Sharing ideas on Education, Leadership and Life



Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Reflection vs. Retrospection





picture: noupe.com

As we come to the end of a school year many of the tweets and blog posts that I have seen talk about reflections and looking at our past accomplishments and looking forward as well. To be honest when I hear the word reflection the image that comes to my mind is that of looking in a mirror and seeing my own reflection. Yes there are other definitions for the word (one of them being careful thought, especially the process of reconsidering previous actions). But for me I still have that image of the mirror. Therefore at this time of year do I want to see look at see who I am now who is that person in the mirror or do I want to see how far that person has grown. Perhaps more importantly do I want to see the student that stands before me now or how much he has grown. To be honest I think we need to do both. We need to celebrate our successes and accomplishments and celebrate who we have become and the person that stands before us now, and we need to know and realize how much we have grown. Therefore another word comes to mind and that is Retrospection. That means that we think about or review past events especially from a new perspective or with new information.
We need to realize that we are not the same person that we were in September nor are our students the same and therefore as we look back we need to look back based on our new perspective , so that we can appreciate how far we have come and also understand how much more we all can grow.
So as we end the year let us look back on the past in retrospect, let us reflect and celebrate the present, and let us look forward with renewed energy towards the future.

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