Book Excerpt: Becoming a Reflective Practitioner

By Mary Melvin

“How do we increase our effectiveness in the classroom? We grow as reflective practitioners,” said Pete Hall, coauthor of the new ASCD book, Teach, Reflect, Learn: Building Your Capacity for Success in the Classroom. In this book, Hall and Alisa Simeral explain why self-reflection is so important for teachers to master and how it contributes their overall self-improvement.

So, how do teachers become self-reflective practitioners? Hall and Simeral introduce a tool, the Reflective Cycle, to help teachers develop strong reflective habits and refine their skills as educators. The following excerpt explains the role of a reflective practitioner and how teachers can learn to build their own reflective capacity on a path toward continuous growth.

Want to read more about the art of self-reflection? Pick up a copy of Teach, Reflect, Learn in print or e-book format in the ASCD Online Store.