If your answer is ‘no’, or ‘not really’

While value can come from incorporating reflection into courses from all disciplines in higher education and in a wide range of other initiatives, it should only be done if reflection will sufficiently support participants in achieving the learning outcomes and/or wider educational aims.

There is a lot of value in making the informed choice that reflection is not a good match for your initiative. It is especially valuable to ensure that reflection is not implemented as a ‘one size fits all’ solution with no, or limited, guidance.

Change your course to fit reflection?

If you still see the value in reflection but it does not quite fit your initiative, you might want to ask yourself ‘What changes does my course/initiative require such that reflection can help students learn or demonstrate the desired outcomes?’, or ‘Should I make reflection a desired outcome?’

If you find that you want to make changes to your course, it can be helpful to check the ‘Components of reflective tasks’ page and the ‘case studies’ page for inspiration of what sort of activities and points to have in mind when making changes.

Components of reflective tasks (within the Facilitators’ Toolkit)

Case studies (within the Facilitators’ Toolkit)

Support students to learn reflection independently

Another option is to recommend participants to start their own reflective practice and guide them to relevant resources (for example the Reflectors’ Toolkit). This approach may let them find the value themselves. If you choose this option, be conscious that participants/students are likely not to complete non-compulsory elements , and therefore they should not be disadvantaged in your initiative because of not completing the reflective element.