· 'k1g .. 2---e&«. t CA I 1ec-4 10 12 Oe.c Reflective Practice - The laser striking new chords in Communication. Sylila Monteiro, Lecturer, School of Communication, UNITEC .... ABSTRACT The concept of reflective practice introduced by Donald Schon (1983,1987) and initially taken aboard by teacher educators, is applicable in most tertiary learning situations. Reflective practice is the cultivation of the capability to reflect in action - while doing something - and to reflect on action- after it has been done. It creates an alternative to the 'fIrst learn theory, and then put it into practice' that forms the basis of traditional education. In this alternative the "deep" approach as opposed to the "surface" approach is emphasized. Through reflection in action, students exercise their imagination and relate new ideas to their "repertoire of past experiences ... to make sense of the current situation," (Cervero,1988) and undertake spur-of-the-moment experiments to make decisions on appropriate courses of action. Kolb'sLearning Cycle advocates reflection on action, which is the need to reflect on the overall situation, as there are always other ways of meeting learning outcomes. Thus the student is able to engage in a process of continuous learning through this recurrent introspection. This paper presents strategies for reflective practice in the learning of communication, through the integration of both experience with reflection and theory with practice. Reflection is learning to learn Reflective practice can be defined as the meta-management of concentration, comprehension and affect, through which a communicator considers the variables in the communication process and looks at alternative pathways to convey the message effectively and efficiently. This reflective reconstruction of the communication event, the emotions of the sender and receiver as well as the feedback in the communication process, enables the communicator to adapt to overcome barriers in a variety of situations. Learning is stimulating the brain to assimilate, to encode and decode. Reflection is the stimulation of the brain that is comparable to the laser, where the flashes of light are directed to get the atoms in an excited state to work efficiently. Reflective practice is different from ordinary thinking, in the same way that laser light is very different from normal light. Just as the laser is directional, concentrated and coherent so also is reflective practice. Thinking about one's own thinking - meta-cognition - provides the checks and balances, to ensure that one is not deviating. Self- monitoring ofthe thinking process, enables the communicator to reflect critically on and evaluate all aspects of the communication experience, thus developing the capability to make informed decisions and most importantly promoting self directed continual improvement. In Schon's terms it is "reframing" past experiences to see them in a new light that suggests new actions in the communication process. It reinforces the integration of theory with practice and promotes on going professional development and life long learning whatever be the context ofthe communication. --