Bitesize Research: Summer Holidays & Teacher Reflection

By Jaya Carrier

We’ve made it to the final week - huge congratulations to everyone, you’ve done brilliantly! In this final bitesize of the academic year, I was interested in this article about using the final days before the summer holiday for reflection on teacher practice. Objectives:

To consider how the summer holidays can be used as part of ongoing teacher reflections Summary:

• The author argues that taking a moment to reflect and pause ahead of the summer holiday is really vital in ongoing teacher reflective practices.
• She recommends the following steps to do this:

1. Review materials and resources - the author recommends using coaching-style questions to consider what worked well and what you might want to change for next year.
2. Write down reflections and notes somewhere you’ll remember - the author recommends that actually writing down your reflections makes them more powerful.
3. Share your reflections with a colleague - the author recommends sharing your reflections to ensure that collective efficacy and solidarity can be built strongly.
4. Celebrate yourself - you’ve made it to the end of the year, and you should feel extremely proud!

How does this impact me and my practice?:

Some reflections arising from this that might be helpful to consider are:

• How can I build in some opportunities for reflection over the last few days of term?
• Who might be helpful to share your reflections with?
• How will you celebrate yourself?

If you would like to discuss this further with me please get in touch! I’d be delighted to hear from you!