Reflexivity and Topics for Reflection
Reflexivity in one sentence
Engaging in personal reflection AND broader social critique at the same time.
Skills underpinning reflexivity
- Critical thinking grounded in skepticism and critical theory
- Identifying and challenging assumptions
- Treating context as part of the picture
- Imagining and exploring alternatives
- Reflective skepticism, not just reflective acceptance
Three types of reflexivity
| Type | What it does |
|---|---|
| Hyper-reflexivity | Deconstructs the practice itself |
| Systematic reflexivity | Examines the suppositions, theories, and methods being used |
| Epistemic reflexivity | Explores beliefs and assumptions about knowledge |
Useful topics for critical reflection
- Pedagogy and learning outcomes
- Family induction and partnerships
- Communication with families
- Physical environment and culture
- Practices taken for granted
Reflection on its own can stay private. Reflexivity is reflection plus a wider social critique. A reflexive teacher does not only ask “what happened in my class?” They also ask “what does what happened tell me about the wider system, the assumptions of the culture, and the position I am working from?”
What reflexivity adds to reflection
Reflection looks inward. Reflexivity looks inward and outward at the same time. The teacher examines their own thoughts AND the social context that shaped those thoughts.
This means a reflexive teacher does not assume their own perspective is neutral. They treat their own teaching, their own grading, and their own assumptions as products of a context that could have produced different ones.
The skills underpinning reflexivity build on critical thinking with roots in skepticism and critical theory. Five skills sit at the centre.
- Identifying assumptions. Spotting beliefs that drive practice but are not stated.
- Challenging assumptions. Asking whether they hold up.
- Taking context seriously. Recognising that practice does not happen in a vacuum.
- Imagining alternatives. Picturing how the practice could be different.
- Reflective skepticism. Doubting your own conclusions, not only the conclusions of others.
A teacher who has these skills can reflect more deeply. A teacher who has only the first two can name assumptions but cannot move beyond them.
Three types of reflexivity
When reflexivity is treated as a kind of introspection, three types are useful to distinguish.
Hyper-reflexivity
The deconstruction of practice itself. The teacher takes a routine apart and asks what each piece is doing, why, and whether it should be there. Hyper-reflexivity often happens after a critical incident. The teacher cannot reassemble the routine the way it was.
Systematic reflexivity
Looking at the suppositions, theories, and methods being used. The teacher steps back from any specific lesson and examines the framework they are working within. A teacher who has been using a particular grading rubric for five years may, through systematic reflexivity, ask what theory of learning the rubric assumes and whether that theory is right.
Epistemic reflexivity
Exploring beliefs and assumptions about knowledge itself. What counts as knowledge? Who decides? What gets taught as fact and what gets taught as opinion? Epistemic reflexivity is the deepest of the three because it questions the foundations of the subject as well as the teaching of it.
The three types are not in competition. A reflexive teacher uses all three over time, as situations demand.
Reflexivity puts reflection into daily practice
The practical effect of reflexivity is that reflection no longer sits in a special “reflective time.” It runs in the background of everyday teaching. The reflexive teacher catches themselves in the middle of a decision and asks, “What am I assuming here? Is the assumption fair? Whose interests does it serve?”
This is what writers mean when they say reflexivity situates reflective practice in day-to-day classroom experience.
Topics worth reflecting on
A common question from new teachers: “What should I reflect on?” The answer is wider than the lesson plan.
Pedagogy and learning outcomes
How does what you do connect to the principles, learning, and development outcomes you say you want? Does the physical environment encourage children’s sense of agency, or does it work against it?
Family induction and partnerships
How do families new to the school get welcomed and oriented? Does the welcome set the stage for genuine partnership, or for a one-way flow of information from school to family?
Communication with families
How varied is the communication, and how effective is it? Who is not attending school events? Why? What might change that?
Physical environment
How does the classroom and school environment look to a child? Does it reflect the cultures, communities, and lives of the families and children, or does it reflect a generic school template?
Practices taken for granted
What routines run on autopilot? Which ones still serve a purpose, and which ones are leftovers from a different time?
Critical questions to model with students
A reflexive teacher can also use critical questions with students directly. Three useful patterns:
- “Was this activity successful for you? Why or why not?”
- “If we do this again, what could I do differently to help you learn more?”
- “Did this activity help you learn more than the previous one? Why?”
Students who are asked these questions over time become more reflective themselves.
A working list of self-questions
A reflective teacher benefits from a list of questions they can return to. The list below covers culture, assessment, teaching choices, professional self-care, and personal sustainability. None of them have a single right answer. They reward returning to them more than once.
About classroom culture
- Are the relationships I have with my students helping or hindering their ability to learn?
- Could the problems I am solving in class be solved by pre-teaching expectations or developing rules and procedures?
- Was my mood and attitude towards my class today supportive of student learning?
- Am I excited to go to work today? Are my students excited to come to my class? How does my answer to one shape the other?
- What choices have I given my students lately?
- Can I describe at least one thing about each of my students’ lives outside school?
About assessment
- Does my assessment accurately reflect student learning, or only task completion and memory?
- Why did I really choose this lesson to cover this objective?
- What evidence do I have that my students are learning?
About my teaching
- What new strategies have I tried recently to help students who are struggling?
- How am I challenging students who are coasting?
- What do I do when students are not learning?
- Which students benefited from this activity? Which did not?
About professional growth
- In what areas can I still improve?
- What is stopping me from improving?
- How can I support my colleagues’ work with their students?
- Do my actions show I believe all students can learn at a high level?
- Do my actions show I take pride in my work?
- Are my relationships with colleagues conducive to a learning culture?
- Are my relationships with parents conducive to improving student learning?
About sustainability
- What new ideas have I tried lately to keep myself energised about teaching?
- What have I done lately to manage stress and look after my own health?
- What am I currently doing that I could realistically deprioritise?
- How much time have I spent with my friends and family in the last two weeks?
A teacher who returns to even a quarter of these questions across a term reflects more deeply than one who never asks them.
A wider social critique alongside personal reflection
Reflection alone looks at the teacher’s own practice. Reflexivity looks at the practice AND at the social, cultural, and theoretical context that shaped it. The reflexive teacher does not assume their own perspective is neutral; they treat their own decisions as products of a context that could have produced others.
The working questions above are deliberately mixed across topic areas. A teacher who notices that her own mood shapes the room is reflecting on classroom culture and on sustainability at the same time, because the two are loops that feed each other.