What Does Reflection Look and Feel Like for International Students?

An Exploration of Reflective Thinking, Reflexivity and Employability

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v10iS2.2848

Keywords:

reflection, reflective thinking, reflexivity, international students, employability

Abstract

Reflection, reflective thinking and reflexivity have received significant attention in the scholarly literature on higher education yet there is limited research that explores these concepts in relation to international students. This paper consequently explores what reflection and reflective thinking might look and feel like for international students. We theorize the importance of supporting international students in becoming reflexive practitioners in their chosen area of study; particularly in respect to graduate attributes including reflection and employability. The paper attends to this theorization by sharing Rodgers’ (2002) four functions of reflection, a reflective thinking model – the 4Rs – as well as Archer’s (2000, 2012) notion of reflexivity. We explore how higher educators might consider these frameworks comprehensively when working with international students particularly in the area of workplace experience.

Author Biographies

  • Georgina Barton, University of Southern Queensland

    Georgina Barton, PhD, is a Professor and Associate Head – Research in the School of Education at the University of Southern Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Before being an academic, Georgina taught in schools for over 20 years including teaching English in South India with Australian Volunteers International. Georgina also has extensive experience in teaching the arts in schools and universities and often utilizes the arts to support students’ literacy learning outcomes. She has over 130 publications including as the lead editor of a book titled Professional Learning for International Students: Exploring Theory and Practice. She is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK. Email: georgina.barton@usq.edu.au

  • Mary Ryan

    Mary Ryan, PhD, is Professor and Dean of Education at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Her research is in the areas of teachers’ work in, and preparation for, diverse classrooms, reflexive learning and practice, writing pedagogy and assessment and reflective writing. She led a highly successful Australian Learning and Teaching Council grant (2010/11) on reflective learning across disciplines in higher education. Her current Australian Research Council Discovery projects are in the areas of classroom writing and preparing reflexive teachers for diverse classrooms. She is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK. Email: mary.ryan@macquarie.edu.au

References

Archer, M. (2000). Being human: The problem of agency. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Archer, M. (2012). The reflexive imperative in late modernity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bain, J. D., Ballantyne, R., Mills, C., & Lester, N.C. (2002). Reflecting on practice: Student teachers’ perspectives. Flaxton: Post Pressed.

Barton, G. & Ryan, M. (2014). Multimodal approaches to reflective teaching and assessment in higher education. Higher Education Research & Development. 33(3), 409-424.

Barton, G. M., Hartwig, K., Bennett, D., Cain, M., Campbell, M., Ferns, S., Jones, L., Joseph, D., Kavanagh, M., Kelly, A., Larkin, I., O’Connor, E., Podorova, A., Tangen, D., & Westerveld, M. (2017). Work placement for international students: A model of effective practice. In G. M. Barton & K. Hartwig (Eds.), Professional Learning in the Work Place for International Students: Exploring Theory and Practice, (pp. 13-34). Switzerland: Springer Publishers.

Barton, G. M. & Ryan, M. (2017). Reflection and reflective practice for international students and their supervisors in context. In Barton, G. & Hartwig, K. (Eds), Professional learning in the work place for international students: Exploring theory and practice. Basel: Springer. 93-110.

Boud, D. (1999). Avoiding the traps/ seeking good practice in the use of self assessment and reflection in professional courses. Social Work Education, 18(2), 121-132.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Chinn, C., Buckland, L., & Samarapungavan, A. (2011). Expanding dimensions of epistemic cognition: Arguments from philosophy and psychology. Educational Psychologist, 46(3), 141–167. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00461520.2011.587722

de Schepper, J., & Sotiriadou, P. (2018). A framework for critical reflection in sport management education and graduate employability. Annals of Leisure Research, 21(2), 227-245.

Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books. Original edition, 1910.

Freebody, P., C. Maton, and J. R. Martin. 2008. Talk, text, and knowledge in cumulative, integrated learning: A response to ‘intellectual challenge’. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy 31 (2):188-201.

Furman, R., Coyne, A., & Negi, N.J. (2008). An international experience for social work students: Self-reflection through poetry and jounral writing exercises. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 28(1), 71-85.

Garrett, R. (2014). Explaining international student satisfaction: Insights from the international student barometer. Retrieved from: https://www.igraduate.org/assets/2014-Explaining-Satisfaction.pdf

Greene, J. A., & Yu, S. B. (2016). Educating critical thinkers: The role of epistemic cognition. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3(1), 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732215622223

Grossman, R. (2008). Structures for facilitating student reflection. College Teaching, 57(1), 15-22.

Hunter, C., Pearson, D. & Gutierrez, A. R. (2015). Interculturalization and Teacher Education: Theory to Practice. New York: Routledge.

Khalili, H., Orchard, C., Spence Laschinger, H.K., & Farah, R. (2013). An interprofessional socialization framework for developing an interprofessional identity among health professions students. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 27(6), 448–453.

Kienhues, D., Feucht, F., Ryan, M. & Weinstock, M. (2017). Informed reflexivity: Enacting epistemic virtue. Educational Psychologist, 52(4), 284-298. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2017.1349662

Komins, B. J., & Nicholls, D. G. (2003). Cultivating critical self-reflection in an international context: The development of an American studies curriculum in Turkey. College literature, 30(3), 68-87.

Korthagen, F., & Vasalos, A. (2005). Levels in reflection: Core reflection as a means to enhance professional growth. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 11(1), 47-71. https://doi.org/10.1080/1354060042000337093

Lunn, J. Ferguson, L. & Ryan. M. (2017). Changing epistemic cognition in the context of teaching and teacher education: A new conceptual framework for reflection and reflexivity. Educational Psychologist. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2017.1333430

McAllister, L., Whiteford, G., Hill, B., Thomas, N. & Fitzgerald, M. (2006). Reflection in intercutlural learning: Examining the international experience through a critical incident approach. Reflective Practice, 7(3), 367-381.

McGuire, L., Lay, J., & Peters, J. (2009). Pedagogy of reflective writing in professional education. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(1), 93-107.

Mezirow, J. (2006). An overview of transformative learning. In P. Sutherland & J. Crowther (Eds.), Lifelong Learning, (pp. 90-105). London: Routledge.

Moje, E. (2008). Foregrounding the disciplines in secondary literacy teaching and learning: A call for change. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 52(2), 96-107.

Moon, J. A. (2013). Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice. London: Routledge.

Rodgers, C. (2002). Seeing student learning: Teacher change and the role of reflection. Harvard Educational Review, 72(2), 230-253.

Ryan, M. (2013). The pedagogical balancing act: Teaching reflection in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education. 18(2), pp. 144-155.

Ryan, M. (2015). Reflective and reflexive approaches in higher education: A warrant for lifelong learning? In Ryan, M. E. (Ed), Teaching Reflective Learning in Higher Education: A Systematic Approach Using Pedagogic Patterns, (pp. 3-14). Sydney: Springer.

Ryan, M. E. & Ryan, M. C. (2015). A model for reflection in the pedagogic field of higher education. In Ryan, M. E. (Ed), Teaching Reflective Learning in Higher Education: A Systematic Approach Using Pedagogic Patterns, (pp. 15-30). Sydney: Springer.

Sadler, D. R. (2010). Beyond feedback: Developing student capability in complex appraisal. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(5), 535-550.

Schuldberg, J., Fox, N., Jones, C., Hunter, P., Bechard, M., Dornon, L., Gotler, S., Shouse, H., & Stratton, M. (2012). Same, same – but different: The development of cultural humility through an international volunteer experience. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(17), 17-30.

Starr-Glass, D. (2017). Troubling metaphors and international student adjustment: Reflections from a transnational place. Journal of International Students, 7(4): 1126-1134.

Taylor, S., Ryan, M., & Pearce, J. (2015). Enhanced student learning in accounting utilising web-based technology, peer-review feedback and reflective practices: a learning community approach to assessment. Higher Education Research & Development, 34(6), 1251-1269. DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2015.1024625.

Volet, S. (2004). Challenges of internationalisation: Enhancing intercultural competence and skills for critical reflection on the situated and non-neutral nature of knowledge. Language and Academic Skills in Higher Education, 6, 1-10.

Downloads

Published

2020-11-10

How to Cite

What Does Reflection Look and Feel Like for International Students? : An Exploration of Reflective Thinking, Reflexivity and Employability. (2020). Journal of International Students, 10(S2), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v10iS2.2848