Reflective practice : the experience at Vytautas Magnus University

Abstract

Reflective practice is based on the experience of learning theory in relation to the professionalism and competence development and learning process, through which the learner is actively involved into action. Reflection is the natural human ability, which reveals the deliberate emphasis on yourself, your inner world, your relationships with others, in the form of activities and methods that determine change and learning. The Aim of the Study. To reveal students’ reflective practice in university studies – bachelor study programme at Vytautas Magnus University. Materials and Methods. In order to achieve the aim, the organization of practice at Vytautas Magnus University, highlighting the types of practice, is reviewed. The principles of practice organization at VMU are reviewed, practice types are highlighted, and stages of practice participants’ activities are discussed. The research emphasizes four stages of reflective practice. It is important to mention understanding and description of what happens in the situation; observation and reflection, giving meaning to the situation; analysis and summary of the use of theories; conscious perception, experimenting actively. A qualitative phenomenological research was carried out. Semi-structured interview, document analysis, observation and participation helped to collect the data. Results. Results have shown that both tutors and mentors distinguish four stages of learning during practice. It is important to mention the start of teaching, supervised teaching, transitional stage from teaching to learning and reflective learning. Conclusions. Reflective practice includes individuals (in this case: students, mentors and tutors) in a cyclical process. [...]