A New Perspective on Student Self-Reflection

Helping students create a habit of reflection is an essential step in teaching them how to establish and maintain self-control. But sometimes teachers with positive intentions inadvertently ask questions around reflection that add a layer of shame. For example: 

• “Think about your work today. What could you have done to improve the number of math problems you solved?” 
• “How could you have been a better rule follower this morning?” 
• “What could you have done so that we ended up with more free time?”

Students respond to shame in one of three ways, according to a study by researchers Linda Hartling and Jean Baker Miller: by moving away from it, moving toward it, or moving against it. Students who move away in response tend to shut down and refuse to talk about it, while students who move toward shame often take a people-pleasing approach. Meanwhile, students who move against shame may use shame and aggression in retaliation, adopting the perspective of “Shame me, and I’ll shame you back.” 

Conversely, positive reflection can be a powerful force for constructive student behavior, and students who learn these habits tend to be rewarded with a more positive learning community, stronger goal-to-outcome connections, and increased independence – both socially and academically. Here are some strategies for helping students build self-reflection habits from a base of positive intention instead of shame. 

Use Interactive Modeling to Prepare Students for Success

Learners feel safest when they are clear about expectations. When learners feel safe, they are more likely to take risks. For true reflection to occur, safety and risk-taking are necessary. Use Interactive Modeling—a process that involves students as active participants throughout the modeling process—to create that safe environment.

Set an Intention for Reflection

1. Before having students reflect on their part in a lesson, have them stop for a deep breath and quiet moment.
2. Speak to the idea that the result of their reflection may not be what they had originally intended, and that is okay. 
3. Trust the process. Proactively decide if you will have students share their intention or if you will have them sit with their intention quietly. 

Create a Habit of Reflection

1. If you are following a scripted curriculum, use your knowledge of the content to fill in open-ended questions that match the intentions of the authors.
2. If your curriculum is more open-ended, consider how open-ended questions can inform the lesson as you work with it. 
3. Decide how often you will ask students to intentionally reflect on their practice and to what extent you will ask them to do that.

To grow as a person, experience alone is not enough.  Encouraging a gentle push for positive reflection can be the difference between a seed and a mighty oak.

Gina Castelli is a Responsive Classroom Consulting Teacher.