Fifth dispositional blog: REFLECTIVENESS

Why do most teachers and students find it so hard to reflect?  Why do some people consider reflection to be the heart of the teaching process?  When and how do you reflect most effectively?

To begin this blog, I would like to start out with a quote from the latest book I am reading; The Global Achievement Gap, by Tony Wagner.  It is as follows:

"The majority of my years in the corporate world have been in sales.  When you're in sales and marketing environment, it's really important that you understand your customer.  I've found that the best way to understand people is to ask questions.  I ask questions all day long.  If I ask the right questions, I get information that allows me to be more successful in a variety of ways.  If I'm talking to customers, I'm more successful because I understand their business and their needs.  I understand their perspective on a problem that has to be solved.  If I'm dealing with employees and I ask questions, I understand how they think, where they're coming from as they try to solve a problem, what they've done so far to address an issue.  So it really comes down to how well you ask questions" (Wagner, pg. 5).

This quote came from a woman named Christy Pedra; she is the CEO of Siemans Hearing Instruments - one of the largest hearing-instrument manufacturers in the world.  She was talking about how - in order to ensure that she is being the best CEO possible and that she is giving her customers exactly what they want - she asks questions.  These questions allow her to get to know her customers and employers better; how they learn, how they approach a problem, etc.  The better she is able to do this, the more effective and prepared she will be for her job. 

In this sense, I believe teachers are a lot alike.  We have to ask our students questions to get on the same page with them; we must know how they learn that way we'd be able to compensate.  One of my English teachers did this.  On the first day of class, she had us fill out some questions pertaining to our learning habits;  she said she would use this information to decide what would be the best way to teach the class - E.g., if the class was overall more visual learner, she would incorporate more visual aspects in her lessons. 

"I'm more successful because I understand their business and their needs.  I understand their perspective on a problem that has to be solved."  This quote explains why teachers must reflect on how they're teaching their students.  They must know how their students are learning; they must realize why a student is making the mistake that they're making.  That's why being a reflective teacher is so important.