Content and benefits of reflection

Reflection as a tool for building cultural awareness during an exchange period

Reflection can be defined as a process that allows to “integrate the understanding gained into one’s experience in order to enable better choices or actions in the future as well as enhance one’s overall effectiveness” (Rogers, 2001). The benefits of reflection as a vital component of the learning process are the development of interpersonal skills, improvement of confidence and increasing of motivation for their studies by monitoring and taking responsibility for their own development” (Hinnet, 2002). The act of reflection promotes independent learning and critical thinking as “we make sense of what we’ve learned, why we learned it, and how that particular increment of learning took place” (Race, 2002).

An exchange period can offer a journey full of new experiences that are invaluable in building cultural awareness. The diverse incidents we encounter living, teaching and studying in a new environment  can challenge our thinking and spark new ideas. Such cultural encounters can be turned into even deeper learning experiences by engaging in reflective thinking. Reflection can help us better understand diverse cultural encounters in our everyday and professional lives and make sense of our cultural selves. It can give us a greater sense of confidence in navigating in the new cultural environment.

Critical reflection is placed in the core of developing cultural awareness and our cultural selves by Jones, Miles, & Gopalkrishnan (2018) who state that ”Cultural awareness involves not simply knowing something of the nature of culture, or learning about the culture of others, it involves developing a deep and critical awareness of our own cultural selves and our position in relation to issues such as cultural imperialism and racism”.  To build cultural awareness we need to recognize our cultural selves – we need to get to know aspects of ourselves that are not know to us or others. Reflection is in the core of the process of exploring such hidden aspects and getting to know our cultural selves (Jones, Miles & Gopalkrishnan, 2018).

A reflective approach can help us better understand the requirements we face when facilitating learning in diverse cultural and educational contexts. With reflective practice, Thompson & Thompson (2018) refer to thinking that can help us understand what is required from us and how we can respond to the requirements. Reflective thinking lets us explore the requirements we face in the role of a teacher in a new context as well as the ways to respond to them.

A reflective approach can also reveal something about the knowledge we draw on as we facilitate learning in a new educational context. It can help us become aware of the kind of knowledge we possess and put us in a better position to develop it. If we do not know what kind of knowledge we base our decisions on, we cannot develop it. Thompson & Thompson (2018) advocate developing open knowledge – the kind of knowledge we are explicitly aware of when we use it – stating that it is the basis for reflective and mindful practice. Therefore, when we attempt to make sense of the incidents we encounter in a new educational context, we should understand what kind of knowledge and assumptions we draw on and how they affect our interpretations.

Reflective thinking is characterised by critical thinking, the kind of thinking that looks beneath the surface. According to Thompson & Thompson (2018), a critical approach to reflective practice “takes account of the wider social picture – in relation to, for example, racism, sexism, ageism and other such forms of discrimination”. Critical thinking demands that we are aware of our position on such issues and how they affect our practice.