Reflection in real life

Task 2: Reflection in real life

This task deals with reflection on action in real life.

Take into consideration the steps in Dewey’s Model of Reflective Thought and Action, then imagine how such a model might represent a real situation in your life.  Next, take notes on a scenario from your past in which a habitual behaviour such as spending money on cigarettes, eating compulsively, or sleeping the instant you sit down to study -- something that you had regularly practiced -- no longer seemed effective, creating a problem for you.

Reflect on this “problem.” What is the ideal behaviour that you could not achieve? What sort of conditions existed that provided the problem context? What were the consequences? Looking back, can you identify a primary or direct root cause for that problem?

As of today, ask yourself this question: Has the problem been solved? If you can answer “yes,” try to remember your past “reasoning” as you deliberated on the problem’s causes, and then reflect on the possible adaptations or changes that were required of you for generating a solution.

What  action  did you take  to make real change?  What steps/missteps occurred  in the process? What takeaways might you have developed from this experience?

If your problem has not yet been solved, reflect on why that is the case. What conditions existed that you were not able to change? Why did you ‘become stuck’?

Once you have finished taking notes on this scenario, share all the details with a partner. Are there any common points, or principles, in your set of reflections?
Be prepared to summarize your discussion with the class.

Rodgers (2002) has concisely summarized Dewey’s extensive writing on reflection into four main points:

1. Reflection is a meaning-making process that moves a learner from one experience into the next with deeper understanding of its relationships with and connections to other experiences and ideas, making continuity of learning possible.
2. Reflection is a systematic, rigorous, disciplined way of thinking, with its roots in scientific inquiry.
3. Reflection needs to happen in a community, in interaction with others.
4. Reflection requires attitudes that value the personal and intellectual growth of oneself and of others.

My Story

I used to think I was very good at math. Being in the normal academic stream, I frequently obtained top 5% within the cohort. This led me to become arrogant.  I didn’t listen to my peer’s and families’ advice when they told me I had to study more. I continued having this delusion until I was in secondary 3. It was only then I realized that my math was horrible. During my common test 2, I attempted the math paper without any prior revision on the topics coming out. To my horror, I could only solve the questions on the first page. I left the rest of the paper blank as I didn’t have a clue on how to solve any of the questions.

Upon receiving my math paper back, I felt that the whole world has gone against me. Seeing the single digit result on my paper, I felt like bursting into tears. I could only blame myself for being such an arrogant person. 

I still managed to get 4th position amongst the cohort that year. It hit me the most during this point as the top 3 position of the cohort was promoted to the express stream. Trying my luck, I appealed for the express stream, only to get turned down because of my math results.

After this incident, I told myself that I had to have regular revision especially on my math. I took up math tuition on a weekly basis. Joining the math class, it was only then I truly knew how far back I was lacking behind my peers. Once bitten and twice shy, I told myself that I wouldn’t want the make the same mistake ever in my life. I worked extremely hard for math. 2 years flew by in a blink of an eye and O levels came. Having prior revision for it, I took the math paper. I scored a B3 which was a vast improvement from the C6s or D7s I used to get for math. Seeing the exponential improvement, I decided to challenge myself and applied for an engineering course in the polytechnic. That led me to join my current course in Singapore Institute of Technology. I have high hopes for myself and I wish to achieve my lifelong dream, graduating from a university in Singapore.   



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