Respect

As with any form of assessment model there needs to be established a culture of mutual respect and trust; without these the reflective process will be curtailed and become ineffective. It is important that from the very first encounter with a group of students that modes of conduct are established and procedures are implemented and clarified and that there are no potential moments for misunderstandings or confusion. If reflective practice is to be used as an effectual learning tool it has to be established as a matter of good practice from the very first encounter with the students and applied with rigour and a high degree of consistency from this point onwards.

This leads to the need to define what respect is, why is it of such vital importance, what its individual components are and how this to be realised in an open and mutual manner. The first essential component for mutual respect founded upon trust forged by clarity of intention and clarity of purpose.  The exact components of why, what, how, when all need to be established and understood. The second essential component is structure within the learning experience. The student really does need to feel secure that they are undergoing a procedure that is governed by planned practices within a functional timeframe and supported by appropriate resources of quality and relevance.

The third component is engagement and commitment on behalf of the teacher that is secured by the golden principles of subject knowledge, commitment and enthusiasm. The fourth component is communication and empathy; the learning environment should be a safe, unthreatening space where ideas are allowed to be expressed, nurtured and disseminated. The fifth component is the establishment of the learning partnership. This is the formal and emotional (instinctive) recognition that the learning process is a mutual experience, a pact that recognises the two-way flow of knowledge and understanding. This partnership is a mutually binding and mutually beneficial concept whereby both parties, and third parties, gain vital educational, conceptual, cultural knowledge, experience, insight and understanding. Once these components are achieved then the final component can be realised: trust. Once the pathway towards a state of mutual trust is realised then the learning partnership is secure.

Respect, in this light, is an innate property but one which not simply occur as a given. Moreover, in order to actualise, respect requires the shared understanding that education is a right; that learning is a shared and experiential phenomenon; that there are codes of conduct which are implicit; that dignity and personal safety are secured at all times. That respect is a feature of the learning partnership this requires knowledge and understanding to not be the preserve of one party, but the assimilation of knowledge has to be a reciprocated, life-long and life-enhancing.

Extract from In search if the untethered mind: thinking, thought & reflective practice in education: Creating the ideal situation for effective reflection in education: Respect