4 R Process for Reflection
The 4 R Process for Reflection (review, relate, respond, revise) is designed to help educators communicate their reflection on learning. This process is not meant to be prescriptive but rather to provide prompts so that when you, as an educator, are given an assignment to reflect , you have:
- An understanding of what I, as a professional development facilitator, am looking for.
- A starting point to organize your thoughts .
My experience with this process is that it quickly becomes organic and the R's meld into each other. Begin with review, a brief discussion about the aspect of the professional development you are writing about and then expand from there, using relate, respond, and revise as prompts to organize and communicate your ideas. You are not required to address all the R's but at a minimum there should be review and at least one other.
A short explanation of each R is provided.
- Review. Review what part of the PD you are addressing in this reflection. Professional development opportunities are often large and multi-dimensional, impacting content knowledge, pedagogy skills, and self perception. You don't have to cover everything, just select something that made an impression on you. Start your reflection by telling me what it was.
- Relate. Relate what you discussed above to your teaching. This might include standards, relevance to curriculum, a plan for implementation, and possible modifications you will make to fit your learners or setting.
- Respond. Respond to aspects of the PD you found particularly useful, interesting, or challenging. Briefly discuss why. This discussion is about making both professional and personal meaning.
- Revise. Discuss how the PD caused you to revise an understanding or a practice.