The dimensions of reflective practice: a teacher educator’s and nurse educator’s perspective

ABSTRACT

This article aims to accentuate the value of reflective practices in the lived experiences and professional development of a teacher educator and a nursing educator at a higher education institution in South Africa. Reflective practice promotes the continuous (re)creation of local knowledge through a critical reflection on beliefs, assumptions, experiences and practices in order to identify successful strategies for teaching practice, reflect upon challenges, adapt, and evolve their practice. Reflective practice encapsulates a process of continuous learning and growth that not only resonates with pedagogical and methodological viewpoints and also ontological and epistemological situatedness and is at the same time aligned with national and institutional aims and requirements. In this self-study project based on LaBoskey’s five characteristics of self-study, educators in higher education become both the researcher and the researched and the emphasis of the research is on the self as a theorist, researcher and practitioner. The authors explore and elucidate their journey of discovery towards the various dimensions of their reflective practice through a critical evaluation of their teaching and learning theory and of their teaching and assessment strategies. Both authors have been awarded institutional teaching excellence awards. This article contributes to their joint discourse on higher education as well as their conceptualization of their respective scholarships of teaching and learning.

KEYWORDS:

• Reflective practice
• teacher educator
• nursing educator
• self-study
• teaching and learning philosophy
• teaching strategies

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank their students for what they learned from them and who were central to their own development as educators.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The module referred to here is a preparation module for the Work Integrated Learning sessions that teaching students complete twice a year. The assessment of the module is done through a portfolio that is completed whilst students are placed at schools. The classes are therefore not compulsory or linked to summative assessment like examinations.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Welma Lubbe

Welma Lubbe is an associate professor at the North-West University, School of Nursing Science as part of the midwifery team and responsible for neonatal training. She has published over 38 peer-reviewed articles, presented 40 national and 19 international conference posters and papers and numerious professional and parenting articles. She is frequently invited as television and radio presenter, author and guest speaker at various public parenting forums, including national television and well known parenting magazines, such as Baba en Kleuter and Your Pregnancy. Her research focus in the field of neurodevelopmental supportive care of the preterm infant and she is recognised as a leader in this field in South Africa. She acts as academic advisor on the neonatal community of practice of the LIFE Healthcare group. She serves on the board for the Neonatal Nurses Association of South Africa: education portfolio, since 2011 and she is the owner of Little Steps®. She is the president of the South African Neonatal, Infant and Toddler Support Association (SANITSA) since 2004. SANITSA was ‘born’ to provide a multi-disciplinary support platform for healthcare professionals working in this field of practice. She is the project lead for INDeSC (Implementation of Neurodevelopmental Supportive Care) and STARFISH. In 2017-8 she was the country survey leader for the Neo-BFHI 36-country survey.

Carolina Stephanusina Botha

Carolina Stephanusina Botha is a senior lecturer in the school for Psycho-social education at the University of North-West and she is a researcher in COMBER (Community Based Educational Research). After twelve years in teaching, she joined the NWU in 2014. In 2017 she was awarded the Distinguished Institutional Teaching Award at the North West University. She is passionate about the pligth of student teachers and beginner teachers in South Africa. Her research focus is emotional readiness and reality shock in beginner teachers and her growing involvement in the Work Integrated Learning Program at the NWU offers the opportunity to apply her research findings to the B.Ed program and in this manner contribute to the body of knowledge on transitions that students and beginner teachers experience, as well as working towards an alignment between expectations and experiences of both students and beginner teachers.