--- title: 'What Is Student Reflection? Why It Matters and How to Make It Routine' description: 'What student reflection is, why it improves learning, and practical ways to build reflection into every assessment, with prompts, priming methods and examples.' canonical: 'https://www.gonurture.com/post/student-reflection-and-nurture' siteGuide: 'https://www.gonurture.com/llms.txt' --- [← All posts](https://www.gonurture.com/blog.md) Research What student reflection is, why it improves learning, and practical ways to build reflection into every assessment, with prompts, priming methods and examples. Emer Cunningham · 3 May 2024 ![What Is Student Reflection? Why It Matters and How to Make It Routine](https://www.gonurture.com/images/blog/3-2-1-student-reflections.png) ## What is student reflection? Student reflection is the practice of having learners pause and think about their own learning: what they did, how confident they feel about it, what they found difficult, and what they will do differently next time. Done well, it is non-evaluative: the point is not to mark the reflection, but to make the student’s thinking visible to themselves and to their teacher. Reflection typically happens at two moments: when students submit a piece of work (reflecting on the process) and when they receive feedback on it (reflecting on what to do next). That second moment is the one most classrooms miss. As educators, we often discuss ‘bridging the gap’ between the curriculum and student interests to enhance outcomes. But the gap between what teachers know they should do and what they realistically have time for is just as real. Reflection is a method many teachers find challenging to integrate meaningfully: in my own teaching, I encouraged students to reflect on their learning, but the methods could lack depth and authenticity. With Nurture, reflection becomes straightforward and automatic. Students reflect upon submitting their work and again upon receiving feedback, making reflection an integral part of every formative assessment rather than an occasional add-on. ## Why is Reflection Important? For many of us, reflective practice may not have entered our vocabulary until third-level education or our professional careers, and certainly was not encouraged or prioritised in our experiences of schooling as students. Thankfully, in the last number of years the practice of having students reflect in and on learning has been incorporated into a variety of curricula and is no longer isolated to professional practice in the working world. While the incorporation of reflection by and for learners into curricula is a relatively recent development, researchers have been emphasising the value of this practice for well over a century. Notably, esteemed scholars such as John Dewey in the early 20th century, and [Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam](https://www.gonurture.com/post/dylan-wiliam-the-role-of-leaders-in-promoting-more-effective-assessment.md) from the later 20th century to the present, have highlighted the importance of reflective practices in education. Engaging in reflective practice offers learners numerous benefits, such as: 1. Heightened awareness and comprehension of the knowledge and skills acquired in a specific task 2. Taking responsibility for one’s own learning and establishing informed learning objectives for the future 3. Recognising strengths and weaknesses in their work and conducting accurate self-assessments 4. Becoming introspective learners who understand themselves and their learning processes 5. Fostering collaboration between teachers and learners to pursue students’ learning objectives ## How Nurture Promotes Student Reflection Reflection is an incredibly valuable (yet often underestimated) practice that promotes self-awareness and self-improvement for both teachers and students, and at Nurture, we recognise and appreciate these benefits. Nurture is dedicated to enhancing the feedback loop through the mechanism of reflection, which occurs when students submit their work and receive feedback from their teachers. In the words of one of our Nurture Expert Teachers, Janet (an English and history teacher in [Kinsale Community School](https://www.gonurture.com/post/formative-assessment-and-feedback-kinsale-community-school-and-nurture.md)), “what I like about Nurture is that it opens up a conversation with the students about reflection in how it is laid out”. Upon submitting their work, students assess their confidence in their performance and provide a reflective comment on their assessment process. They specifically highlight the challenges or enjoyable aspects, explain their feelings, and disclose the resources they used. Essentially, students reflect on their process while offering context to their teacher about their learning journey in a confidential and proactive manner. This reflective comment during submission is further leveraged by [the Nurture Assistant](https://www.gonurture.com/post/introducing-the-new-nurture-assistant.md) to tailor the feedback provided to the student later on, completing the feedback loop in a personalised manner that meets the student’s needs. Upon receiving feedback from their teacher, students are prompted to reflect on this feedback to reveal their grade. Drawing from their previous reflections and the teacher’s comments, students evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their performance to uncover their grade. By engaging in this process without the pressure of the grade, students can fully immerse themselves in reflection to enhance the value before accessing their grade. Through these reflective steps, students effectively close the feedback loop, fostering a comprehensive learning experience. ## Priming Students for Reflection Reflection is undoubtedly a powerful tool for student learning, but to fully harness the potential of reflection and self-assessment we recommend ‘priming’ or ‘pre-teaching’ students the skills and language required for this task. In our conversation with Janet about reflection in her classroom, Janet’s advice is to open up discussion with students about the importance of reflection and explain how “as a teacher, I learn more about your learning when you reflect properly”. For students, her go-to advice is to “be specific. Encourage the student to explain what they think they found difficult about the task. In that way, the teacher’s feedback can be more specific to what the student is struggling with. I as a teacher can be more specific and more tailored in my feedback based on the students’ submission reflection”. In priming students for their reflection-on-submission, some methods we recommend include: 1. Discuss the power of reflection with your students, emphasising its value and how it allows you the teacher to give more specific feedback to their needs 2. Show students sample pieces of reflection from their peers 3. Encourage students to follow a formula to reflection such as ‘what specifically did you struggle with, why do you think you struggled with this, what resources do you need to help improve in this specific area?’ 4. Give examples of language and phrases the student can use In priming students for post-feedback reflection, we recommend using the same methods as above but asking students to consider the following questions: 1. What exactly did you find helpful about this feedback and why? 2. Was this feedback better, worse or in line with what I expected? 3. What resources are you going to consult as a result of this feedback? 4. What are your goals going forward based on this feedback? ## Conclusion The skills of reflection and self-assessment are powerful tools for both students and teachers alike, making for more democratic classrooms, more self-aware and self-regulated learners, better informed teachers and a more positive student-teacher relationship. However, making time in teachers’ classrooms for reflection can be a challenge. This is where Nurture can step in to simplify this process and make life that bit easier for our busy teachers. If you would like further support on the topic of Nurture and reflection for yourself or your staff, feel free to contact emer@gonurture.com to arrange a free 40-minute training session on this topic. [← All posts](https://www.gonurture.com/blog.md) ## Related articles [ ![Best Microsoft Teams Apps and Classroom Tools for Teachers (2026)](https://www.gonurture.com/images/blog/msteams-blog-thumbnail.jpg) Research ### Best Microsoft Teams Apps and Classroom Tools for Teachers (2026) The 7 best Microsoft Teams apps and integrations for teachers in 2026. 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