Thinking about reflection

I enjoy writng and I enjoy thinking. Therefore I enjoy reflecting. Agreed. Thinking is a distinctively human activity (I say that because I am a human and have no reliable way of asessing whether other living things can think too.) Confucius once said that Learning without thinking is labour lost; thinking without learning is perilous. This reflection section has set me thinking about learning and how I should teach and facilitate pupils' learning. One important component should be reflection; reflecting on what they have learnt. In other words, to process what they have learnt. As teachers (yes, me too.), we sometimes rush through the syllabus without really reflecting and getting the pupils to reflect on what they have learnt. Why waste all these "Learning without thinking" when you could prompt them to ask questions, get them to think about some reflective questions and to question what they have learnt. In the process, they develop their thinking skills and really awaken their unquenchable thirst for knowledge.