explain the importance of reflective practise for improving your own practise.
Reflective practise isn't about slating your practise and being harsh on yourself, its about identifying ways in which you can make things better for yourself and for the children in your care. Its extremely important as a practitioner that you use the idea of reflective practise as “self evaluation is necessary to improve your own professional practise, develop your ability to reflect upon routines/activities and modify plans to meet the individual needs of the children and or young people with whom you work” ( Meggit, 2011:21)
When looking back at my first placement I have identified numerous ways in which I can improve myself in order to create the best practise when working with children. One main thing I identified when analysing my practise on my first placement was my attendance, I allowed problems at home to affect my work placement which wasn't showing to the children that I was a reliable person they can rely on and trust, by using reflective practise I now know where I went wrong and how I can improve it on my next placement, for example I know that the childrens needs must come first above my own so no matter what circumstances I face outside placement it cannot affect my practise and I can no longer let the children down by not attending, they rely on me as a reliable practitioner that they can trust to be there and be there for them. Another thing I identified when reflecting back on my previous practise was my lack of communication and confidence when speaking to other professionals within the setting, by identifying this I can create targets for example talking to at least 2 supervisors a certain amount of times in a day then gradually building it up. This will then ensure that at my next placement I develop the confidence to speak up to my fellow workers and ask questions to further improve my practise.
The importance of reflective practise is