Using critical reflection to prepare practitioners for work with infants and toddlers

Abstract

This paper examines an early childhood care and education practitioner preparation program set in the School of Human Services at Griffith University in Queensland. Within this program traditional methods of teaching reflective practice have been employed in an effort to develop this skill in prospective graduates. The authors critique this traditional process arguing that it limits the ability of practitioners to effectively engage in the reflective process as it tends to be based on isolated experiences that do not create space for a dialogic relationship. Moreover, it is argued that there is an urgency, with respect to the development of critically reflective practitioners to work with young children, particularly infants and toddlers, in light of recent policy changes. Strategies are developed to move prospective practitioners from practice/ self-reflection to critical reflection. Implications for practitioner educators are discussed.