24/08/2026
Have we lost the actual point of critical reflection?
Hi everyone, I’m Alana 👋
I’ve worked in the early years sector for around 15 years, with some time as a primary teacher after finishing my degree. Coming back to early childhood, I quickly realised how much I loved the depth, creativity and passion that exists in early education.
Over the years, I’ve also found a real love for the Educational Leader role ......particularly the organisation, goal setting, tracking progress and being able to look back and see how practice has evolved.
That’s what led me to create The Ed Leader Hub this year.
And lately, I’ve been thinking A LOT about critical reflection.
AI absolutely has its place in our work, but I also think the rise of AI and increasingly polished documentation has made it easier to lose some of the authenticity behind our reflections.
We are already so time-poor. Add QIPs, evidence, documentation, meetings, changing expectations and everything else that comes with the role…
And sometimes I look at these long, beautifully written reflections and wonder: Are we actually getting to the point anymore?
Do we really need a long narrative to demonstrate meaningful reflection?
Or could a concise, honest reflection that gets to the heart of our thinking actually be more useful?
So I created a simple framework around four questions:
What did we notice?
→ What are we questioning?
→ What will we do differently?
→ What happened next?
And I actually spent a LOT of time deciding what NOT to include.
I considered adding theorist links, NQS links, extra prompts and more documentation.
But I kept coming back to:
Does this help us reflect — or does it just create more work around the work?
I wanted something simple, but still thoughtful.
And the Follow-Up & Progress section was really important to me.
Because reflection shouldn't be something we write once, file away and forget.
We reflect → we act → we notice → we revisit → we grow.
So I’ve made the template completely free and I’d genuinely love to hear what other Educational Leaders think.
Want the free editable template?
Comment 👉🏼“REFLECT” below and I’ll send it through.
And while you're here, I’d love to know:
Do you prefer concise, focused critical reflections, or do you think longer narrative reflections still have their place?
I’d love to hear what you think 🙏🏽 - Don't forget to join The Ed Leader Hub FB group for weekly free templates and support.
