Getting Better at Everything You Do: Reflective Practice for Health Science Librarians – Live Virtual 2025

Librarians want to get better at everything they do…in their jobs, career planning, and lives, but they often lack an intentional strategy to assess themselves and make plans to improve. We all reflect on our work, though the informal nature of this reflection may not result in lasting improvements. Intentional reflection (reflective practice) provides a focused strategy to identify areas for improvement and changes to make those improvements.

No matter the type of librarian you are, your work environment, or how long you’ve been a librarian, bringing intentional reflection to your work and life will benefit you and your library. Getting Better at Everything You Do introduces you to a simple model of reflective practice and hands-on practice using the model to reflect on work situations and on your reflective process. By the end of this course, you will be able to apply reflective practice to any aspect of your life you want to improve or change.

This live online session will introduce learners to the whys and hows of reflective practice. Using interactive polls, experiential learning, and small and large group discussion, learners will put knowledge into practice, allowing them to begin using reflective practice immediately.

Participants will receive a copy of the presentation slides and supplemental materials that include information about the basic four-question reflective model demonstrated in the course for initial reflection and meta-reflection, information on the role of emotions in reflective practice, suggested questions for reflecting on career goals and professional development (including questions to explore before and after CE courses like this one), and an annotated list of resources.

Resource URL: TBA

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to: 

1. Explain the roles of reflective practice and meta-reflection in performance improvement
2. Apply reflective practices techniques to improve work- and career-related practice
3. Explain the ways that emotion and reflective practice interface for better or worse
4. Apply meta-reflection to evaluate the effectiveness of reflective practice

Agenda

• 00:00 – 00:05 – getting settled into the space; presenter introduction
• 00:05 – 00:15 – introduction to the session and first Padlet (What is reflective practice?)
• 00:15 – 00:30 – presentation of the basics of reflective practice (what, why, how)
• 00:30-00:40 – individual reflective practice experience
• 00:40-00:50 – small group (paired) discussion of their reflective experiences (not the content of the reflection)
• 00:50-01:00 – large group discussion of reflective experiences; question and answers
• 01:00-01:15 – the interface of emotions and reflective practice; second Padlet (How are you feeling about emotions in your reflective practice?); use of reflection for career and professional development; meta-reflection
• 01:15-01:20 – final Padlet (How might you use reflective practice at work?)
• 01:20-01:30 – final comments, large group discussion, questions and answers

MLA CE Credits: 1.5