When there is no time to reflect, it’s time to reflect
Over the past few weeks, WorkUP has explored using the Reflective Practice Toolkit with workers from across Queensland. We hosted online workshops for allied support workers, practitioners, advanced practitioners and leaders. The conversations were rich, engaging and insightful.
Across the sessions, we trialed several reflective practice approaches including Scaling, the Head, Heart, Hand method and Feminist Practice Reflection to explore prompts from the toolkit cards. Jan Ungerer facilitated each session, encouraging participants to be creative and to use the resources in ways that suit their needs. It was inspiring to hear the many ways people already engage in reflective practice, from drawing to poetry. The toolkit offers another practical resource to add to these personal approaches.
One message that came through strongly was the sector’s clear understanding of the value of reflective practice both for individual wellbeing and for the quality of support provided to others. Finding time can be challenging, but as one participant wisely put it, “when there is no time to reflect, it’s time to reflect.”
Participants also shared ideas for building momentum with the Reflective Practice Toolkit. Suggestions included keeping it visible and accessible in the workspace, using it during team meetings, and integrating it into professional supervision. We’re looking forward to hearing how you’re using it and sharing your ideas across the sector.
We also experimented with using the toolkit to reflect on the workforce scenarios included in the Workforce Capability Framework implementation tips, which you can find here.
As the year ends, we’d like to share a short series of reflective questions from Amy Wormwell, one of the contributors to the Reflective Practice Toolkit and a strong advocate for reflective, self-aware practice:
- In what ways have I grown this year?
- What has been my greatest challenge?
- What has been my greatest achievement?
- Next year I would like to be more… by doing more…
- The learnings I take with me from 2025 are…
- To build my self-awareness and reflective practice in the coming year, I will…
You can find the Reflective Practice Toolkit here and please reach out to us if you have any questions or would like support with implementation.