Critical reflection in early
childhood education: a
framework for personal and
professional empowerment
Diti Hill
FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE
 In theorising practice and practising
theory, are we able to see reflection as
embedded deeply in our teaching, rather
than something that we do to it
afterwards?
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Can we see teaching itself as an ethical
and political commitment (Dahlberg and
Moss 2005); a commitment mediated by
reflection on technical and taken-forgranted day to day events and
experiences?
(Theory to practice continuum Diti Hill July 2006)
JOHN SMYTH (1993)
Smyth, J. (1993). A socially critical approach to teacher education. In
T. Simpson (Ed.). Teacher Educators Handbook 1993. Brisbane: QUT.
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One of the wonders of the world is
that as human beings, we have an
enormous tolerance for incoherence
and contradiction. We have elevated
to the level of an art form, the
capacity to lead our lives in one kind
of way, while construing them in a
completely different way.
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Being socially critical means starting with
reality, with seeing injustices and
contradictions, and beginning to overturn
reality by reasserting the importance of
learning.
Only when teachers take an active
reflective stance are they able to challenge
the dominant ‘factory’ metaphor of the
way many early childhood centres are
conceived, organised and enacted.
Untangling taken-for-granted
practices requires breaking into
well entrenched and
constructed mythologies that
may not always be easily
dislodged.
Smyth’s framework for reflection
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DESCRIBE
INFORM
CONFRONT
RECONSTRUCT
CONFRONTING: being able to subject
the theories about one’s own practice
to interrogation and questioning, in a
way that establishes their legitimacy.
Describe
 It was a nice sunny day and we were outside in
the playground. ‘M’ crawled towards the basket
ball hoop and started exploring it. He was
hanging on to the basket and touching the net.
Soon ‘I’ came to join ‘M’. They both started
playing together with the basket. I brought a
basket full of balls and kept it besides the basket
ball hoop. I put a few balls into the basket and
then stepped back to observe. Both of them
started playing with the balls.
 What is your ‘teaching’ role here? You must
identify, focus on and describe YOUR teaching
more clearly here, in order to reflect on it.
Inform
 This spontaneous play was exciting for me as it was the
first time I saw two babies playing together and enjoying
each other’s company. I think that they both are very
social and like to play in groups. This also tells me that
both ‘M’ and ‘I’ have the ability to concentrate if they are
interested and enjoying the play. This experience is
important to me because it made me realize that I was
not thinking appropriately for their age.

HERE is the focus of your reflection! Did you have a
perception that these children could not play with the
balls like this? What do you mean by ‘appropriately’?
THIS could be the starting point of your reflection. This
is about you and your role in the learning-teaching
process.
Confront

I believe in socio-cultural theory, therefore encourage children to play in a
group and think that both spontaneous and planned possibilities can give
great learning experiences to children. I am impressed by Vygotsky’s
concept of Zone of Proximal Development or ZPD. I believe children learn a
lot from the people who surround them- peers, teacher, family and whanau,
community. I keep my approaches flexible and change according to the
child’s interest and learning environment. I believe children learn more in
groups but with babies it is very challenging because of their interests and
routines. I took the children’s lead in my practice- at first they were
exploring the basket hoop, then they started playing with the balls and
enjoyed throwing the balls. I would link this reflection to Te Whariki Strand
5- Exploration, Goal 1—Children experience an environment where their
play is valued as meaningful learning and the importance of spontaneous
play is recognised.
• Does your confronting address the fact that you underestimated what
these babies could do? What is so challenging about babies’ interests and
routines? What does the quote from Te Whariki say about your own
teaching here? Is socio-cultural theory only about learning in groups?
What does Vygotsky’s theory of the ZPD mean for your practice in this
scenario? So was this interaction ‘planned’ or ‘spontaneous’?
Reconstruct
 This was a valuable experience for me as I saw
the interests moving from the hoop to the balls.
I could see their great interest in balls and will
have these resources in different varieties like
paper, clay, big, small etc.

Here you evaluate the activity and suggest new
materials rather than focus on reconstructing
your own teaching and the learning-teaching
process evident in the reflection. Has your
perception of what babies can do changed?
What is your teaching commitment to these two
children?
Theory, pedagogy and reflection
Curtis, D. and Carter, M. (2008). Learning together with young children:
A curriculum framework for reflective teachers. St Paul, MN: Redleaf
Press.
To enter into a style of teaching which is
based on questioning what we’re doing
and why, on listening to children, on
thinking about how theory is translated
into practice and how practice informs
theory, is to enter into a way of working
where professional development takes
place day after day.
(Sonya Shoptaugh, page 9)