Strategies for Engagement #9

…to reflect carefully on ideas and experiences

Helping learners to reflect on ideas and experiences helps to capture the learning. They can think about the way in which they win in sport and whether winning at all costs is appropriate. They can consider the idea of 'courageous restraint' and how this applies to sport. This can lead, for instance, to students reflecting on values such as respect and result in drawing up guidelines and changes in team leadership. They can experience a poem in English/literacy and reflect on where creativity comes from.

• Learners can consider the concept of integrity in science after studying a scientific hoax and suggesting reasons why it was believed. This can lead to thinking about what happens when scientists lose people's trust.
• Learners can experience a Bible story retold in an anonymous way using figures without faces. They could reflect on what characters might be thinking and feeling.
• Learners can reflect on the idea that maps tell stories about people and places in geography by making maps of their area and thinking about what they include on their map. Any map they make will tell a story about the place they live and about them as map-makers and what they value.

Engaging in activities such as these helps learners to reflect on ideas and experiences rather than letting them pass by in the busyness of a lesson.