Reflective practice is one of the most powerful tools we have in early years education. It is not a checklist item, nor is it simply looking back at what went wrong and what to avoid for the coming days. At its core, reflective practice is the ongoing habit of examining what we do, why we do it, and how it affects children’s learning and wellbeing. When educators reflect with intention, they improve their provision, strengthen relationships with families and children, and grow professionally.
In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and in guidance such as Birth to 5 Matters, reflective practice is described as central to quality. This is because it helps practitioners make informed decisions, guide their practice, adapt to children’s needs, and embed a culture of learning within the team. For educators, reflection is not about adding more paperwork. It is about shaping a mindset that keeps children’s experiences at the centre of our work.
This article explores reflective practice in depth, and discusses theory, strategies and real-life examples and barriers.
Reflective practice means stepping back to consider your work with children and families, asking questions such as:
What worked well?
What challenges did I face?
How did my actions impact the children?
What might I try differently next time?
It is not the same as self-criticism or perfectionism. Reflection is constructive: it allows us to recognise our strengths and identify areas for growth without judgement and with honesty.
Reflections can happen in the moment, while interacting with children or can happen afterwards, when you have time to think and process the events. Both reflection types are valuable. In addition, reflections can be done alone, or as a group and they could be formal or informal.
1. Individual reflection: a private process, often through journaling or mental review.
2. Peer reflection: sharing insights with colleagues, often in staff meetings or informal conversations.
3. Structured reflection: using tools like Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle or supervision sessions to guide deeper thinking.
The form of reflective practice used will be determined by the purpose of the reflective practice itself.
When we reflect on our teaching strategies, environment, or routines, we notice whether they truly meet children’s needs. For example, if we notice that transitions are rushed and stressful, reflection helps us redesign them to be calmer and more child-centred.
Reflection encourages us to question biases, assumptions, and gaps in our provision. It supports inclusion by prompting us to ask: “Does every child feel represented here? Are families’ cultures and languages reflected in our environment?”
Reflective practitioners are more alert to signs that a child may need support. By reviewing daily interactions, educators may notice patterns like withdrawn behaviour, repeated absences, or changes in mood that could otherwise be missed had we not taken the time to reflect.
Early years work is complex and emotionally demanding and so reflecting on our decisions helps build confidence and helps us articulate our professional reasoning to colleagues, families, and inspectors because we’ve given them thought and are more mindful of the decision we’re making as a result.
Reflective practice is the foundation of self-evaluation. Ofsted, Care Inspectorates, and other regulators value settings that can demonstrate not just what they do, but how they learn from practice and adapt. Having systems in place that encourage reflective practices and promotes them, puts you at an advantage.
Kolb describes learning in four key stages:
1. Concrete Experience: doing something.
2. Reflective Observation: thinking about what happened.
3. Abstract Conceptualisation: drawing conclusions.
In practice, this could look like trialling a new outdoor play routine, reflecting on children’s engagement, concluding that more open-ended resources are needed, and then adjusting provision.
Gibbs offers a six-step framework: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan. This model is especially useful for structured written reflection, such as in training or supervision.
Schön distinguishes between reflecting during the moment (adjusting an activity while it unfolds) and reflecting afterwards. As early years educators we often do both: adapting our approach in real time and then later reviewing broader strategies.
Reflection becomes meaningful when it is part of everyday work and embedded throughout our practice, rather than something that is done periodically like once a week, in order to meet criteria. Below are practical strategies educators can use to embed reflective practices into their everyday routines:
Writing short reflections at the end of the day or week helps capture insights before they fade. Journals can be written, digital, or even using voice notes.
Prompt questions:
What moments stood out today?
What challenges did I face and why?
What did I learn about the children?
Discussing practice with colleagues builds shared learning. This could be through staff meetings, planning meetings, paired discussions, or communities of practice. For example, two educators might reflect together on how children use the block area in an area they both visit and supervise, comparing observations and brainstorming adjustments.
Formal supervision sessions are a structured way to reflect on professional practice, wellbeing, and goals. Mentoring relationships also allow newer educators to reflect alongside experienced colleagues.
Recording interactions (with parental consent) provides powerful opportunities for reflection as it gives us an objective view of the events that unfolded. Watching yourself interact with children often reveals things you miss in the moment, such as body language, tone, or opportunities to extend learning.
Walking through the setting with a reflective lens such as asking whether displays, resources, and routines truly support learning, encourages practical changes. This is an easy one to do before or after planning meetings with the team and gives you an opportunity to visit classrooms and areas in your setting that you normally wouldn’t.
Many educators find it helpful to use a bank of reflective questions. Feel free to use the following as a starting point:
How did I respond to children’s interests today?
Were all children included in the activity?
Did the environment support or limit engagement?
How did my own emotions affect interactions?
Reflection is about using what we notice to make small but powerful changes that support children, families, and learning environments. When educators reflect regularly, they uncover patterns, recognise needs, and find new strategies that might otherwise be missed.
Here are three ways reflection makes a difference:
Transitions like moving from play to tidy-up can be stressful for children. Reflective practice helps us see not just the behaviors that may arise but the causes behind them. For example, a child’s distress might signal that our instructions were rushed or not clear enough and by reflecting, educators can adjust, perhaps adding visual cues or a familiar routine like a tidy-up song. Small shifts like these often help children move through transitions with greater ease and confidence.
Sometimes the way we set up a space unintentionally excludes certain children. Reflecting on who engages and who holds back can highlight the need for adaptation. If children avoid busy, noisy zones, reflection might prompt us to create calmer alternatives that still offer the same play opportunities. This ensures every child can access and enjoy learning experiences in a way that feels comfortable and supportive to them.
Reflection also extends to how we connect with parents. In the rush of a busy day, feedback can become brief and functional, which may leave families feeling uncertain or overlooked. Reflection helps us recognise when our communication could be warmer or more intentional. Building in small moments, like a regular catch-up or sharing photos through Parent App, reassures parents, strengthens trust, and creates stronger partnerships.
In the reality of early years settings, reflective practice isn’t always easy. Between the pace of the day, the needs of children, the paperwork, and the emotional demands of the job, finding space to reflect can feel like a luxury. Even when educators know the value of reflection, barriers like time, confidence, or fear of being judged can hold them back. Naming these challenges honestly is the first step toward overcoming them and making reflection a natural, sustainable part of practice.
With busy schedules, reflection is often the first thing dropped. One solution is to build short reflective check-ins into routines, such as ending team meetings with one reflective question. Another is to rely on tools that simplify the process. With the Parent App you can make notes on the go, use AI to turn rough notes into sentences or use voice-to-text feature to narrate a child's actions into an observation as the child's actions are unfolding.
Educators may worry that by reflecting on ways they could enhance their practice, it could be interpreted as them admitting mistakes which would be seen as incompetence. Leaders can address this by modelling openness and framing reflection as growth, not criticism. Some settings add a “glow and grow” to their end of the week meeting where they can discuss glows (what went well) and grows (areas for improvement), this could be a great way to introduce reflection as a means to grow rather than criticism or failure.
Sometimes “reflection” feels vague. Providing concrete models (like Gibbs or Schön) or implementing a system to assist helps educators know what reflection looks like in practice. In the Parent App, educators can be responsible for reviewing 3 of their colleagues observations and leaving comments under the observation to help their colleagues practice. In practicing reflecting on the observations made as a team, the team can build up the habit of reflection and put it into practice.
When reflective practice becomes purely a documentation task, it loses meaning. Reflection should serve learning and improvement, not compliance alone. Finding ways to embed reflection into everyday tasks and have the reflective work give value and meaning to educator tasks is one of the best ways to overcome this.
This is where automation and intuitive systems play a vital role. By reducing repetitive, manual tasks and streamlining documentation, educators free up valuable time to focus on meaningful reflection and child-centered practice. Intuitive tools that are designed with educators in mind make it easier to capture insights in the moment, without the burden of extra paperwork.
Parent App, as a paperless solution, helps streamline workflows by automating routine tasks and offering user-friendly systems that integrate reflection naturally into daily practice. Instead of chasing forms and checklists, educators can engage with reflection as a genuine learning process.
For reflection to thrive, it needs to be part of the culture, not just an individual habit or something that must be done at a certain time of day, week of year.
Leaders set the tone by valuing reflection, allowing time for it, and celebrating reflective insights. For example, staff meetings could include space for sharing reflective journals or case studies. As shared above, “Glow and Grows” are perfect for this, and help strengthen the bond between educators as well as they share different “glows” they noticed and collaborate on “grows.”
Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is strengthened by reflection. After attending training, educators should ask: How does this apply to my practice? What changes will I make? Furthermore, after a centre conducts a training or any CPD, it should gather reflections on how it was received, and how useful the participants found it.
In the UK, “Birth to 5 Matters” highlights professional reflection as a key principle. Similarly, the EYFS requires practitioners to evaluate and adapt practice. Linking reflection to these frameworks demonstrates accountability and professionalism, thus remembering this and keeping this at the forefront of your practice ensures you’re meeting best practice.
Inspectors often ask how settings evaluate themselves. Being able to share reflective processes, whether through supervision notes, journals, or team discussions, shows commitment to continuous improvement. The Parent Apps documentation of these practices can be very helpful in meeting compliance requirements. Being able to demonstrate how reflections are done by showing inspectors running logs of educators' reflections on their planners or on each other's observations helps this process significantly.
Reflection not only benefits children but also supports educators’ long-term growth.
Evidence for CPD: Reflective notes can be used in appraisals or qualifications as evidence of professional learning.
Confidence building: The more educators reflect, the more they can articulate their decisions. This strengthens professional voice in meetings with parents, colleagues, and inspectors.
Wellbeing: Reflection provides a space to process emotions and prevent burnout. It allows educators to recognise achievements as well as challenges.
“How did today’s environment support curiosity?”
“What could I do differently to engage quieter children?”
“How did I manage conflict between children? What worked, what didn’t?”
Reflective practice is not a luxury. It is an essential habit that underpins quality in early years education. By reflecting on daily interactions, environments, and professional choices, educators ensure they are responsive to children’s needs, inclusive in their provision, and committed to continuous growth.
The key is to start small, ask one reflective question at the end of each day, share one insight in team meetings, or journal once a week. Over time, reflection becomes second nature and is something embedded in your day-to-day life.
As early years educators, we owe it to ourselves and to the children in our care to remain learners as well as educators. Reflective practice keeps our work deeply connected to the children we serve.
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