The Importance of Reflection in My Role

Reflection has become one of the most transformative practices in my professional growth. In my role with Windham School District, my days often move quickly, traveling to campuses, installing software, troubleshooting devices, training teachers, and answering questions from morning to evening. Reflection wasn’t something I intentionally practiced until beginning this program.

Through these courses, I’ve learned that reflection is not optional for educators who want to grow. It is essential. It allows me to slow down long enough to understand not just what I’m doing, but why I’m doing it.

Reflection helps clarify my purpose. It encourages me to consider how each tool, training, and instructional strategy supports the learning experience of our adult students. Brookfield (2017) explains that reflective teachers examine their assumptions and become more intentional in their choices. This has absolutely been true for me.

Reflection has also strengthened my leadership. Before this program, many of my decisions were instinctive. Now, I understand them more deeply. I reflect on how I communicate expectations, how I coach teachers through new tools, and how I respond when technology challenges arise. Through reflection, I’ve become more thoughtful in planning, more aware of teacher needs, and more grounded in my leadership approach.

Schön (1983) describes reflection as a process that shapes professionals while they are in practice. I see this every time I notice what went well in a training session, or what didn’t, and evaluate how I’ll adjust next time. Reflection gives meaning to experience and turns moments into learning.

Reflection also builds confidence. Technology integration is never perfect, and tools rarely behave the same way twice. But reflecting on both the successes and challenges helps me recognize patterns and understand my own growth. When I think about why an interactive bell-ringer worked well in one classroom or why a training resonated with teachers at another campus, I deepen my understanding of what effective integration looks like.

This process also supports personal growth. The act of writing blogs, documenting my work in my ePortfolio, and revisiting my innovation plan has helped me articulate who I am becoming as an educator and leader. Yancey (2015) reminds us that reflection is a rhetorical act, it helps us make sense of learning and identity. I see that happening every time I step back and evaluate my progress.

Moving forward, I plan to treat reflection not just as part of my coursework, but as part of my leadership. It helps me lead with clarity, empathy, and purpose. It helps me see teachers more clearly. And it helps me understand how to support our learners more effectively.

Reflection is shaping the educator I am becoming and the leader I aspire to be.

References

Brookfield, S. (2017). Becoming a critically reflective teacher (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.

Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner. Basic Books.

Yancey, K. (2015). A rhetoric of reflection. Utah State University Press.