Santa Clara University

Student Reflection Leaders

The Reflection Process

The process begins with the student reflection leader welcoming the participants, introducing basic ground rules for the discussion, and explaining his/her role as a facilitator of - and not a participant in - the reflection. These help everyone to get to know each other and create a secure, comfortable atmosphere for students to share their feelings and experiences.

The reflection itself has three levels designed to explore every aspect of an individual's experience, beginning with the facts, transitioning to the feelings brought out from the common experience, and finally the connection between the participants; personal experiences and their broader consequences.

The first level is designed to ask surface questions so that participants can more easily enter the conversation with impersonal comments. This helps students articulate exactly what they experienced, and in doing so, lay the foundation for a deeper exploration of the different aspects of the experience.

In the second level, discussion shifts to an examination of the individual's response to the experience. This stage identifies any emotional disequilibrium that has arisen from the experience, and also helps identify any common threads between the experiences and reactions of individual participants. Highlighting these commonalities is important to the progression of the reflection because it helps focus on the countless aspects of different experiences into a common theme that the student reflection leader can take into the third level.

In the third level, the emotional responses are used to transition into a discussion of the larger issues-- ethical considerations, faith and spirituality, social issues, and community service. Addressing these larger issues emphasizes the connection between the participants' personal experiences and their broader consequences. Reaching this level is the most important part of the reflective discussion because it focuses on topics that might often be ignored but are relevant to the participants' personal lives. It is usually in this level that participants connect with the deeper meaning of their experiences, which hopefully leads to individual commitment, action, or change.

At the end of the reflection, the student leader usually thanks all of the participants for sharing their thoughts and feelings. To conclude the session, each participant may be asked to comment on the reflection, perhaps citing something they had not considered before the process began. The question/comment technique leaves the participants with an idea or further question they can continue to explore after the reflection has ended.