Reflection is an important act to be lived by individuals. Different articles define reflections as either thinking about something experienced by an individual or a practice by which it defines particular experiences in specific meaning and actions. (Loughran, 2002). Reflection helps individuals guide themselves in the different practices we live. It allows them to have better understanding of the situation they passed by and develop knowledge of acting differently.
An incident which happened in the Park was reflected in different ways:
The first account simply started narrating the story of what actually happened in the Park. At the beginning of the reflection, the writer described the different settings of the day instead of focusing on the action itself. After narrating the incidents of the day, the writer mentioned his feelings of guilt very briefly. That reflection didn't reach to any solution of what could have happened or why did that person took the action of leaving the kid.
The second reflection included listing of the incidents with what the author actually felt at the moment. However, as the author was describing his feelings, he did not think about the reason he thought that way when looking at the sick kid. He kept saying: "I don't know". That type of reflection did not allow him to actually learn from that experience to be fixed in the future.
The third reflection had more thinking. In one paragraph, the author summarized the whole incident. It was clear and straight to the point. Any reader would be able to imagine the incident. The author then mentioned deep feelings of what was more important that day: Help the kid or prepare for the party? The level by which the author reflected was asking himself questions to evaluate himself. The writer then mentioned what he could have done. He mentioned what solutions could have been made at that moment but did not really find solutions for future experiences. He also did not think of the reason why he did not help the sick kid. At the end, the writer tried to relate the incident of the sick boy with that of previous experience: sick uncle. Although at the end, that experience was not relevant but the incident brought the writer back in time.
The last reflection is the type of reflection by which it leads to particular conclusions. After the author listed the main incidents in one paragraph, he started analyzing the situation of why he acted the way he did. Later, he did not really blame himself for what he did (Helping the kid) but he started looking through his previous experience. Then he labeled himself as "good" or "bad" following the standards of the community regarding these two adjectives. In that reflection, the author thought meta-cognitively: he thought about his own thinking and feelings. The author analyzed his current experience with a previous one to reach to an explanation of the action that happened unconsciously. Moreover, the author thought about how his feelings were affected to previous experience which led his mind and body to ignore that kid.
Reflection is an act by which an individual analyses an incident that took place in his life. It is one of the most important learning tool an individual may practice. With more practice, it helps you see the surrounding from different perspectives and with more control.
