Reflection develops and strengthens lifelong skills for learning and is an essential part of the overall CAS programme. Understanding the purpose and practice of reflection and modelling diverse ways to reflect prepares the self-directed learner to adopt reflection as a choice.
Reflection is a dynamic means for self-knowing, learning and decision-making.
Through reflection, students examine relevance of experience, apply thoughts and ideas garnered to different situations, consider actions of others, remind themselves of what was learned and how it occurred, and consider deliberate ways to improve individual and collective actions.
Because CAS is intended to be an enjoyable experience for students, so too is reflection meant to be enjoyable. Consider that reflection is not measured by length or quantity and that the aim is for reflection to be inspired rather than required. Throughout CAS, there are many occasions when students can discover those meaningful moments of inspiration deserving reflection.
The ultimate purpose of reflecting in CAS is not to complete “a reflection”, it is to become reflective by choice and as a lifelong process.
Reflection is the primary evidence used to determine whether students have successfully attained the seven CAS learning outcomes. However, it is important to note that not all reflections should or must discuss learning outcomes. During CAS, students benefit from both structured and informal reflection when gathering evidence of the learning outcomes.
• Deepen learning
• Consider relevance of experience
• Explore personal and group values
• Recognize the application of knowledge, skills, and attributes
• Identify strengths and areas for development
• Gain a greater understanding of self and others
• Place experience in a larger context
• Generate relevant ideas and questions
• Consider improvements in individual and collective choices and actions
• Transfer prior learning to new situations
• Generate and receive constructive feedback
• Develop the ongoing habit of thoughtful, reflective practice
You can use written or oral words or images for your response.
What happened? Retell memorable moments, identify what was important or influential, what went well or was difficult, obstacles and successes.
How do I feel? Articulate emotional responses to experiences.
Ideas? Notation of any generative possibilities.
Questions? What can be discovered about people, processes or issues?
To deepen your reflections, think beyond the obvious
For example:
What did I do? could become:
How did I feel? could become:
Use this process to develop your reflections.
The first two elements form the foundation of reflection.
Describing what happened: Students retell their memorable moments, identifying what was important or influential, what went well or was difficult, obstacles and successes.
Expressing feelings: Students articulate emotional responses to their experiences to develop emotional literacy.
The following two elements add greater depth and expand perspectives.
Generating ideas: Rethinking or re-examining choices and actions increases awareness about self and situations.
Asking questions: Questions about people, processes or issues prompt further thinking and ongoing inquiry.
17 February: I wouldn't say my football ability is terrible but I would like to improve on the skills I already have. During secondary school, I would occasionally play football, however, in my opinion, there was no real passion behind it. I played football just because I had to, however, over the given two year period, I've grown to the sport and began watching a lot more on television. This has driven me forward into building upon the skills I have into a better player overall. Also, this would help me keep fit and healthy while studying the IB. The first week, I filled in the midfield role to push for a 3-1 victory over the opposing team. Good start to a promising future I thought.
24 February: I decided I wanted to play the same role as I did during the first week. My reason for this was I knew some of the mistakes I had made during my debut match. For instance, in an attempt to pass the ball to one of the strikers as they were in on goal, I accidently passed it off the pitch. This led to the opposing team getting a throw in and led to them getting a goal. Therefore, this time round, my aim for this week was to play the role I was 100% sure of and knew the limits to my abilities.
2 March: As I started the match on both first and second week, I did not want to be greedy and continue to be first pick. The main reason I believe I was first pick was purely based upon knowing friends that attended football on Friday. I took this time to stand on the side and observe those who played in the role midfield that I would normally be playing to see if they are doing anything different in comparison to me. I know that in any team sport it is essential to be cooperative and have good communication with the team. Saying this, I wanted to explore how important it was to be a communicative player in a team and therefore, at the beginning of next week, I shall be asking if I can play manager of the team rather than playing. This will allow me to see how the team interacts and able to communicate good strategies I may have come across.
9 March: This week went successfully I think. I had the privilege to manage the team which I found interesting. My plan was to observe the game and, during the second half, have a quick team talk about the positives and negatives. I called for a change in formation as I believed it would be more beneficial to the team if we played 1 striker but 5 midfielders instead. Fortunately, the strategy worked and we came out from a 2-1 lose during the first half to a 2-3 win for the students! What an intense game.
16 March: Getting picked for a starting position felt good again. Although previously I had really enjoyed the manager role, I think a big part of playing football every Friday is to maintain a high level of fitness and try to extrapolate as much both physical and mental skills as I can from the sport. Therefore, going back to the midfield role was fun and interesting as I could use the skills I had acquired from last session whilst playing in the game.
30 March: This week was not as exhausting as other weeks are for me as we ended up playing a five-a-side match due to a shortage of players. I could not gain much from the game and therefore once everyone decided to leave, me and friends stayed to play penalty shoot out. I found out during this week that there is a huge amount of pressure on one's shoulders.