Enterprising Sciences and Technologies 3–15:
Connections across learning
Self-Reflection Activity Teachers’ Guide
Introduction
The self-reflection resource is an interactive, creative and flexible activity that you can adapt
to suit the needs of each Enterprising Sciences and Technologies (EST) topic. The process
is the same as that contained within the resource An Enterprising Approach to SelfEvaluation1 (HM Inspectorate of Education 2009). It will help you to reflect on the topic and
the delivery of learner experiences, and to plan improvements. You can use it in a personal
capacity, or with learners and colleagues if appropriate.
Who should use the resource?
The resource can be used by teachers for topics from early years, right through primary to
secondary stages. Learners will be able to contribute to and share in its application to review
the quality of their experiences.
Using the resource for self-reflection
The EST resource supports innovation and improvement (see the separate Teachers’ Guide
for the main resource). The self-reflective activity relates to the principles, purposes and
outcomes for sciences and technologies within Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). It highlights
the achievements of learners and helps you identify areas for improvement which will
enhance experiences and outcomes for all learners. Delivering any of the topics in the EST
project will help staff in schools contribute to learners’ outcomes and experiences for CfE.
Whilst there will be occasions when the topic will allow relevant experiences or outcomes to
be explored in some depth, there will be other times when coverage of an experience or
outcome will be only partial.
The resource meets your needs by providing a flexible framework to examine practice,
helping you to:

experiment with the ways you undertake self-reflection

recognise skills and good practice

adapt and innovate teaching and learning

take account of evidence gathered from a range of sources, wider than your own
experience

interrogate your own knowledge and practice, and that of others

be more enterprising in the way topics are developed

evaluate the impact of the learning experiences.
1
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/resources/a/selfevaluation/selfevaluation.asp
1
Self-reflection – application overview
Note: to use the interactive function you need to have Microsoft PowerPoint installed on your
computer.
This feature of the EST resource enables you to reflect on the work you have done on each
topic.
The structure used for accessing the topic is also
used for the self-reflection element to enable easy
access.
There are interactive self-reflection activities for
sciences, technologies and connections across
learning for each topic. These can be accessed by
clicking on the relevant level and opening the
appropriate file.
Every topic will develop in a unique way, so each self-reflection activity has a core set of
statements which may be added to or edited, depending on how your topic evolves. Each
set of statements is also provided on a recording sheet, enabling you to note supporting
evidence and next steps.
The language and content used for the statements will be familiar to staff, and may also be
appropriate to use with older learners. To use the activity with younger learners it may be
necessary either to explain the meaning of the statements or to adapt them to help
understanding.
2
The activity
The self-reflection activity uses PowerPoint. There are two slides: an introduction, and a
‘board’ and stack of cards containing statements for self-evaluation.
The board is divided into six columns, matching the
six point scale of How good is our school?, from
'excellent' to 'unsatisfactory'. You are presented with
each statement in turn, and have to decide where to
place the card, reflecting on how well the topic has
delivered planned experiences and outcomes for
learners. There is a space on the board for any cards
which are not relevant to your circumstances.
Instructions

Enter the name of your centre.

Following the instructions on the screen, click
and drag each card onto the relevant part of the
board.

If you change your mind, you can move the
cards to a new position at any time whilst you
are on this slide.

If a statement is not relevant, drag the card to
the box at the bottom right of the screen.

Once you are happy with the position of the
cards, you can print a copy of the screen.

At a later stage you can return to the slide to make further changes if you wish.

It is recommended that you now print a copy of your decisions.
Recording strengths, areas for improvement, evidence and next steps
Via a hyperlink on slide 2, you can access self-reflection tables in which, for each statement,
you can record any evidence to support your decisions about level of performance. You can
also note ideas for next steps to improve delivery of the topic.
If you added or altered statements on the cards on slide 2, you will need to make the same
changes to the statements as they appear in column 1 in the table.
3
Additional rows can be added by using the ‘insert’ option from the menu. Additional tables
can be added by ‘copying’ and ‘pasting’ the appropriate table into a new page.
Where a number of topics are delivered in school across stages, sectors or subject areas,
the record can be used to share experiences. This will enable schools and clusters to begin
to generate a holistic picture of interdisciplinary topic development and subsequently to
review progression, differentiation and coverage of learner knowledge, skills and
experiences.
4