PGCEi
Module Guide
&
Assignment Brief
7501EDUI Critical Reflection and Developing
Practice
Contents
Welcome ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Course Summary ........................................................................................................................... 4
What you will study.......................................................................................................................... 5
Timeline ........................................................................................................................................... 6
Assessment....................................................................................................................................... 7
Grading Rubric……………………………………………………………………………………………….10
References/Book List..........................................................................................................................11
“We may ask ourselves ‘What is education for?’ ‘What should education
prepare people to do?’ In fact, teachers are often challenged to justify
their aims on a deeper level than just stating a learning outcome for a
particular lesson. For example, when a pupil asks ‘What is the point of all
this studying?’ if you ask yourself what above all you are trying to achieve
as a teacher, if the staff in your school collectively consider whether they
are offering anything distinctive that other schools are not, if politicians
complain that schools are not getting good enough exam grades or not
doing as well as schools in some other countries, then the question of the
aims of education is implicitly being raised.”
(Haydon and Heilbronn, p. 489, in Capel, Leask and Younie, 2016)
Page 2
Liverpool John Moores University
Welcome
Welcome to the module 1 Critical Reflection and Developing Practice (7501 EDUI) on your
Post Graduate Certificate in Education International programme. This module is worth 20 Level 7
Credits towards the 60 Credits for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education International (PGCEi).
The teaching for this programme deepens your knowledge and critical understanding of reflective
practice and your own role as a practitioner. Reflective practice is a term strongly associated with
learning in professional contexts such as teaching and educational leadership. It can be described
as a learning tool, something that is going to help you to synthesise, explain, make sense of and
ultimately develop meaning from, your experiences.
Reflective Practice is considered to be a professional competence. It might also be thought of as a
type of dialogue or prose, a particular type of conversation or a writing style that captures your
personal views and relates them to evidence you have collected from your professional practice
and observation.
Through this module you will be considering the nature of reflection and the theoretical ideas that
underpin it, and why reflective practice is considered so important both within teaching practice
and within career long learning in education.
In this module, you will critically examine different perspectives, models and theories of reflective
practice and reflexivity, and consider implications for your own professional practice. You will also
explore how to support growth of personal and professional development through critical
evaluation of learning and reflection on experience in your teaching and promoting a leadership
stance in your practice. Refer to your Programme Guide for an overview of the assessment
requirements across the modules on your programme.
Page 3
Liverpool John Moores University
Course Summary
Module 1
Title Critical Reflection and Developing Practice
Duration of the 2 months
course
Aim To critically examine different perspectives, models and theories of reflective
practice and reflexivity, and consider implications for your own professional
practice
To support growth of personal and professional development through critical
evaluation of learning and reflection on experience in your teaching and
promoting a leadership stance in your practice
Level Level 7
Credit Value 20
Total Delivered 20
Hours
Total Learning 200
Hours
Private Study 180
Hours
Grading Basis 50%
Assessment Assignment based on Professional Portfolio will draw on theories and
frameworks of critical reflection to enable critique of practice and planning for
continuous development (4,500 words)
Page 4
Liverpool John Moores University
What you will study
Module 7501EDUI Ref
Module Aim of the module Time Duration
7501EDUI 2 months
To critically examine different perspectives, models and theories
of reflective practice and reflexivity, and consider implications for
your own professional practice.
To support growth of personal and professional development
through critical evaluation of learning and reflection on experience
in your teaching and promoting a leadership stance in your
practice
Learning Outcomes
After completing this module, you should be able to:
1. Critically explore theories and concepts relevant to reflection, reflexivity and personal and
professional development in the context of educational practice
2. Review, analyse and critically evaluate your own role(s) as an educational professional and
plan appropriate strategies to develop in this area
3. Evidence your ability to support and promote learner experience through mentoring and/or
leading others
Syllabus Outline
Theories, concepts and models of reflective practice and reflexivity
Application and critique of theories and models in educational contexts
The impact of personal and cultural values in educational contexts
Identity and Self as an education professional
Responsibilities, leadership stances and mentoring in teaching/education
Professional development review and effective portfolio building
Page 5
Westford University College
Timeline
DATE ACTIVITIES (subject to change by the module tutor)
Week 1 Welcome, Induction and Overview
Sharing of module guide and learning outcomes
Schedule, Assessment Method and Assignment Brief
Academic Writing Resources
Tutorial: LMS access
What is Education for? [Link]
Required Reading
Week 2 Models of Reflection
Week 3 Required Reading
Formative Tasks
Week 4
Learning to Teach: Becoming a Reflective Practitioner
Week 5 Required Reading
Formative Tasks
Week 6 Complete Formative Assessment Task- Professional Portfolio Part 1 *
Collect evidence.
Week 7 Complete Summative Assessment Task – Assignment (4500 words supported
by portfolio as appendix) *
To be submitted by 11.59pm on submission day as per the schedule
Emails:
The PGCEi team makes every effort to respond to emails within 48 hours (i.e. 2 working days). If a
member of the module team has an ‘out of office’ message, please contact another member of the
team, as indicated in the message.
Course administrator: Akshaya Nair
Student engagement officer: Anu Dileep
Assignment Guidance:
In the first instance, refer to this Module Guide to answer general questions about module
assessments. Should you have specific queries, contact the Module Leader for specific queries
relating to the assessments for this module. e.g. technical queries regarding the formative tasks
and summative assessments for this module. If you have questions about another module, check
the relevant module guide for details; or for questions relating to your placement experience,
contact your Tutor.
Page 6
Westford University College
Tutorials:
In addition to the lecture schedule for this module, which includes assignment support, ad hoc tutor
support for is available on request through email.
Extensions:
You are expected to plan and organise your time to complete and submit module assignments
(formative tasks and summative assessments) on the scheduled date. Your Programme Guide
outlines the module assessments across the PGCEi (60 credits, Level 7). Your Module Leader can
offer an extension, requested 24 hours prior to the submission of assessments (at the very latest)
with appropriate supporting evidence; and you are encouraged to do so earlier. Technical issues
(e.g. corrupted hard drive or USB flash drive, etc.) are not valid reasons for requesting an
extension – you are advised to use your personal and secure storage area on the LMS system for
all assessments.
The Academic Study Skills link also offers a range of support for students with academic writing,
online guidance and one-to-one support. To find out more:
Academic Reading and Note Taking – read the pdf. attached
Critical thinking and analysis – watch [Link]
read the pdf attached.
Mitigating Circumstances:
Should you miss a deadline or require an extension beyond 15 working days or know in advance
that you will be unable to meet a deadline, an application for Extenuating Circumstance (EC) can
be made online. An EC application will normally require documentary evidence (e.g. Statement of
Fitness to Work) and are normally submitted within 5 working days of a module assessment
deadline.
ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT
DEFINITION. Academic misconduct in respect of assessment constitutes cheating or plagiarism.
Academic misconduct is defined as any improper activity or behaviour by a student which may
give that student, or another student, an unpermitted academic advantage in a summative
assessment.
EXAMPLES OF ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT
The following is a non-exhaustive list of examples which will be considered as Academic
Misconduct (AM):
a) Plagiarism: representing another person’s work or ideas as one’s own, for example by failing to
follow convention in acknowledging sources, use of quotation marks, etc. This includes the
unauthorized use of one student’s work by another student and the commissioning, purchase and
submission of a piece of work, in part or whole, as the student’s own.
Page 7
Westford University College
b) Collusion: cooperation to gain an unpermitted advantage. This may occur where students have
consciously colluded on a piece of work, in part or whole, and passed it off as their own individual
efforts or where one student has authorized another to use their work, in part or whole, and to
submit it as their own.
c) Commissioning Work: There are temptations on the internet to take “short cuts”. If a student is
tempted to either commission work to be completed on his/ her behalf or search for completed
past academic work.
The consequences of academic misconduct depending on the evidence and gravity can range
from re-sitting the module to disqualification.
Assessment:
Category Short Description Weightage
Description (%)
Assignment Assignment A Professional Portfolio 100
drawn upon will draw on theories and
professional frameworks of critical
portfolio reflection to enable
critique of practice and
planning for continuous
development (4,500
words)
Suggested Structure for Summative Assessment (Assignment supported with
Professional Portfolio)
Note: Use the assignment template provided
Use following outline for guidance in writing the assignment.
Section 1 Introduction and Context (approx. 400 words)
Think about an event / problem/ activity concerned with teaching and learning in context with your
own professional practice.
Looking back at the event / problem/ activity write about:
Your expectations before embarking on the particular activity
How you approached the activity
Which parts of the activity you found easy and hard / difficult
Section 2 Outline of unit (approx. 500 words)
Write about the importance of critical reflective practice using professional portfolio showing how
you identified the problem in your professional practice, what steps you took to address the
problem, what changes you brought, and what was the impact of the change
Page 8
Westford University College
Think about what you learned as a result:
How did your knowledge and understanding change
Section 3 Defining reflective practice (approx. 1000 words)
Using examples from your practice:
Write about five factors that might affect your ability to reflect in action
Write five factors which might affect how you reflect on action.
(example - evidence of student learning -showcase accomplishments and work -valued as an assessment tool -curating
students: work process, production, thought process)
Section 4 Benefits of critical analysis (approx. 300 words)
Looking at the evidence, analyse:
Why was it taught in a particular way
What theoretical principles promote or challenge the way it is taught
Are there any alternative views or methods?
Evaluate critical thinking / questioning approach to knowledge in context with your professional
practice.
Section 5 Features of reflection (approx. 500 words)
Considering teaching is a complex process:
Describe how reflective practice is an active and cyclical process
Analyse its importance for your professional development, how it results in changing ideas
and your understanding of the situation.
Section 6 Reflecting effectively and ensuring it leads to learning (approx. 800 words)
Using evidence / samples, exploring options and by setting goals write how reflecting effectively
improves your practice.
Section 7 Tools for reflection (approx. 800 words)
Models of reflection what works best for you
Section 8 Conclusions and next steps (approx. 200 words)
Summarize the key learning points from your research, renewed perspectives and its implications
on your future professional practice.
References
An alphabetical-by-author list of all titles referred to in your essay, including books, journals and
Page 9
Westford University College
websites. Refer to and use the Harvard Referencing guidance at [Link]
v=6RVrhlMUaS8
Appendices
This may include samples of resources used in the unit of work, example of pupil’s work
(anonymised to protect the confidentiality) that are referred to in the report.
Page 10
Westford University College
Level 7 Grading Criteria
Note: The assessment criteria for the summative assignment are based on the LJMU Level 7 Grading Criteria
Reading List:
Page 11
Westford University College
Bassott, B. (2016) The Reflective Practice Guide: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Critical Reflection.
Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge
Bolton, G. & Delderfield, R. (2018) Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development. London:
Sage Publications Ltd
Bush, T., Bell, L. & Middlewood, D. (2019) Principles of Educational Leadership and Management. London:
Sage Publications Ltd
Moon, J. (2013) Reflection in Learning and Professional Development: Theory and Practice. Abingdon,
Oxon: Routledge
Schon, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Practice. London: Ashgate
Publishing
Sullivan, B., Glenn, M., Roche, M. & McDonagh, C. (2017) Introduction to Critical Reflection and Action for
Teacher Researchers. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Page 12
Westford University College