Being a reflective practitioner

This chapter explores what reflective practice is and how you can use it support your professional education and development as an early years practitioner. Early years practice focuses on the unique needs of individual young children, and as such presents practitioners with challenges on a daily basis, so that it can never become a matter of routine to follow set procedures and policies. The chapter explores various models and theories of reflection and considers how to put these to use in everyday practice. An undergraduate early years student can use various cycles and models to support the reflective process, including De Bono's hats, Brookfield's lenses or Rolfe et al'.s 'what', 'so what', 'now what'. The more they practise and become accustomed to reflecting critically the easier it becomes, and it will start to be a normal part of their everyday life.