the content of your essay, you need to keep in mind that a reflective essay is highly personal and aimed at engaging the reader or target audience. And there’s much more to a reflective essay than just recounting a story. You need to be able to reflect (more on this later) on your experience by showing how it influenced your subsequent behaviours and how your life has been particularly changed as a result.

As a starting point, you might want to think about some important experiences in your life that have really impacted you, either positively, negatively, or both. Some typical reflection essay topics include: a real-life experience, an imagined experience, a special object or place, a person who had an influence on you, or something you have watched or read. If you are writing a reflective essay as part of an academic exercise, chances are your tutor will ask you to focus on a particular episode – such as a time when you had to make an important decision – and reflect on what the outcomes were. Note also, that the aftermath of the experience is especially important in a reflective essay; miss this out and you will simply be storytelling.

What Do You Mean By Reflection Essay?

It sounds obvious, but the reflective process forms the core of writing this type of essay, so it’s important you get it right from the outset. You need to really think about how the personal experience you have chosen to focus on impacted or changed you. Use your memories and feelings of the experience to determine the implications for you on a personal level.

Once you’ve chosen the topic of your essay, it’s really important you study it thoroughly and spend a lot of time trying to think about it vividly. Write down everything you can remember about it, describing it as clearly and fully as you can. Keep your five senses in mind as you do this, and be sure to use adjectives to describe your experience. At this stage, you can simply make notes using short phrases, but you need to ensure that you’re recording your responses, perceptions, and your experience of the event(s).

Once you’ve successfully emptied the contents of your memory, you need to start reflecting. A great way to do this is to pick out some reflection questions which will help you think deeper about the impact and lasting effects of your experience. Here are some useful questions that you can consider:

• What have you learned about yourself as a result of the experience?
• Have you developed because of it? How?
• Did it have any positive or negative bearing on your life?
• Looking back, what would you have done differently?
• Why do you think you made the particular choices that you did? Do you think these were the right choices?
• What are your thoughts on the experience in general? Was it a useful learning experience? What specific skills or perspectives did you acquire as a result?

These signpost questions should help kick-start your reflective process. Remember, asking yourself lots of questions is key to ensuring that you think deeply and critically about your experiences – a skill that is at the heart of writing a great reflective essay.

Consider using models of reflection (like the Gibbs or Kolb cycles) before, during, and after the learning process to ensure that you maintain a high standard of analysis. For example, before you really get stuck into the process, consider questions such as: what might happen (regarding the experience)? Are there any possible challenges to keep in mind? What knowledge is needed to be best prepared to approach the experience? Then, as you’re planning and writing, these questions may be useful: what is happening within the learning process? Is the process working out as expected? Am I dealing with the accompanying challenges successfully? Is there anything that needs to be done additionally to ensure that the learning process is successful? What am I learning from this? By adopting such a framework, you’ll be ensuring that you are keeping tabs on the reflective process that should underpin your work.

How to Strategically Plan Out the Reflective Essay Structure?

Here’s a very useful tip: although you may feel well prepared with all that time spent reflecting in your arsenal, do not, start writing your essay until you have worked out a comprehensive, well-rounded plan . Your writing will be so much more coherent, your ideas conveyed with structure and clarity, and your essay will likely achieve higher marks.

This is an especially important step when you’re tackling a reflective essay – there can be a tendency for people to get a little ‘lost’ or disorganised as they recount their life experiences in an erratic and often unsystematic manner as it is a topic so close to their hearts. But if you develop a thorough outline (this is the same as a ‘plan’) and ensure you stick to it like Christopher Columbus to a map, you should do just fine as you embark on the ultimate step of writing your essay. If you need further convincing on how important planning is, we’ve summarised the key benefits of creating a detailed essay outline below:

An outline allows you to establish the basic details that you plan to incorporate into your paper – this is great for helping you pick out any superfluous information, which can be removed entirely to make your essay succinct and to the point.

Think of the outline as a map – you plan in advance the points you wish to navigate through and discuss in your writing. Your work will more likely have a clear through line of thought, making it easier for the reader to understand. It’ll also help you avoid missing out any key information, and having to go back at the end and try to fit it in.

It’s a real time-saver! Because the outline essentially serves as the essay’s ‘skeleton’, you’ll save a tremendous amount of time when writing as you’ll be really familiar with what you want to say. As such, you’ll be able to allocate more time to editing the paper and ensuring it’s of a high standard.

Now you’re familiar with the benefits of using an outline for your reflective essay, it is essential that you know how to craft one. It can be considerably different from other typical essay outlines, mostly because of the varying subjects. But what remains the same, is that you need to start your outline by drafting the introduction, body and conclusion. More on this below.

Introduction

As is the case with all essays, your reflective essay must begin within an introduction that contains both a hook and a thesis statement. The point of having a ‘hook’ is to grab the attention of your audience or reader from the very beginning. You must portray the exciting aspects of your story in the initial paragraph so that you stand the best chances of holding your reader’s interest. Refer back to the opening quote of this article – did it grab your attention and encourage you to read more? The thesis statement is a brief summary of the focus of the essay, which in this case is a particular experience that influenced you significantly. Remember to give a quick overview of your experience – don’t give too much information away or you risk your reader becoming disinterested.

Next up is planning the body of your essay. This can be the hardest part of the entire paper; it’s easy to waffle and repeat yourself both in the plan and in the actual writing. Have you ever tried recounting a story to a friend only for them to tell you to ‘cut the long story short’? They key here is to put plenty of time and effort into planning the body, and you can draw on the following tips to help you do this well:

Try adopting a chronological approach. This means working through everything you want to touch upon as it happened in time. This kind of approach will ensure that your work is systematic and coherent. Keep in mind that a reflective essay doesn’t necessarily have to be linear, but working chronologically will prevent you from providing a haphazard recollection of your experience. Lay out the important elements of your experience in a timeline – this will then help you clearly see how to piece your narrative together.

Ensure the body of your reflective essay is well focused and contains appropriate critique and reflection. The body should not only summarise your experience, it should explore the impact that the experience has had on your life, as well as the lessons that you have learned as a result. The emphasis should generally be on reflection as opposed to summation. A reflective posture will not only provide readers with insight on your experience, it’ll highlight your personality and your ability to deal with or adapt to particular situations.

In the conclusion of your reflective essay, you should focus on bringing your piece together by providing a summary of both the points made throughout, and what you have learned as a result. Try to include a few points on why and how your attitudes and behaviours have been changed. Consider also how your character and skills have been affected, for example: what conclusions can be drawn about your problem-solving skills? What can be concluded about your approach to specific situations? What might you do differently in similar situations in the future? What steps have you taken to consolidate everything that you have learned from your experience? Keep in mind that your tutor will be looking out for evidence of reflection at a very high standard.

Congratulations – you now have the tools to create a thorough and accurate plan which should put you in good stead for the ultimate phase indeed of any essay, the writing process.

Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Your Reflective Essay

As with all written assignments, sitting down to put pen to paper (or more likely fingers to keyboard) can be daunting. But if you have put in the time and effort fleshing out a thorough plan, you should be well prepared, which will make the writing process as smooth as possible. The following points should also help ease the writing process:

• To get a feel for the tone and format in which your writing should be, read other typically reflective pieces in magazines and newspapers, for instance.
• Don’t think too much about how to start your first sentence or paragraph; just start writing and you can always come back later to edit anything you’re not keen on. Your first draft won’t necessarily be your best essay writing work but it’s important to remember that the earlier you start writing, the more time you will have to keep reworking your paper until it’s perfect. Don’t shy away from using a free-flow method, writing and recording your thoughts and feelings on your experiences as and when they come to mind. But make sure you stick to your plan. Your plan is your roadmap which will ensure your writing doesn’t meander too far off course.
• For every point you make about an experience or event, support it by describing how you were directly impacted, using specific as opposed to vague words to convey exactly how you felt.
• Write using the first-person narrative, ensuring that the tone of your essay is very personal and reflective of your character.
• If you need to, refer back to our notes earlier on creating an outline. As you work through your essay, present your thoughts systematically, remembering to focus on your key learning outcomes.
• Consider starting your introduction with a short anecdote or quote to grasp your readers’ attention, or other engaging techniques such as flashbacks.
• Choose your vocabulary carefully to properly convey your feelings and emotions. Remember that reflective writing has a descriptive component and so must have a wide range of adjectives to draw from. Avoid vague adjectives such as ‘okay’ or ‘nice’ as they don’t really offer much insight into your feelings and personality. Be more specific – this will make your writing more engaging.
• Be honest with your feelings and opinions. Remember that this is a reflective task, and is the one place you can freely admit – without any repercussions – that you failed at a particular task. When assessing your essay, your tutor will expect a deep level of reflection, not a simple review of your experiences and emotion. Showing deep reflection requires you to move beyond the descriptive. Be extremely critical about your experience and your response to it. In your evaluation and analysis, ensure that you make value judgements, incorporating ideas from outside the experience you had to guide your analysis. Remember that you can be honest about your feelings without writing in a direct way. Use words that work for you and are aligned with your personality.
• Once you’ve finished learning about and reflecting on your experience, consider asking yourself these questions: what did I particularly value from the experience and why? Looking back, how successful has the process been? Think about your opinions immediately after the experience and how they differ now, so that you can evaluate the difference between your immediate and current perceptions. Asking yourself such questions will help you achieve reflective writing effectively and efficiently.
• Don’t shy away from using a variety of punctuation. It helps keeps your writing dynamic! Doesn’t it?
• If you really want to awaken your reader’s imagination, you can use imagery to create a vivid picture of your experiences.
• Ensure that you highlight your turning point, or what we like to call your “Aha!” moment. Without this moment, your resulting feelings and thoughts aren’t as valid and your argument not as strong.
• Don’t forget to keep reiterating the lessons you have learned from your experience.

Bonus Tip - Using Wider Sources

Although a reflective piece of writing is focused on personal experience, it’s important you draw on other sources to demonstrate your understanding of your experience from a theoretical perspective. It’ll show a level of analysis – and a standard of reliability in what you’re claiming – if you’re also able to validate your work against other perspectives that you find. Think about possible sources, like newspapers, surveys, books and even journal articles. Generally, the additional sources you decide to include in your work are highly dependent on your field of study. Analysing a wide range of sources, will show that you have read widely on your subject area, that you have nuanced insight into the available literature on the subject of your essay, and that you have considered the broader implications of the literature for your essay. The incorporation of other sources into your essay also helps to show that you are aware of the multi-dimensional nature of both the learning and problem-solving process.

Reflective Essay Example

If you want some inspiration for writing, take a look at our example of a short reflective essay , which can serve as a useful starting point for you when you set out to write your own.

Some Final Notes to Remember

To recap, the key to writing a reflective essay is demonstrating what lessons you have taken away from your experiences, and why and how you have been shaped by these lessons.

The reflective thinking process begins with you – you must consciously make an effort to identify and examine your own thoughts in relation to a particular experience. Don’t hesitate to explore any prior knowledge or experience of the topic, which will help you identify why you have formed certain opinions on the subject. Remember that central to reflective essay writing is the examination of your attitudes, assumptions and values, so be upfront about how you feel. Reflective writing can be quite therapeutic, helping you identify and clarify your strengths and weaknesses, particularly in terms of any knowledge gaps that you may have. It’s a pretty good way of improving your critical thinking skills, too. It enables you to adopt an introspective posture in analysing your experiences and how you learn/make sense of them.

If you are still having difficulties with starting the writing process, why not try mind-mapping which will help you to structure your thinking and ideas, enabling you to produce a coherent piece. Creating a mind map will ensure that your argument is written in a very systematic way that will be easy for your tutor to follow. Here’s a recap of the contents of this article, which also serves as a way to create a mind map:

1. Identify the topic you will be writing on.

2. Note down any ideas that are related to the topic and if you want to, try drawing a diagram to link together any topics, theories, and ideas.

3. Allow your ideas to flow freely, knowing that you will always have time to edit your reflective essay .

4. Consider how your ideas are connected to each other, then begin the writing process.

And finally, keep in mind that although there are descriptive elements in a reflective essay, we can’t emphasise enough how crucial it is that your work is critical, analytical, and adopts a reflective posture in terms of your experience and the lessons you have learned from it.

Essay exams: how to answer ‘To what extent…’

How to write a master’s essay.

• essay writing
• reflective essays
• study skills
• writing a good essay
• writing tips

Writing Services

• Essay Plans
• Critical Reviews
• Literature Reviews
• Presentations
• Dissertation Title Creation
• Dissertation Proposals
• Dissertation Chapters
• PhD Proposals
• Journal Publication
• CV Writing Service
• Business Proofreading Services

Editing Services

• Proofreading Service
• Editing Service
• Academic Editing Service

Additional Services

• Marking Services
• Consultation Calls
• Personal Statements
• Tutoring Services

Our Company

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Become a Writer

Terms & Policies

• Fair Use Policy
• Policy for Students in England
• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• [email protected]
• Contact Form

Payment Methods

Cryptocurrency payments.

Reflection and Reflective Behaviour in Work Teams

• First Online: 01 January 2014

Cite this chapter

• Thomas Schley 7 &
• Marianne van Woerkom Ph.D. 8  

Part of the book series: Professional and Practice-based Learning ((PPBL,volume 9))

2257 Accesses

9 Citations

Despite many routinised and rule-based workflows, there are often unique features and new experiences in the workplace. These deviations originate from exceptional cases or lasting changes. It is not until these experiences are reflected on that they lead to learning in terms of modified beliefs, mental models and knowledge. This need for reflection and reflective behaviour is of particular importance within work teams, and both require and benefit from the reflection skills of its participants. Starting with learning as problem-solving and the need for reflection, we will focus on the purpose of reflection to solve challenges (problems) and break-up routines. Afterwards, we discuss individual reflection and its connection to team reflection and team reflective behaviour because individual reflection is the basis of team reflection and benefits from it. Based on the discussion of the individual and team level, we look at the organisational level and focus on exemplary contextual settings and methods of reflection in team settings and their implementation in work settings. With this, we look at the connection between team reflection and organisational learning and offer a brief insight into the challenges and boundaries of reflection in teams. After showing the relations and difficulties of team learning and organisational learning, we conclude our chapter with the recognition that a comprehensive analysis of reflection has to consider the individual, social as well as the organisational perspective when it comes to team reflection.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime
• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info
• Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Fostering Collaborative Redesign of Work Practice: Challenges for Tools Supporting Reflection at Work

Organizing for Deliberate Practice Through Workplace Reflection

Collaborative Reflection for Learning at the Healthcare Workplace

Andersen, T. (1990). The reflecting team. In T. Andersen (Ed.), The reflecting team.—Dialogues and dialogues about the dialogues (pp. 19–110). Broadstairs, UK: Kent.

Google Scholar  

Berry, D. C. (1987). The problem of implicit knowledge. Expert Systems, 4 (3), 144–151.

Article   Google Scholar  

Billett, S. (2006). Work, change and workers . Berlin: Springer Netherland.

Book   Google Scholar  

Bolton, G. (2010). Reflective practice. Writing & professional development . London: Sage.

Boud, D. (2006). Creating the space for reflection at work. In D. Boud, P. Cressey, & P. Docherty (Eds.), Productive reflection at work. Learning for changing organizations (pp. 158–169). London/New York: Routledge.

Boud, D., Cressey, P., & Docherty, P. (2006). Setting the scene for productive reflection. In D. Boud, P. Cressey, & P. Docherty (Eds.), Productive reflection at work. Learning for changing organizations (pp. 3–10). London: Routledge.

Boud, D., Keogh, R., & Walker, D. (1985). Promoting reflection in learning: A model. In D. Boud, R. Keogh, & D. Walker (Eds.), Reflection: Turning experience into learning (pp. 18–40). London: Kogan Page.

Boud, D., & Walker, D. (1993). Barriers to reflection on experience. In D. Boud, R. Cohen, & D. Walker (Eds.), Using experience for learning (pp. 73–86). Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

Brooks, A. K. (1999). Critical reflection as a response to organizational disruption. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 1 (3), 66–79.

Brüggemann, A., & Rohs, M. (2007). Reflexionshaltige Lernspots – Reflexionen an der Schnittstelle zwischen Arbeiten und Lernen. In P. Dehnbostel, H.-J. Lindemann, & C. Ludwig (Eds.), Lernen im Prozess der Arbeit in Schule und Betrieb (pp. 275–290). Münster, Germany: Waxmann.

Buljac-Samardžić, M., & Van Woerkom, M. (in press). Can managers coach their teams too much? Journal of Managerial Psychology .

Busch, M. W. (2010). Teamreflexivität. Zeitschrift für Planung & Unternehmenssteuerung, 20 , 295–302.

Candy, P., Harri-Augstein, S., & Thomas, L. (1985). Reflection and the self-organized learner: A model of learning conversations. In D. Boud, R. Keogh, & D. Walker (Eds.), Reflection: Turning experience into learning (pp. 100–116). London: Kogan Page.

Carter, A. M., & West, M. A. (1998). Reflexivity, effectiveness, and mental health in BBC-TV production teams. Small Group Research, 29 (5), 583–601.

Darling, M. J., & Parry, C. S. (2001). After action reviews: Linking reflection and planning in a learning practice. Reflections, 3 (2), 64–72.

Daudelin, M. W. (1996). Learning from experience through reflection. Organizational Dynamics, 24 (3), 36–48.

Davies, S. (2012). Embracing reflective practice. Education for Primary Care, 23 , 9–12.

Dörner, D. (1979). Self reflection and problem solving. In F. Klix (Ed.), Human and artificial intelligence (pp. 101–107). Amsterdam/New York/Oxford, UK: North-Holland Publishing Company.

Dörner, D. (1994). Selbstreflexion und Handlungsregulation: Die physiologischen Mechanismen und ihre Bedingungen. In W. Lübbe (Ed.), Kausalität und Zurechnung. Über Verantwortung in komplexen kulturellen Prozessen (pp. 199–222). Berlin, Germany/New York: Walter de Gruyter.

Dörner, D. (1996). Verhalten und Handeln. In D. Dörner & H. Selg (Eds.), Psychologie. Eine Einführung in ihre Grundlagen und Anwendungsfelder (pp. 100–114). Stuttgart/Berlin/Köln, Germany: Kohlhammer.

Dörner, D. (2002). Die Logik des Mißlingens: Strategisches Denken in komplexen Situationen (15 Aufl.). Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt.

Edmondson, A. C. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behaviour in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44 , 350–383.

Edmondson, A. C. (2002). The local and variegated nature of learning in organizations: A group-level perspective. Organization Science, 13 (2), 128–146.

Egloffstein, M., Frötschl, C., & Baierlein, J. (2010). ePortfolios zwischen Reflexion und Assessment – Erfahrungen aus der Lehrpersonenbildung. Medienpädagogik , 18 . Online available: http://www.medienpaed.com/18/egloffstein1004.pdf . 15 July 2013.

Ellis, S., & Davidi, I. (2005). After-event reviews: Drawing lessons from successful and failed experiences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90 (5), 857–871.

Ellström, P.-E. (2006). The meaning and role of reflection in informal learning at work. In D. Boud, P. Cressey, & P. Docherty (Eds.), Productive reflection at work. Learning for changing organizations (pp. 43–53). London/New York: Routledge.

Eraut, M. R. (1998). Development of knowledge and skills in employment . Brighton, UK: University of Sussex Institute of Education, Education Development Building.

Eraut, M. R. (2000). Non-formal learning and tacit knowledge in professional work. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70 , 113–136.

Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51 (4), 327–358.

Frensch, P., & Funke, J. (1995). Definitions, traditions, and a general framework for understanding complex problem solving. In P. Frensch & J. Funke (Eds.), Complex problem solving: The European perspective (pp. 3–26). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Frese, M., & Zapf, D. (1994). Action as the core of work psychology: A German approach. In H. Triandis, M. Dunnette, & L. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 271–340). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

Geithner, S., & Krüger, V. (2008). Hochleistungsteams: Lernen durch Reflexion. In P. Pawlowsky & P. Mistele (Eds.), Hochleistungsmanagement (pp. 133–149). Wiesbaden, Germany: Gabler.

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Gersick, C. J., & Hackman, J. R. (1990). Habitual routines in task-performing groups. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 47 (1), 65–97.

Gigerenzer, G. (1981). Messung und Modellbildung in der Psychologie (Vol. 1047). München: Reinhardt.

Gillen, J. (2007). Reflexion im beruflichen Handeln. Zur Funktion und Differenzierung des Reflexionsbegriffs. Zeitschrift für Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik, 103 (4), 525–538.

Groeben, N., & Scheele, B. (1982). Grundlagenprobleme eines Forschungsprogramms “Subjektive Theorien”. In H.-D. Dann, W. Humpert, F. Krause, & K.-C. Tennstädt (Eds.), Analyse und Modifikation subjektiver Theorien von Lehrern (pp. 9–12) . Germany: University of Konstanz.

Habermas, J. (1971). Knowledge and human interest . Boston: Beacon.

Habermas, J. (1974). Theory and practice . London: Heinemann.

Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action (Vol. 1: Reason and the rationalization of society). Boston: Beacon.

Hacker, W., & Wetzstein, A. (2004). Verbalisierende Reflexion und Lösungsgüte beim Entwurfsdenken. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 212 (3), 152–166.

Hatton, N., & Smith, D. (1995). Reflection in teacher education: Towards definition and implementation. Teaching & Teacher Education, 11 (1), 33–49.

Høyrup, S., & Elkjaer, B. (2006). Reflection: Taking it beyond the individual. In D. Boud, P. Cressey, & P. Docherty (Eds.), Productive reflection at work. Learning for changing organizations (pp. 29–42). London/New York: Routledge.

Jay, J. K., & Johnson, K. L. (2002). Capturing complexity: A typology of reflective practice for teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18 (1), 73–85.

Jonassen, D. H. (2004). Learning to solve problems: An instructional design guide . San Francisco: Wiley.

Kaiser, H. J., & Werbik, H. (2012). Handlungspsychologie. Eine Einführung . Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Kayes, A., Kayes, D. C., & Kolb, D. A. (2005). Experiential learning in teams. Simulation and Gaming, 36 (3), 330–354.

King, P., & Kitchener, K. (2004). Reflective judgment: Theory and research on the development of epistemic assumptions through adulthood. Educational Psychologist, 39 (1), 5–18.

Lash, S. (1996). Reflexivität und ihre Doppelung. Struktur, Ästhetik und Gemeinschaft. In U. Beck, A. Giddens, & S. Lash (Eds.), Reflexive Modernisierung – Eine Kontroverse (pp. 195–286). Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Suhrkamp.

Marsick, V. J. (1988). Learning in the workplace: The case for reflectivity and critical reflectivity. Adult Education Quarterly, 38 (4), 187–198.

Mezirow, J. (1990). How critical reflection triggers transformative learning. In J. Mezirow and Associates (Eds.), Fostering critical reflection in adulthood. A guide to transformative and emancipatory learning (pp. 1–20) . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Neininger, A., & Kauffeld, S. (2009). Reflexion als Schlüssel zur Weiterentwicklung von Gruppenarbeit. In S. Kauffeld, S. Grote, & E. Frieling (Eds.), Handbuch Kompetenzentwicklung (pp. 233–255). Stuttgart, Germany: Schaeffer-Poeschel Verlag.

Newell, A., & Simon, H. A. (1972). Human problem solving . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Pearson, M., & Smith, D. (1985). Debriefing in experience based learning. In D. Boud, R. Keogh, & D. Walker (Eds.), Reflection: Turning experience into learning (pp. 69–84). London: Kogan Page.

Raelin, J. A. (2002). “I don’t have time to think!” versus the art of reflective practice. Reflections, 4 (1), 66–75.

Rausch, A. (2011). Erleben und Lernen am Arbeitsplatz in der betrieblichen Ausbildung . Wiesbaden, Germany: VS-Verlag.

Rausch, A. (2012). Task characteristics and learning potentials—Empirical results of three diary studies on workplace learning. Vocations and Learning, 6 (1), 55–79.

Rausch, A., & Schley, T. (2011). Fostering workplace learning within vocational education and training – An interview study with trainees, workplace mentors, and full-time trainers. In Proceedings of the 7th international conference on researching work and learning , East China Normal University, Shanghai, China, 4–7 Dec 2011.

Reason, J. T. (1988). Knowledge, representation and control of action in complex environments . University of Manchester (Special publication).

Reither, F. (1979). Über die Selbstreflexion beim Problemlösen . Inaugural-dissertation, Justus Liebig University, Gießen.

Reither, F. (1985). Zur Selbstorganisation kognitiver Prozesse: Ergebnisse und Anwendungen aus der Erforschung komplexer Problemlösungsprozesse. In R. Ellermann & U. Opolka (Eds.), Was bringen uns die Theorien selbstorganisierender Prozesse? Natur- und Sozialwissenschaftler im Gespräch (pp. 81–89). Sankt Augustin, Germany: COMDOK-Verl.-Abt.

Ron, N., Lipshitz, R., & Popper, M. (2006). How organizations learn: Post-flight reviews in an F-16 fighter squadron. Organization Studies, 27 (8), 1069–1089.

Scherer, K. R. (1986). Vocal affect expression: A review and a model for future research. Psychological Bulletin, 99 (2), 143–165.

Schippers, M. C., Den Hartog, D. N., & Koopman, P. L. (2003). Diversity and team outcomes: The moderating effects of outcome interdependence and group longevity, and the mediating effect of reflexivity. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24 (6), 779–802.

Schippers, M. C., Den Hartog, D. N., & Koopman, P. L. (2007). Reflexivity in teams: A measure and correlates. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 56 (2), 189–211.

Schippers, M. C., Den Hartog, D. N., Koopman, P. L., & Van Knippenberg, D. (2008). The role of transformational leadership in enhancing team reflexivity. Human Relations, 61 (11), 1593–1616.

Schley, T. (2013). Strukturen sichtbar machen – Schule verändern. Strukturelle Reflexion zur Generierung eines Ideenpools für die Schulentwicklung. SchVw BY, 36 (10), 277–280.

Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner . London: Temple Smith.

Sembill, D. (1992). Problemlösefähigkeit, Handlungskompetenz und Emotionale Befindlichkeit. Zielgrößen Forschenden Lernens . Göttingen, Germany/Toronto, ON, Canada/Zürich, Switzerland: Hogrefe.

Sembill, D. (1999). Selbstorganisation als Modellierungs-, Gestaltungs- und Erforschungsidee beruflichen Lernens. In T. Tramm, D. Sembill, F. Klauser, & E.-G. John (Eds.), Professionalisierung kaufmännischer Berufsbildung. Festschrift zum 60. Geburtstag von Frank Achtenhagen (pp. 146–174). Frankfurt, Germany/New York/Toronto, ON, Canada: Peter Lang.

Sembill, D. (2012). Was bedeutet die Hirnforschung für die Schul- und Lernkultur? In J. Warwas, P. Harder, & D. Sembill (Eds.), Kultur der Schule – Schule der Kultur(en) (pp. 85–112). Hohengehren, Germany: Schneider Verlag.

Somerville, D., & Keeling, J. (2004). A practical approach to promote reflective practice within nursing. Nursing Times, 100 (12), 42–50.

Swift, T. A., & West, M. A. (1998). Reflexivity and group processes: Research and practice . Sheffield, UK: ESRC Centre for Organization and Innovation.

Tarrant, P. (2013). Reflective practice and professional development . London: Sage.

Tisdale, T. (1998). Selbstreflexion, Bewusstsein und Handlungsregulation . Weinheim, Germany: Beltz.

Tjosvold, D. (1991). Team organization: An enduring competitive advantage . Chichester: Wiley.

Trapnell, P. D., & Campbell, J. D. (1999). Private self-consciousness and the five factor model of personality: Distinguishing rumination from reflection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76 (2), 284–304.

Van Woerkom, M. (2003). Critical reflection at work. Bridging individual and organisational learning . Twente, The Netherlands: Twente University.

Van Woerkom, M., & Croon, M. (2008). Operationalising critically reflective work behaviour. Personnel Review, 37 (3), 317–331.

Van Woerkom, M. (2010). Critical reflection as a rationalistic ideal. Adult Education Quarterly, 60 (4), 339–356.

Van Woerkom, M., Nijhof, W. J., & Nieuwenhuis, L. (2003). The relationship between critical reflection and learning – Experiences within Dutch companies. In B. Nyhan, M. Kelleher, P. Cressey, & R. Poell (Eds.), Facing up the learning organisation challenge (pp. 184–198). Luxembourg: Cedefop.

Van Woerkom, M., & Tjepkema, S. (2013). Positive and critical: Enhancing constructive critical reflection in groups. In J. Walton & C. Valentin (Eds.), Human resource development: practices and orthodoxies (pp. 58–82). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Vince, R. (2002). Organizing reflection. Management Learning, 33 (1), 63–78.

West, M. A. (1996). Reflexivity and work group effectiveness. A conceptual integration. In M. A. West (Ed.), Handbook of work group psychology (pp. 555–579). Chichester, UK: Wiley.

West, M. A. (2000). Reflexivity, revolution and innovation in work teams. In M. M. Beyerlein, D. A. Johnson, & S. T. Beyerlein (Eds.), Product development teams (Vol. 5, pp. 1–29). Stamford, CT: JAI Press.

West, M. A. (2004). Effective teamwork (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: BPS Blackwell.

West, M. A., Garrod, S., & Carletta, J. C. (1997). Group decision-making and effectiveness. Unexplored boundaries. In C. L. Cooper & S. Jackson (Eds.), Creating tomorrow’s organizations: A handbook for future research in organisational behavior (pp. 293–317). Chichester, UK: Wiley.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Chair of Business Education and Educational Management, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany

Thomas Schley

Department of Human Resource Studies, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands

Marianne van Woerkom Ph.D.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Schley .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Institute of Educational Science, University of Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany

Christian Harteis

Department of Business Education and Educational Management, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany

Andreas Rausch

Economics and Business Education II, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

Jürgen Seifried

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Schley, T., van Woerkom, M. (2014). Reflection and Reflective Behaviour in Work Teams. In: Harteis, C., Rausch, A., Seifried, J. (eds) Discourses on Professional Learning. Professional and Practice-based Learning, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7012-6_7

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7012-6_7

Published : 03 June 2014

Publisher Name : Springer, Dordrecht

Print ISBN : 978-94-007-7011-9

Online ISBN : 978-94-007-7012-6

eBook Packages : Humanities, Social Sciences and Law Education (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

• Annotated Bibliography
• Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
• Group Presentations
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• Types of Structured Group Activities
• Group Project Survival Skills
• Leading a Class Discussion
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Works
• Writing a Case Analysis Paper
• Writing a Case Study
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Reflective Paper
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Generative AI and Writing
• Acknowledgments

Reflective writing is a process of identifying, questioning, and critically evaluating course-based learning opportunities, integrated with your own observations, experiences, impressions, beliefs, assumptions, or biases, and which describes how this process stimulated new or creative understanding about the content of the course.

A reflective paper describes and explains in an introspective, first person narrative, your reactions and feelings about either a specific element of the class [e.g., a required reading; a film shown in class] or more generally how you experienced learning throughout the course. Reflective writing assignments can be in the form of a single paper, essays, portfolios, journals, diaries, or blogs. In some cases, your professor may include a reflective writing assignment as a way to obtain student feedback that helps improve the course, either in the moment or for when the class is taught again.

How to Write a Reflection Paper . Academic Skills, Trent University; Writing a Reflection Paper . Writing Center, Lewis University; Critical Reflection . Writing and Communication Centre, University of Waterloo; Tsingos-Lucas et al. "Using Reflective Writing as a Predictor of Academic Success in Different Assessment Formats." American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 81 (2017): Article 8.

Benefits of Reflective Writing Assignments

As the term implies, a reflective paper involves looking inward at oneself in contemplating and bringing meaning to the relationship between course content and the acquisition of new knowledge . Educational research [Bolton, 2010; Ryan, 2011; Tsingos-Lucas et al., 2017] demonstrates that assigning reflective writing tasks enhances learning because it challenges students to confront their own assumptions, biases, and belief systems around what is being taught in class and, in so doing, stimulate student’s decisions, actions, attitudes, and understanding about themselves as learners and in relation to having mastery over their learning. Reflection assignments are also an opportunity to write in a first person narrative about elements of the course, such as the required readings, separate from the exegetic and analytical prose of academic research papers.

Reflection writing often serves multiple purposes simultaneously. In no particular order, here are some of reasons why professors assign reflection papers:

• Enhances learning from previous knowledge and experience in order to improve future decision-making and reasoning in practice . Reflective writing in the applied social sciences enhances decision-making skills and academic performance in ways that can inform professional practice. The act of reflective writing creates self-awareness and understanding of others. This is particularly important in clinical and service-oriented professional settings.
• Allows students to make sense of classroom content and overall learning experiences in relation to oneself, others, and the conditions that shaped the content and classroom experiences . Reflective writing places you within the course content in ways that can deepen your understanding of the material. Because reflective thinking can help reveal hidden biases, it can help you critically interrogate moments when you do not like or agree with discussions, readings, or other aspects of the course.
• Increases awareness of one’s cognitive abilities and the evidence for these attributes . Reflective writing can break down personal doubts about yourself as a learner and highlight specific abilities that may have been hidden or suppressed due to prior assumptions about the strength of your academic abilities [e.g., reading comprehension; problem-solving skills]. Reflective writing, therefore, can have a positive affective [i.e., emotional] impact on your sense of self-worth.
• Applying theoretical knowledge and frameworks to real experiences . Reflective writing can help build a bridge of relevancy between theoretical knowledge and the real world. In so doing, this form of writing can lead to a better understanding of underlying theories and their analytical properties applied to professional practice.
• Reveals shortcomings that the reader will identify . Evidence suggests that reflective writing can uncover your own shortcomings as a learner, thereby, creating opportunities to anticipate the responses of your professor may have about the quality of your coursework. This can be particularly productive if the reflective paper is written before final submission of an assignment.
• Helps students identify their tacit [a.k.a., implicit] knowledge and possible gaps in that knowledge . Tacit knowledge refers to ways of knowing rooted in lived experience, insight, and intuition rather than formal, codified, categorical, or explicit knowledge. In so doing, reflective writing can stimulate students to question their beliefs about a research problem or an element of the course content beyond positivist modes of understanding and representation.
• Encourages students to actively monitor their learning processes over a period of time . On-going reflective writing in journals or blogs, for example, can help you maintain or adapt learning strategies in other contexts. The regular, purposeful act of reflection can facilitate continuous deep thinking about the course content as it evolves and changes throughout the term. This, in turn, can increase your overall confidence as a learner.
• Relates a student’s personal experience to a wider perspective . Reflection papers can help you see the big picture associated with the content of a course by forcing you to think about the connections between scholarly content and your lived experiences outside of school. It can provide a macro-level understanding of one’s own experiences in relation to the specifics of what is being taught.
• If reflective writing is shared, students can exchange stories about their learning experiences, thereby, creating an opportunity to reevaluate their original assumptions or perspectives . In most cases, reflective writing is only viewed by your professor in order to ensure candid feedback from students. However, occasionally, reflective writing is shared and openly discussed in class. During these discussions, new or different perspectives and alternative approaches to solving problems can be generated that would otherwise be hidden. Sharing student's reflections can also reveal collective patterns of thought and emotions about a particular element of the course.

Bolton, Gillie. Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development . London: Sage, 2010; Chang, Bo. "Reflection in Learning." Online Learning 23 (2019), 95-110; Cavilla, Derek. "The Effects of Student Reflection on Academic Performance and Motivation." Sage Open 7 (July-September 2017): 1–13; Culbert, Patrick. “Better Teaching? You Can Write On It “ Liberal Education (February 2022); McCabe, Gavin and Tobias Thejll-Madsen. The Reflection Toolkit . University of Edinburgh; The Purpose of Reflection . Introductory Composition at Purdue University; Practice-based and Reflective Learning . Study Advice Study Guides, University of Reading; Ryan, Mary. "Improving Reflective Writing in Higher Education: A Social Semiotic Perspective." Teaching in Higher Education 16 (2011): 99-111; Tsingos-Lucas et al. "Using Reflective Writing as a Predictor of Academic Success in Different Assessment Formats." American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 81 (2017): Article 8; What Benefits Might Reflective Writing Have for My Students? Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse; Rykkje, Linda. "The Tacit Care Knowledge in Reflective Writing: A Practical Wisdom." International Practice Development Journal 7 (September 2017): Article 5; Using Reflective Writing to Deepen Student Learning . Center for Writing, University of Minnesota.

How to Approach Writing a Reflection Paper

Thinking About Reflective Thinking

Educational theorists have developed numerous models of reflective thinking that your professor may use to frame a reflective writing assignment. These models can help you systematically interpret your learning experiences, thereby ensuring that you ask the right questions and have a clear understanding of what should be covered. A model can also represent the overall structure of a reflective paper. Each model establishes a different approach to reflection and will require you to think about your writing differently. If you are unclear how to fit your writing within a particular reflective model, seek clarification from your professor. There are generally two types of reflective writing assignments, each approached in slightly different ways.

1.  Reflective Thinking about Course Readings

This type of reflective writing focuses on thoughtfully thinking about the course readings that underpin how most students acquire new knowledge and understanding about the subject of a course. Reflecting on course readings is often assigned in freshmen-level, interdisciplinary courses where the required readings examine topics viewed from multiple perspectives and, as such, provide different ways of analyzing a topic, issue, event, or phenomenon. The purpose of reflective thinking about course readings in the social and behavioral sciences is to elicit your opinions, beliefs, and feelings about the research and its significance. This type of writing can provide an opportunity to break down key assumptions you may have and, in so doing, reveal potential biases in how you interpret the scholarship.

If you are assigned to reflect on course readings, consider the following methods of analysis as prompts that can help you get started :

• Examine carefully the main introductory elements of the reading, including the purpose of the study, the theoretical framework being used to test assumptions, and the research questions being addressed. Think about what ideas stood out to you. Why did they? Were these ideas new to you or familiar in some way based on your own lived experiences or prior knowledge?
• Develop your ideas around the readings by asking yourself, what do I know about this topic? Where does my existing knowledge about this topic come from? What are the observations or experiences in my life that influence my understanding of the topic? Do I agree or disagree with the main arguments, recommended course of actions, or conclusions made by the author(s)? Why do I feel this way and what is the basis of these feelings?
• Make connections between the text and your own beliefs, opinions, or feelings by considering questions like, how do the readings reinforce my existing ideas or assumptions? How the readings challenge these ideas or assumptions? How does this text help me to better understand this topic or research in ways that motivate me to learn more about this area of study?

2.  Reflective Thinking about Course Experiences

This type of reflective writing asks you to critically reflect on locating yourself at the conceptual intersection of theory and practice. The purpose of experiential reflection is to evaluate theories or disciplinary-based analytical models based on your introspective assessment of the relationship between hypothetical thinking and practical reality; it offers a way to consider how your own knowledge and skills fit within professional practice. This type of writing also provides an opportunity to evaluate your decisions and actions, as well as how you managed your subsequent successes and failures, within a specific theoretical framework. As a result, abstract concepts can crystallize and become more relevant to you when considered within your own experiences. This can help you formulate plans for self-improvement as you learn.

If you are assigned to reflect on your experiences, consider the following questions as prompts to help you get started :

• Contextualize your reflection in relation to the overarching purpose of the course by asking yourself, what did you hope to learn from this course? What were the learning objectives for the course and how did I fit within each of them? How did these goals relate to the main themes or concepts of the course?
• Analyze how you experienced the course by asking yourself, what did I learn from this experience? What did I learn about myself? About working in this area of research and study? About how the course relates to my place in society? What assumptions about the course were supported or refuted?
• Think introspectively about the ways you experienced learning during the course by asking yourself, did your learning experiences align with the goals or concepts of the course? Why or why do you not feel this way? What was successful and why do you believe this? What would you do differently and why is this important? How will you prepare for a future experience in this area of study?

NOTE: If you are assigned to write a journal or other type of on-going reflection exercise, a helpful approach is to reflect on your reflections by re-reading what you have already written. In other words, review your previous entries as a way to contextualize your feelings, opinions, or beliefs regarding your overall learning experiences. Over time, this can also help reveal hidden patterns or themes related to how you processed your learning experiences. Consider concluding your reflective journal with a summary of how you felt about your learning experiences at critical junctures throughout the course, then use these to write about how you grew as a student learner and how the act of reflecting helped you gain new understanding about the subject of the course and its content.

ANOTHER NOTE: Regardless of whether you write a reflection paper or a journal, do not focus your writing on the past. The act of reflection is intended to think introspectively about previous learning experiences. However, reflective thinking should document the ways in which you progressed in obtaining new insights and understandings about your growth as a learner that can be carried forward in subsequent coursework or in future professional practice. Your writing should reflect a furtherance of increasing personal autonomy and confidence gained from understanding more about yourself as a learner.

Structure and Writing Style

There are no strict academic rules for writing a reflective paper. Reflective writing may be assigned in any class taught in the social and behavioral sciences and, therefore, requirements for the assignment can vary depending on disciplinary-based models of inquiry and learning. The organization of content can also depend on what your professor wants you to write about or based on the type of reflective model used to frame the writing assignment. Despite these possible variations, below is a basic approach to organizing and writing a good reflective paper, followed by a list of problems to avoid.

Pre-flection

In most cases, it's helpful to begin by thinking about your learning experiences and outline what you want to focus on before you begin to write the paper. This can help you organize your thoughts around what was most important to you and what experiences [good or bad] had the most impact on your learning. As described by the University of Waterloo Writing and Communication Centre, preparing to write a reflective paper involves a process of self-analysis that can help organize your thoughts around significant moments of in-class knowledge discovery.

• Using a thesis statement as a guide, note what experiences or course content stood out to you , then place these within the context of your observations, reactions, feelings, and opinions. This will help you develop a rough outline of key moments during the course that reflect your growth as a learner. To identify these moments, pose these questions to yourself: What happened? What was my reaction? What were my expectations and how were they different from what transpired? What did I learn?
• Critically think about your learning experiences and the course content . This will help you develop a deeper, more nuanced understanding about why these moments were significant or relevant to you. Use the ideas you formulated during the first stage of reflecting to help you think through these moments from both an academic and personal perspective. From an academic perspective, contemplate how the experience enhanced your understanding of a concept, theory, or skill. Ask yourself, did the experience confirm my previous understanding or challenge it in some way. As a result, did this highlight strengths or gaps in your current knowledge? From a personal perspective, think introspectively about why these experiences mattered, if previous expectations or assumptions were confirmed or refuted, and if this surprised, confused, or unnerved you in some way.
• Analyze how these experiences and your reactions to them will shape your future thinking and behavior . Reflection implies looking back, but the most important act of reflective writing is considering how beliefs, assumptions, opinions, and feelings were transformed in ways that better prepare you as a learner in the future. Note how this reflective analysis can lead to actions you will take as a result of your experiences, what you will do differently, and how you will apply what you learned in other courses or in professional practice.

Basic Structure and Writing Style

Reflective Background and Context

The first part of your reflection paper should briefly provide background and context in relation to the content or experiences that stood out to you. Highlight the settings, summarize the key readings, or narrate the experiences in relation to the course objectives. Provide background that sets the stage for your reflection. You do not need to go into great detail, but you should provide enough information for the reader to understand what sources of learning you are writing about [e.g., course readings, field experience, guest lecture, class discussions] and why they were important. This section should end with an explanatory thesis statement that expresses the central ideas of your paper and what you want the readers to know, believe, or understand after they finish reading your paper.

Reflective Interpretation

Drawing from your reflective analysis, this is where you can be personal, critical, and creative in expressing how you felt about the course content and learning experiences and how they influenced or altered your feelings, beliefs, assumptions, or biases about the subject of the course. This section is also where you explore the meaning of these experiences in the context of the course and how you gained an awareness of the connections between these moments and your own prior knowledge.

Guided by your thesis statement, a helpful approach is to interpret your learning throughout the course with a series of specific examples drawn from the course content and your learning experiences. These examples should be arranged in sequential order that illustrate your growth as a learner. Reflecting on each example can be done by: 1)  introducing a theme or moment that was meaningful to you, 2) describing your previous position about the learning moment and what you thought about it, 3) explaining how your perspective was challenged and/or changed and why, and 4) introspectively stating your current or new feelings, opinions, or beliefs about that experience in class.

It is important to include specific examples drawn from the course and placed within the context of your assumptions, thoughts, opinions, and feelings. A reflective narrative without specific examples does not provide an effective way for the reader to understand the relationship between the course content and how you grew as a learner.

Reflective Conclusions

The conclusion of your reflective paper should provide a summary of your thoughts, feelings, or opinions regarding what you learned about yourself as a result of taking the course. Here are several ways you can frame your conclusions based on the examples you interpreted and reflected on what they meant to you. Each example would need to be tied to the basic theme [thesis statement] of your reflective background section.

• Your reflective conclusions can be described in relation to any expectations you had before taking the class [e.g., “I expected the readings to not be relevant to my own experiences growing up in a rural community, but the research actually helped me see that the challenges of developing my identity as a child of immigrants was not that unusual...”].
• Your reflective conclusions can explain how what you learned about yourself will change your actions in the future [e.g., “During a discussion in class about the challenges of helping homeless people, I realized that many of these people hate living on the street but lack the ability to see a way out. This made me realize that I wanted to take more classes in psychology...”].
• Your reflective conclusions can describe major insights you experienced a critical junctures during the course and how these moments enhanced how you see yourself as a student learner [e.g., "The guest speaker from the Head Start program made me realize why I wanted to pursue a career in elementary education..."].
• Your reflective conclusions can reconfigure or reframe how you will approach professional practice and your understanding of your future career aspirations [e.g.,, "The course changed my perceptions about seeking a career in business finance because it made me realize I want to be more engaged in customer service..."]
• Your reflective conclusions can explore any learning you derived from the act of reflecting itself [e.g., “Reflecting on the course readings that described how minority students perceive campus activities helped me identify my own biases about the benefits of those activities in acclimating to campus life...”].

NOTE: The length of a reflective paper in the social sciences is usually less than a traditional research paper. However, don’t assume that writing a reflective paper is easier than writing a research paper. A well-conceived critical reflection paper often requires as much time and effort as a research paper because you must purposeful engage in thinking about your learning in ways that you may not be comfortable with or used to. This is particular true while preparing to write because reflective papers are not as structured as a traditional research paper and, therefore, you have to think deliberately about how you want to organize the paper and what elements of the course you want to reflect upon.

ANOTHER NOTE: Do not limit yourself to using only text in reflecting on your learning. If you believe it would be helpful, consider using creative modes of thought or expression such as, illustrations, photographs, or material objects that reflects an experience related to the subject of the course that was important to you [e.g., like a ticket stub to a renowned speaker on campus]. Whatever non-textual element you include, be sure to describe the object's relevance to your personal relationship to the course content.

Problems to Avoid

A reflective paper is not a “mind dump” . Reflective papers document your personal and emotional experiences and, therefore, they do not conform to rigid structures, or schema, to organize information. However, the paper should not be a disjointed, stream-of-consciousness narrative. Reflective papers are still academic pieces of writing that require organized thought, that use academic language and tone , and that apply intellectually-driven critical thinking to the course content and your learning experiences and their significance.

A reflective paper is not a research paper . If you are asked to reflect on a course reading, the reflection will obviously include some description of the research. However, the goal of reflective writing is not to present extraneous ideas to the reader or to "educate" them about the course. The goal is to share a story about your relationship with the learning objectives of the course. Therefore, unlike research papers, you are expected to write from a first person point of view which includes an introspective examination of your own opinions, feelings, and personal assumptions.

A reflection paper is not a book review . Descriptions of the course readings using your own words is not a reflective paper. Reflective writing should focus on how you understood the implications of and were challenged by the course in relation to your own lived experiences or personal assumptions, combined with explanations of how you grew as a student learner based on this internal dialogue. Remember that you are the central object of the paper, not the research materials.

A reflective paper is not an all-inclusive meditation. Do not try to cover everything. The scope of your paper should be well-defined and limited to your specific opinions, feelings, and beliefs about what you determine to be the most significant content of the course and in relation to the learning that took place. Reflections should be detailed enough to covey what you think is important, but your thoughts should be expressed concisely and coherently [as is true for any academic writing assignment].

Critical Reflection . Writing and Communication Centre, University of Waterloo; Critical Reflection: Journals, Opinions, & Reactions . University Writing Center, Texas A&M University; Connor-Greene, Patricia A. “Making Connections: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Journal Writing in Enhancing Student Learning.” Teaching of Psychology 27 (2000): 44-46; Good vs. Bad Reflection Papers , Franklin University; Dyment, Janet E. and Timothy S. O’Connell. "The Quality of Reflection in Student Journals: A Review of Limiting and Enabling Factors." Innovative Higher Education 35 (2010): 233-244: How to Write a Reflection Paper . Academic Skills, Trent University; Amelia TaraJane House. Reflection Paper . Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence, University of Arkansas; Ramlal, Alana, and Désirée S. Augustin. “Engaging Students in Reflective Writing: An Action Research Project.” Educational Action Research 28 (2020): 518-533; Writing a Reflection Paper . Writing Center, Lewis University; McGuire, Lisa, Kathy Lay, and Jon Peters. “Pedagogy of Reflective Writing in Professional Education.” Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (2009): 93-107; Critical Reflection . Writing and Communication Centre, University of Waterloo; How Do I Write Reflectively? Academic Skills Toolkit, University of New South Wales Sydney; Reflective Writing . Skills@Library. University of Leeds; Walling, Anne, Johanna Shapiro, and Terry Ast. “What Makes a Good Reflective Paper?” Family Medicine 45 (2013): 7-12; Williams, Kate, Mary Woolliams, and Jane Spiro. Reflective Writing . 2nd edition. London: Red Globe Press, 2020; Yeh, Hui-Chin, Shih-hsien Yang, Jo Shan Fu, and Yen-Chen Shih. “Developing College Students’ Critical Thinking through Reflective Writing.” Higher Education Research and Development (2022): 1-16.

Writing Tip

Focus on Reflecting, Not on Describing

Minimal time and effort should be spent describing the course content you are asked to reflect upon. The purpose of a reflection assignment is to introspectively contemplate your reactions to and feeling about an element of the course. D eflecting the focus away from your own feelings by concentrating on describing the course content can happen particularly if "talking about yourself" [i.e., reflecting] makes you uncomfortable or it is intimidating. However, the intent of reflective writing is to overcome these inhibitions so as to maximize the benefits of introspectively assessing your learning experiences. Keep in mind that, if it is relevant, your feelings of discomfort could be a part of how you critically reflect on any challenges you had during the course [e.g., you realize this discomfort inhibited your willingness to ask questions during class, it fed into your propensity to procrastinate, or it made it difficult participating in groups].

Writing a Reflection Paper . Writing Center, Lewis University; Reflection Paper . Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence, University of Arkansas.

Another Writing Tip

Helpful Videos about Reflective Writing

These two short videos succinctly describe how to approach a reflective writing assignment. They are produced by the Academic Skills department at the University of Melbourne and the Skills Team of the University of Hull, respectively.

• << Previous: Writing a Policy Memo
• Next: Writing a Research Proposal >>
• Last Updated: Jun 3, 2024 9:44 AM
• URL: https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/assignments

Classroom Behaviour Management Theories – Influential Thought Leaders

Table of Contents

This comprehensive overview examines several theories and approaches to learning and behaviour management. Starting with Behaviourism, the piece outlines the theory’s principles emphasising reinforcement and punishment as critical tools in shaping behaviours. The Cognitivist approach underscores mental processing of behaviour, while the Humanist approach highlights individualised learning plans and understanding root causes of behaviour. Pragmatism, as described by Dewey, emphasises learning through real-world experiences. Glasser’s Choice Theory focuses on understanding behaviour through intrinsic needs. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory introduces the concept of learning through observation. Several classroom behaviour management theorists, such as Fred Jones, Edward Ford, Lee and Marlene Canter, Gordon Thomas, Jacob Kounin, Rudolf Dreikurs, Alfie Kohn, and B. F. Skinner are discussed, highlighting their contributions and distinctive methodologies. The overview concludes with an in-depth look at Applied Behaviour Analysis, a systematic approach beneficial for managing challenging behaviours and promoting effective learning. This body of work provides educators and researchers a comprehensive perspective on the historical and contemporary views on learning and behaviour management.

Introduction – What is Behaviour Management?

Behaviour management refers to the strategies, techniques, and approaches educators and other professionals use to prevent and address undesired behaviours while fostering and reinforcing desired ones. It is integral to creating an environment conducive to learning, where disruptions are minimised, and positive interactions are promoted. Effective behaviour management goes beyond mere discipline or control; it seeks to understand the underlying causes of behaviour and employs proactive measures to help individuals develop self-regulation and responsibility. By setting clear expectations, consistently enforcing boundaries, and using positive reinforcement, educators can guide students towards constructive behaviours and attitudes, thereby enhancing the overall learning experience.

Behaviourism learning theory

Behaviourism, rooted in early 20th-century psychology, posits that learning occurs when a new behaviour pattern is established. Pioneers like John B. Watson emphasised the manifestation of new behaviours as evidence of learning, while Ivan Pavlov introduced classical conditioning, a process demonstrated by making dogs salivate at a bell’s sound. This approach, however, has limitations since it doesn’t always account for entirely new learning. Central to behaviourism is the role of feedback, especially reinforcement and punishment. Positive reinforcement rewards desired behaviour, negative reinforcement prevents a negative outcome following desired behaviour, and punishment is given for undesired actions. The author cites personal teaching experiences using these methods. Behaviourism’s strengths include its clarity and its systematic approach that breaks complex subjects into digestible parts, facilitating easier measurement of learning outcomes. However, over-reliance on positive reinforcement can diminish its impact, potentially stunting students’ motivations as they become overly accustomed to constant praise.

Cognitivist Approach in Understanding and Managing Behaviour

A cognitivist approach from Jean Piaget and Philip Kendall in which students are encouraged to mentally process their behaviour, can be extremely effective. For instance, with a student that has become aggressive, getting them to describe their poor behaviour within the class can greatly reduce aggression levels and make them reflect on their actions. However, if a student is too aggressive to listen, this method will be ineffective until their aggression subsides. Another method from the cognitivist theory involves having students create their own ground rules. This fosters ownership, increasing the likelihood that students will adhere to these rules. Interestingly, once these ground rules are established, they then align with behaviourist theory.

Humanist Approach to Behaviour Management

Another behaviour management theory is the Humanist approach from Abraham Maslow. As quoted, “Unlike the behaviourists, humanistic psychologists believe that humans are not solely the product of their environment.” (Cortland, 2004) The objective with the Humanist approach is to view the student as an individual. This involves understanding the root causes of poor behaviour through the student’s perspective, aiming to address the issue in a mutually satisfactory manner. For instance, a student’s individual learning plan might encompass a unique behaviour strategy, such as allowing them to listen to music to help them focus. This method can effectively manage challenging students, ensuring inclusivity in teaching practices. One practical approach I implemented was asking a student to reflect on their desire to be in the course. This led to the discovery that the student was in an undesirable course due to enrolment limitations. The realisation that the student was in an unsuitable course was the root of their poor behaviour. Once they transitioned to their preferred course, their behaviour notably improved.

Pragmatism theory by John Dewey

Pragmatism, as articulated by John Dewey, is an educational and philosophical approach that prioritises experience and practical knowledge over fixed truths or static principles. Dewey believed that learning should be rooted in real-world experiences, and that thinking and doing are intrinsically intertwined. For Dewey, the ideal learning environment is one in which students engage actively with their surroundings, solve real problems, and reflect on their actions. He emphasised the idea of “learning by doing,” arguing that knowledge is a product of our direct interactions with our environment. Dewey’s pragmatism also highlighted the role of educators as facilitators, guiding students through meaningful experiences and helping them connect theory with practice. His ideas have deeply influenced progressive education movements, shifting the focus from rote memorisation to experiential, problem-based learning.

William Glasser and Choice Theory

William Glasser, an influential American psychiatrist, developed Choice Theory, which posits that almost all human behaviour is chosen and that we are driven by our internal needs to satisfy certain basic requirements: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun. Glasser emphasised that for individuals to lead fulfilling lives, they must take responsibility for their choices and actions. In the context of education, he advocated for classroom environments where students have a say in their learning and feel a sense of belonging and importance. Rather than external coercion, he believed in fostering intrinsic motivation through positive relationships and self-evaluation. Glasser’s ideas were revolutionary in shifting the focus from external control and punishment to understanding behaviour through internal needs and choices.

Albert Bandura and Social Learning Theory

Albert Bandura, a prominent psychologist, is best known for his Social Learning Theory, which posits that individuals learn not only through personal experience but also by observing the actions of others and the consequences of those actions. Central to this theory is the concept of observational learning or modelling, where behaviours are acquired or modified by watching others. Bandura emphasised the role of cognitive processes, asserting that individuals do not simply mimic observed behaviour; instead, they process, interpret, and integrate it with existing knowledge. His famous “Bobo Doll” experiment highlighted how children can learn aggressive behaviours by observing adults. Bandura later expanded his theory to encompass self-efficacy, the belief in one’s capability to achieve goals, which plays a crucial role in determining the actions individuals are likely to take. His work has had a profound impact on understanding the interplay of environmental, cognitive, and individual factors in learning and behaviour.

Other Key Theorists on Classroom Behaviour Management

Edward ford – responsible thinking process.

Edward Ford developed the Responsible Thinking Process (RTP) as a classroom management strategy designed to empower students to take responsibility for their own behaviours. Rooted in the principles of reality therapy and choice theory, RTP emphasises respectful dialogue between educators and students. When students disrupt the learning environment, they are asked a series of structured questions designed to guide them towards understanding their choices, the rules they’ve broken, and considering alternative, appropriate behaviours. Instead of traditional punitive measures, RTP focuses on teaching students to reflect upon and correct their behavior, ultimately fostering a sense of responsibility. By encouraging thoughtful reflection and problem-solving, Ford’s approach seeks to create a classroom environment where both learning and personal growth are prioritised.

Lee and Marlene Canter – Assertive Discipline

Gordon thomas – teacher effectiveness training, jacob kounin.

Jacob Kounin’s insights into classroom management shifted the focus from individual student discipline to the dynamics of the entire classroom. Kounin emphasised the significance of “withitness” — a teacher’s ability to be aware of everything happening in the classroom, thereby preventing potential disruptions before they escalate. He argued that effective classroom management isn’t merely about how teachers respond to disruptions, but more importantly, about how they can prevent them. Another central concept introduced by Kounin is “momentum” or the flow of a lesson. He posited that lessons should move with a smooth, steady pace to maintain student engagement and minimise off-task behaviours. Kounin’s approach underscores the importance of proactive techniques and the interconnectedness of classroom events, highlighting that the management of one situation can influence others.

Rudolf Dreikurs

B. f. skinner.

B. F. Skinner, a pioneering figure in the field of psychology, is best known for his work on operant conditioning, a type of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences. In his seminal work from 1954, Skinner emphasised the role of reinforcement and punishment in shaping behaviour. He introduced the idea of the “Skinner Box,” a controlled environment used to study animal behaviour, demonstrating that behaviours followed by positive outcomes (reinforcements) are likely to be repeated, while those followed by negative outcomes (punishments) are suppressed. His theories have profound implications for education, suggesting that learners can be guided through systematic rewards and consequences. While some critics argue that this approach reduces learning to mere stimulus-response patterns, Skinner’s insights have laid foundational groundwork for many contemporary educational practices, particularly in the realm of behaviour management and instructional design.

Applied Behaviour Analysis

What is withitness.

“Withitness” refers to a teacher’s acute awareness of everything happening in the classroom. It encompasses being alert to potential disruptions and addressing them proactively. A teacher with high withitness effectively maintains classroom order by demonstrating an innate understanding of classroom dynamics and student behaviour.

How do cultural differences impact the effectiveness of different behaviour management strategies?

What long-term effects do these behaviour management theories have on students’ emotional and social development, are there specific age or developmental stages where one approach is more effective than others.

Yes, different developmental stages require tailored approaches. For instance, younger children might benefit more from clear boundaries and immediate feedback, while adolescents might respond better to strategies emphasising autonomy and understanding. Age-appropriate interventions ensure effective learning and behavioural outcomes.

How do digital technologies and online learning environments change the dynamics of behaviour management?

How do these behaviour management strategies integrate with students diagnosed with learning disorders or special needs, are there potential negative repercussions or criticisms associated with any of these theories when implemented in real-world classroom settings.

Yes, any approach, if misapplied or used rigidly, can have drawbacks. Over-reliance on rewards in behaviourism, for instance, can hinder intrinsic motivation. Educators need to be flexible and observant, adjusting strategies as needed to ensure positive outcomes and prevent unintended negative effects.

How do socio-economic factors influence the effectiveness of these behaviour management approaches?

How should teachers adapt these strategies in multicultural or diverse classrooms where students come from various backgrounds, which of these theories is most in line with current educational standards and curriculum frameworks.

Current educational trends emphasise holistic, student-centred approaches that prioritise well-being, inclusivity, and mutual respect. While many of these theories contribute valuable insights, approaches like Humanist and Cognitivist align closely with these contemporary values. However, the best-fit strategy often depends on the specific context and individual student needs.

How do teachers’ personal beliefs and biases influence their choice and implementation of a particular behaviour management theory?

Further reading, classroom management: creating positive outcomes for all students by lisa bloom., the first days of school: how to be an effective teacher by harry k. wong and rosemary t. wong..

This is a classic text that helps teachers set the tone for a successful school year, with a strong focus on effective classroom and behaviour management from day one.

Positive Behavior Management in Physical Activity Settings, Third Edition by Barry Lavay, Ron French, and Hester Henderson.

Setting limits in the classroom: a complete guide to effective classroom management with a school-wide discipline plan by robert j. mackenzie., the classroom management book by harry k. wong, rosemary t. wong, karen yenofsky, and sarah f. jondahl..

A practical guide filled with classroom strategies, procedures, and routines to help teachers maintain a productive learning environment.

Responsive Classroom

Smart classroom management.

This site offers strategies, interventions, and supports for addressing a wide range of behavioural challenges, based on the Positive Behavioural Interventions & Supports framework.

Author Profile

Latest entries

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar

Teaching Expertise

• Classroom Ideas
• Teacher’s Life
• Deals & Shopping
• Privacy Policy

24 Effective Behavior Reflection Sheets For Students

August 30, 2023 //  by  Lauren Du Plessis

Crafting a compassionate classroom is about more than managing student behavior, it’s about fostering an environment where your students can learn from their actions, embrace responsibility, and cultivate emotional intelligence. Ultimately, this journey begins with understanding and reflection. Dive into our collection of meticulously curated behavior reflection sheets, each designed to empower your students to think, feel, and make choices that contribute positively to your classroom environment and beyond. Get ready to transform your teaching approach and inspire your students on their path to self-improvement with these resources!

1. What Happened Reflection Sheet

Let’s unlock the doors to understanding! Guide your students in pondering their actions and reactions. What led them down a certain path? This reflection sheet brings empathy and responsibility to life- culminating in a transformative journey that takes place within the very heart of your classroom.

Learn More: Pinterest

2. “Feelings Map” Reflection

Feelings, feelings everywhere! Help your students navigate their emotions  after any event by having them draw a map of their feelings. Let them get creative with this visual project, which will help them increase emotional literacy and regulation.

Learn More: Reward Charts

3. Behavior Consequences Sheet

Have you ever considered the impact of your actions? Ask your students to dig deep into their behaviours and think about how what they do affects themselves and others. 

Learn More: Laura Candler

4. My Behavior Plan Worksheet

Time to shape future success! With this worksheet, encourage your students to outline a robust behaviour improvement plan. To do so, have them write down concrete goals to improve their future actions. This activity is more than just planning; it’s about taking ownership and making a genuine commitment to positive change. 

Learn More: Have Fun Teaching

5. Behavior Journal Reflection

Open the doors to daily discovery! This behaviour journal reflection invites your students to engage in a self-dialogue. Have them check in with themselves as a good daily kick-off to your lessons by encouraging them to explore a variety of topics, ranging from their emotional well-being to their openness. The options are endless!

Learn More: Twinkl

6. Self-Evaluation Reflection Sheet

Guide your students in evaluating their behavior by taking a good look at who they are. Pondering, exploring, and growing – that’s what this activity is all about! Watch them bloom and flourish as they take stock of their lives in uncharted ways. 

Learn More: Squarehead Teachers

7. Peer Impact Reflection Sheet

Encourage your learners to be a positive addition to your classroom community by reviewing their impact with a peer impact reflection sheet. This sheet will help them see how their actions affect others and consider ways in which they can be more empathetic in the classroom. 

8. Goal Setting Reflection

Goals: Whether big or small, we all need them! With this tool, your students can set, strive, and achieve. Ask them to write down specific goals and detail how they plan to accomplish them.

Learn More: TPT

9. Time-Out Reflection Sheet

Time-outs aren’t just for toddlers or sports teams – a pause for personal growth can be beneficial to your students as well!! Encourage them to reflect and grow by taking a moment or two to sit in solitude.

10. Behavior Chain Sheet

Invite your learners to dive into the causes of their behavior by completing a behavior chain sheet. With this exercise, they’re offered an opportunity to deeply explore their triggers and reactions. Be sure to encourage them to be understanding and compassionate with themselves and others as they take time to reflect.  

11. Teacher-Student Conference Sheet

Bridging gaps and building connections is what this sheet is all about! Foster dialogue between yourself and your students to nurture trust and rapport. Ask your students to reflect on their interactions with you, and how both of you can be more understanding of one another moving forward. 

Learn More: Ninja Plans

12. Making Amends Reflection Sheet

Apologies can heal, and so can forgiveness. This reflection sheet helps your students make amends and embrace reconciliation. Ask them to put themselves in their peers’ shoes to understand why their classmates may have acted in a certain way. Empathy, humanity, and compassion take center stage here!

Learn More: Kid Pointz

13. Behavior Reflection Using Painting

Art and emotions blend in this colorful approach to understanding behavior. Break out your art supplies and have your students craft a painting that reflects how they felt or what they did in a specific scenario. Then, have everyone share their pieces! This creative approach may help reluctant students express feelings they otherwise might not have known how to express! 

Learn More: Kinder Art

14. Positive Behavior Reflection

Shine a light on positivity with this thought-provoking task! Celebrate and encourage the good things that your students do by asking them to spend time reflecting on them. If they struggle, step in to help them recognize the good and build on it; encouraging a culture of positive actions amongst your learners. 

Learn More: Social Emotional Workshop

15. My Behavior and Learning Sheet

With this sheet, your students can explore how learning and behavior influence each other. Encourage them to think of behaviors that positively impact their ability to learn and behaviors that could still use some improvement. Connecting life and learning in a harmonious dance, this activity acts as a delightful classroom tool that’s sure to have a tangible impact on your lessons. 

Learn More: Laugh Eat Learn

16. Respect Reflection Sheet

Honor and respect are two important foundational elements of any classroom environment.  Engage your students in understanding respect’s true meaning by asking them to reflect on what it means to them, and how they use it in their day-to-day lives. This sheet is perfect for nurturing self-esteem and encouraging your kiddos to consider their values. 

Learn More: Printable Word Searches

17. Behavior and Emotions Sheet

Unlock the world of feelings by bringing in a sheet that connects emotions with actions; shaping emotionally intelligent students. As your learners embark on a journey that’s sure to bring them closer to themselves, prompt them to consider how their emotions influence their day-to-day decision-making. 

18. My Impulse Control Sheet

Teaching mindfulness has never been easier! Guide your students to take a moment to pause before they react using this impulse control sheet. Have them practice staying calm and collected by considering their options before taking action. Their future selves will thank you!

19. Learning from Mistakes Reflection

Mistakes are meant to be embraced! Help your kiddos transform their errors into milestones by asking them to reflect on the mistakes they’ve made, and considering how they can ensure that they don’t happen again. Make sure to include themes of resilience in this activity, and let them know that with experience comes wisdom! 

Learn More: TeacherVision

20. Taking Responsibility Reflection

Accountability is the main focus of this reflective tool. Lead your students towards responsible learning by encouraging them to consider how their actions have direct consequences. 

21. Calm Down Reflection Sheet

In a world that is increasingly stressful, it’s important to have the ability to stay calm! Help your students learn this skill with a sheet that has them reflect on ways to relax during high-stress situations. Encourage mindfulness, breathing exercises, and self-reflection to help them explore and manage these feelings.  

22. Behavior Change Contract

Take your goal-setting sheet one step further and create a behavior change contract for your students. Let them commit to betterment by signing a piece of paper detailing what they will do to improve themselves within your classroom. Ensure they’re active participants in creating the contracts, and join them on the journey by signing it as well! 

Learn More: Scribd

23. My Choices Reflection Sheet

Choose your own adventure! With a choices reflection sheet, you can walk your kiddos through a series of decisions and detail how they often lead to different end results. Provide them with intriguing paths, full of twists and turns, and see how they start to connect the dots of their own choice patterns! 

24. Weekly Behavior Reflection Sheet

Encourage Your students to celebrate their improvements on a longer time scale by taking time to reflect on their weekly behavior. Point out patterns, and foster interest in their continual growth by using this exercise as a chronicle of your students’ improvement, and as a roadmap to their future success. Feel free to share with their parents at the end of the year! 

• Accept :: [ text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,*/*;q=0.8 ]
• Accept-Encoding :: [ deflate, gzip ]
• Accept-Language :: [ en-US ]
• Connection :: [ keep-alive ]
• Host :: [ hydrocarbonprocessing.com ]
• User-Agent :: [ Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64; rv:107.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/107.0 ]
• X-FORWARDED-PROTO :: [ https ]
• X-FORWARDED-PORT :: [ 443 ]
• X-Forwarded-For :: [ 185.147.128.134:42799 ]
• X-Original-URL :: [ /news/2022/06/novoshakhtinsk-refinery-resumes-operations-after-fire ]
• X-AppGW-Trace-Id :: [ 7c7cfc5c23f2baa2bd8f02f40100daaa ]
• X-ORIGINAL-HOST :: [ www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com ]
• DNT :: [ 1 ]

August 2024

• Current Issue
• Digital Exclusives
• Supplements
• Customer Service
• Latest News
• Conference News
• Newsletter Sign-up
• HPI Market Data Book
• Process Handbooks
• Construction Boxscore
• Global Energy Infrastructure
• Whitepapers
• Downstream365
• Project Data
• International Refining and Petrochemical Conference
• Gulf Energy Information Excellence Awards
• Women's Global Leadership Conference

Novoshakhtinsk refinery resumes operations after fire

(Reuters) - The Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in the south of Russia resumed operations after a fire caused by a drone attack on June 22, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The refinery in the Rostov region said the first of two drones flying from the direction of Ukraine struck at 8.40 a.m. (0540 GMT) on Wednesday, hitting a crude distillation unit and triggering a blast and ball of fire.

Both primary crude oil distillation units at the refinery were down after the attack, but at least one was back online as of Friday, the sources said.

"The refinery is back online after the fire. June   refining   will be little affected, while in July they will have maintenance. It is not clear how much it may affect the output", one of the sources said.

A representative for the refinery did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The Novoshakhtinsk refinery has an annual capacity of up to 7.5 million tonnes, and processed 5.2 MMt of crude last year.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Jan Harvey)

Related News

• India's Bharat Petroleum Corp. to boost integrated refining-petrochemical capacity by 2030
• Czech police safely detonate World War 2 bomb at oil refinery
• AFC leads financing for Africa's largest gas-to-methanol complex
• Shell to leverage proprietary structural performance management software for various facilities
• Linde to invest $2 B in Canada to supply hydrogen to Dow's Alberta chemical complex
• Asia 10-ppm gasoil refining margins near 18-month low on clouded outlook

From the Archive

• Digital Exclusive: The eight best practices for moving safety from compliance to a culture of care
• Tackle operational challenges with FCC coprocessing applications
• A novel process for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to produce ethylene and acetic acid
• Maximum fill volume in propane, butane and LPG pressurized storage tanks
• Six considerations for turbomachinery control upgrades
• Viewpoint: “Intelligizing” the refinery for business sustainability

• South Korea plans mix of sustainable aviation fuel for international flights from 2027 8/30
• India's Bharat Petroleum Corp. to boost integrated refining-petrochemical capacity by 2030 8/30
• U.S. EPA extends emergency fuel waiver for Midwest states due to refinery outage 8/30
• Czech police safely detonate World War 2 bomb at oil refinery 8/30
• U.S. Patent Office issues 4th patent for Alternative Environmental Technologies’ Sulfex™ desulfurization tech 8/30
• Russian diesel output set to fall 7.5% m/m to 7 MM tonnes in August 8/30
• Most Commented
• Digital Exclusive-Flare system design: Liquid pockets in flare headers
• Alarm rationalization at Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) refineries
• Digital Exclusive: SPECIAL FOCUS: Digital Technologies—Utilize process simulation digital twin to optimize condensate yield
• The effects of cooling water parameters on condenser brass tubes

• Site License
• Author Index
• Reader Service
• Reprints & Back Issues
• Authors Guidelines
• US Gas Processing Plant Directory
• New Project Data
• White Papers
• Energy Events Calendar
• Carbon Intel Forum
• Petrochemicals
• Gas Processing/LNG
• Environment & Safety
• Maintenance & Reliability
• Process Optimization
• Project Management
• Process Control
• Asia/Pacific
• Middle East
• Gas Processing & LNG
• PE Media Network
• Gulf Energy Information
• Pipeline & Gas Journal
• Underground Infrastructure

• History & Society
• Science & Tech
• Biographies
• Animals & Nature
• Geography & Travel
• Arts & Culture
• Games & Quizzes
• On This Day
• One Good Fact
• New Articles
• Lifestyles & Social Issues
• Philosophy & Religion
• Politics, Law & Government
• World History
• Health & Medicine
• Browse Biographies
• Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
• Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
• Environment
• Fossils & Geologic Time
• Entertainment & Pop Culture
• Sports & Recreation
• Visual Arts
• Demystified
• Image Galleries
• Infographics
• Top Questions
• Britannica Kids
• Saving Earth
• Space Next 50
• Student Center

Novoshakhtinsk

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Novoshakhtinsk , city, Rostov oblast (region), southwestern Russia , on the Maly Nesvetay River. It developed as a major anthracite coal-mining centre, achieving city status in 1939. The city’s dependence on the coal industry, which suffered as oil and natural gas increased in importance as fuels in the 1960s, led to a decline in its population in the later 20th century, after it had doubled in size between 1939 and 1959. Pop. (2006 est.) 115,266.