Abstract
This study is a small-scale action research study about the role of reflection in learning that was set in an international school in Romania during the time of a pandemic. The aim of the research was to listen to sociology students' feedback about the experience of focusing on reflection and to uncover the meaning that it had for them. It was a response to engaging with Deborah Eyre's high-performance learning (HPL) philosophy, which argues that the skills of high achieving learners can be taught to all students. The status of evidence-based methods, as a justification for educational initiatives towards social change, is considered alongside a short discussion of Hattie's synthesis of evidence-based methods and his focus on “making learning visible” in the classroom. The potential for HPL methods to provide an inclusive template of teaching and learning is briefly considered. This study describes the journey of a small action research study in the classroom and assesses its qualitative findings whilst acknowledging that some aspects of the study design were flawed.
TopIntroduction
This action research study began by focusing on one aspect of Deborah Eyre’s high performance learning teaching model; reflection as an example of “advanced cognitive performance” (Eyre, 2016). The generic skill of reflection was chosen as an aspect of both self-regulation and metacognition, two of the key advanced cognitive performance characteristics (ACPS) which Eyre identifies as characteristic of the most effective high-achieving learners. The teacher/ researcher planned to embed several activities concerning student reflection into her sociology lessons for four weeks and explore students’ responses to this initiative. In addition, the argument presented in Hattie’s book is that when learning and teaching techniques are visible in the classroom, the likelihood of students exceeding their own expectations and their performance and achievement levels are increased (Hattie, 2012). Eyre’s HPL philosophy supports this perspective and her teaching methods are recommended as whole school initiatives to make teaching and learning techniques visible to students in the classroom, by overtly teaching the cognitive thinking skills and learning behaviours that foster high achievement in all students. The aim of this chapter is to describe and explore the role of student reflection in an action research study and discuss the potential of student reflection as an HPL strategy to contribute towards inclusive teaching and assessment strategies.
The completion of this study within the context of the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic overlapped with frequent discussions in the wider context of the media, about alternative assessment methods as a way to replace traditional examinations. This topic became important as many British exam boards, including the Cambridge International exam board which assesses most qualifications in the school in this study, cancelled the external exam exams both in 2020 and the current year, 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic. Exams were replaced with school-based assessments and grades. The disruption to examinations world-wide as a result of the Covid pandemic provided an ideal context to consider the efficacy of standardized external examinations as a measure of student achievement. Research suggests that current assessment practices need to be rethought. Cairns’ (2020) research about Australian history teachers' views of exam alignment, found that high stake examinations play a huge role in shaping curriculum decisions which could be seen to contribute to wider inequalities in education. Cairns points out that the Covid crisis has led to a re-evaluation of the role examination based assessments. She states that following exam cancellations in Scotland in 2020, the Scottish Qualification Agency asked teachers to design broader based assessment methods to determine students’ grades using a variety of methods as this was seen to provide a range of benefits to students (Cairns, 2020).
In considering the role of reflection in student learning, it became apparent that the teaching of skills of reflection, may have a wider usefulness as an alternative form of assessment. Brown (2005) argues that in order for assessment practices in higher education settings to be inclusive, a variety of different methods and assessment strategies should be used to meet students’ diverse needs. She suggests that a “multitude of process-based assessments” could replace formal summative examinations, with a large role for reflective practices that allow students to put into practice what they have learned on a course (Brown, 2005). Although the role of reflection as an assessment strategy was not considered in this action research study, the literature review presents several reasons why this could be a productive route for further educational research in order to shape the direction of alternative modes of assessment.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Meta-Cognition: The knowledge and regulation of one’s own thought-processes and practices. It is an important aspect of learning as it helps students become more critically aware of their own learning strategies and processes.
Action Research: A mainly qualitative research method which is directed towards small-scale social change and takes place in organisational settings such as education. It is usually focused on solving small-scale problems and it involves processes of research, analysis, and reflection.
Advanced Cognitive Performance Capabilities: Ways of thinking that are associated with high performance learning.
High Performance Learning: An evidence based pedagogical framework that promotes the idea that all students can be taught the thinking and learning skills which promote high achievement.
Inclusive Learning: Learning that is accessible, relevant, and meaningful to diverse learners and which assists all students to learn and achieve equally. The diversity of education offered should reflect and value the cultural lives and experiences of all students equally.
Evidence-Based Teaching Methods: The perspective that teaching methods should be based on scientific research about the methods which work best to produce positive educational outcomes for students, rather than traditional or personal teaching methods.