Thing 5

Continuing with the big catch up, here is a little look at Thing 5 - reflective practice. This post will be fairly short, as my views about reflective practice are quite decided - I think it is an extemely valuable thing to do.

I was mainly introduced to reflective practice during the MA Librarianship course. I had done a little bit of reflection before. When undertaking creative writing modules at A Level and during my degree, I had to provide commentaries; I was required to consider what was good/not so good, and how things could be improved. I also did a group teaching session as part of my degree, and each member had to submit a reflective report. Reflective writing was something I had always found useful; it enabled me to recognise how I could progress. Part of the assessment for the MA management module - that spanned the full academic year - was to keep a journal. We discussed a management topic or topics within each entry, and related this to our own experiences. I had worked in the museum and library sectors for over two years prior to starting the MA, and I found that the journal assessment enabled me to link the theory that I was learning to my experiences at work. By reflecting, I was able to look at situations from different angles, and consider how I might act in my future roles. I think the act of actually writing things down often provided extra clarity, and the whole process furthered my understanding of management and more general LIS issues. Thus, reflective practice is something I hope to continue with throughout my career. If you have read my previous posts, you will be aware that I am doing voluntary work in order to build on and develop my skills. I decided to keep a record of everything I was doing within each session, mainly so I could remember things when filling in job applications. So, far this has mainly consisted of multiple lists of activities that I have undertaken, but Thing 5 has reminded me of the value of reflective writing, and I will be developing the lists into more in-depth reflection.

So in the spirit of cpd23, here is a mini reflection (I have limited time at the moment due to work and job applications) on the process so far...

I have learnt a lot about the different tools that will enable me to engage more with other people who are interested in/ work in the library and information sectors, and with the wider profession in general. The process gave me the push to start a blog; I've wanted to do this for a while, but kept putting it off. I'm glad I've had a go at creating and managing a blog, as it is something that I may be required to do in a future job role. I also realised that having my own blog will encourage reflective practice, and I plan to start another blog when I have completed the cpd23 process. Also, I have started to consider my personal brand more. This was something I'd not thought about too much before cpd23. I think I have made some progress in this area, but there is more work to do, and it is due to cpd23 that I recognise this. Again, the cpd23 process encouraged me to look at how Twitter, RSS etc could enhance my current awareness. This is something I was aware of, but felt I was missing out on. Although I still need to improve in this area, at least I'm thinking about it now, and I'm aiming to make more of an effort with Twitter etc.

So, that is my take on reflective practice. I'm really glad we had the opportunity to exlpore the reflective process during the MA. I would definitely encourage others to have a go at reflective writing.