Having examined the role of eight undergraduate students’ experiences of reflection, I now suggest further research to enhance and enrich future study. In particular, I call for the need to build a clearly identifiable body of research that can build on what has gone before, and identify what needs to be clarified.
6.7.1 Undergraduate and postgraduate study
This small-scale study, which looked at some L7 and L10 undergraduate experiences of reflection, has highlighted for me potential areas for
development in terms of possible approaches that could enhance the student experience. Where there are practices, which do not promote student
experiences of reflection, it is surely necessary to bring about change. This could be done through embedding a broader and more globally-aware practice of reflection within the curriculum, giving consideration to the suggestion business students may need to contextualise their reflections by being taught how to reflect and doing so in a way that broadens student experience of reflection from a narrow process which focuses on performativity to one which reorients reflection to its original connection with morality and the development of society. I argue that reflective learning needs to be consistently built into the holistic education of business undergraduates. This commitment could be reflected consistently in the programme/module learning outcomes and
169 objectives, the use of teaching methods or approaches to facilitate students’ learning, and educators’ practices. It seems to me that learning is about
broadening perspectives, bracketing conventional wisdom, and being able to re- see in a new perspective (Mezirow 1991). Without consistent institutional
commitment to reflection, educators can expect to see critical reflection taking place only occasionally and accidently in classrooms. The success of this model of business education depends on student ownership; on the role of school leadership in fostering cultures to support this and, at a system level, where learning is placed as central to the institutional agenda. Institutional
commitment also means supporting more research that would help better understand reflection in business education and designing programmes for development of business educators in relation to critical reflection. However, in order that current practice can change, there may be a need for those who are currently working in the profession, to examine reflection as a discrete concern alongside disciplinary knowledge. In the crowded programmes of business education and the incessant demands of module assessment, there needs to be space created for reflection on reflection.
6.7.2 International Comparisons
Additionally, it would appear that there is scope for considerably more research to be conducted within a variety of contexts, and to draw on work from other fields, such as socio-cultural views of disciplinary contexts. Studies such as De Vita and Bernard (2011) and Hickson (2011) suggest that reflective learning can be successfully integrated in any cultural environment in which such learning is encouraged. Whereas research undertaken by Tsai and Lau (2012) found cultural variations around the student experience of reflection, more recent research by Marzban and Ashraafi (2016) suggests reflectivity is a well-organized education concept in the developed world context, where it is new in developing
countries. Further research and more data, such as from conversations with international students, are needed to understand whether or not international business students conceive of reflective learning in particular ways. Such research paths would enrich knowledge and understanding of the relationship between culture and student experience of reflection. It may be that learning
170 and student experience particularly, are culturally sensitive issues, which could be affected by a myriad of social factors worthy of further exploration. This direction would allow researchers to explore the cultural context of reflection in learning and in work. This takes on a particular importance if business graduates are increasingly expected to work and live in a more globally integrated
landscape. Further research in this direction could also guide and inform pedagogical practices in an increasingly multicultural HE context.
6.7.3 Supporting Business Educators According to Van der Meer and Marks:
Educators committed to giving attention to certain modes/foci of reflection, having and applying ideas and skills to stimulate and support students to engage in it and including reflection aspects in their assessments and feedback will help students to learn reflection (Van der Meer and Marks 2013:50).
This resonates with my professional beliefs and so the call in this dissertation to broaden and widen notions and practices of reflection does not simply require greater opportunities for reflection in the business curriculum, but greater dialogue about different types of reflection and different purposes would enable business educators to be more clearly supported in teaching the concept.
Teaching to expand thinking around reflection may even seem irrelevant for business students and staff seeking knowledge certainties. As Asselin (2011) has argued, students and staff may struggle with the ambiguity and transience of reflective learning. Because of this, MacKay and Tymon (2013: 645) suggest ‘a teaching challenge is to ensure structured activities do stimulate reflection on the ambivalences of business education’. Their work suggests that business educators have trouble in developing and teaching reflective capacities. Tigelaar et al. (2016:1) who argue ‘extensive support and scaffolding from teachers is indispensable’ mirror this. Consequently, I also suggest that there is a need to consider the following: deeper questioning of beliefs about teaching that underlie the practices and skills of teaching and modelling reflective learning; aligning student-teacher values about reflective learning; and
exploring how the culture of performativity and quality control work impacts on sustaining reflective learning in HE. This might require greater openness and
171 sharing of educators’ own feelings and experiences of reflection but would
enable a more authentic environment in which students can develop reflective competencies. MacKay and Tymon (2016:348) suggest that an effective
‘teaching approach relies on lecturers’ willingness to actively facilitate peer interactions and promote reflection on work practice’. To develop this willingness, business educators may need time and space to debate and think through complex and competing notions of reflection and to consider the implications of differing theories of reflection for the development of business graduates. Business schools can offer experiential learning and spontaneous activity, but business educators may feel constrained by stakeholder
expectations and instrumental outcomes in taking a risk with pedagogy (Barnett 2007, Lassnigg 2012). Reflective learning has no certain outcomes, no sure terrain for students and educators to negotiate, hence the need for thoughtful and effective support for educators embarking on embedding the concept within pedagogical practice. To support educator development, further research could be undertaken to explore business educators’ experiences of teaching reflection and this particular research path could usefully explore the ambiguous
relationship between disciplinary tradition, professional experience and reflective learning.