In early childhood education, reflective practice is often talked about as a requirement; something we need to record, document, or prove. Meaningful critical reflection, however, is far more than a checkbox. It’s a professional habit of mind that shapes the way we think, teach, respond, and grow.

To support educators in developing deeper, more intentional reflective habits, I created the Reflection Compass, a visual and conceptual tool that helps you explore experiences from multiple angles. It encourages you to pause, shift perspective, and understand what truly sits beneath your thinking and actions.

At its core, the Reflection Compass reminds us that reflection is multi-dimensional. It’s a dynamic, multidirectional process that moves inward, outward, backward, and forward, always anchored by presence and awareness.

The Centre - Presence & Awareness

At the heart of the compass sits Presence and Awareness, the foundation of all reflective thinking.

Presence

Presence is your grounding point — your ability to slow down, settle, breathe, and come into the moment. Without presence, reflection becomes reactive or rushed.

Presence says:
“I’m here. I’m steady. I’m ready to reflect.”

Awareness

Awareness is the noticing — the ability to observe your thoughts, reactions, and surroundings with clarity rather than judgment.

Awareness says:
“I am paying attention to what I’m seeing, feeling, and interpreting.”

When presence and awareness work together, they keep your thinking anchored and open, creating the conditions for deep reflection.

Internal Reflection — Reflecting on Your Inner Thoughts & Feelings

The Internal direction of the compass is about turning inward.
It invites you to explore:

• Your feelings and emotional responses

• Your beliefs and values

• Your assumptions or expectations

• The inner narratives shaping your interpretation

Internal reflection helps you recognise how your inner world influences your outer practice.

It might ask questions like:

• What was happening within me in that moment?

• What personal beliefs or experiences shaped my response?

• What does this reveal about my values or biases?

This form of reflection builds self-awareness and helps you understand why you experience and respond to situations the way you do.

External Reflection — Reflecting on Factors Outside of Yourself

External reflection shifts your attention outward. This direction encourages you to consider:

• Environmental influences

• Relationships and team dynamics

• Cultural and community contexts

• Organisational systems and structures

It helps you recognise that your practice is always shaped by the broader ecosystem you’re working within. It might ask:

• What external factors influenced what happened?

• How did the environment, routines, or expectations contribute?

• What role did other people or systems play?

This direction helps you understand complexity — that moments in practice rarely have a single cause.

Past Reflection — Looking Back at Previous Experiences

The Past direction draws your attention to what has already happened. It encourages you to reflect on:

• Previous similar experiences

• Patterns you’ve noticed

• What worked well

• What challenges emerged

• What history is influencing the present moment

It might ask:

• What have I learned from past experiences that relates to this?

• Does this remind me of something similar?

• What recurring themes or patterns are showing up?

Past reflection helps you build wisdom and continuity in your practice.

Future Reflection — Forward Thinking, Planning & Speculating

The Future direction is forward-focused. It helps you shape what happens next through:

• Planning

• Imagining possibilities

• Forecasting outcomes

• Identifying solutions

• Considering ethical and professional implications

It might ask:

• What might be the impact of different choices I could make?

• What goals or changes do I want to put in place?

• What would “better” look like?

Future reflection supports intentional action and professional growth.

How to Use the Reflection Compass

The compass is designed to be versatile, a tool that educators can use individually or collectively, formally or informally.

Here are three powerful ways to incorporate it into your reflective practice:

1. Use It as a Reflective Conversation Tool

The compass works beautifully in team discussions or professional learning conversations. You might guide your team through each direction:

• Internal: “What were we each feeling or thinking in the moment?”

• External: “What broader factors influenced this situation?”

• Past: “What do we know from similar previous experiences?”

• Future: “Where do we go from here?”

This structure ensures a balanced, thoughtful dialogue.

2. Use It as a Journaling Template

The compass makes reflection more purposeful by giving you four clear angles to explore. Journal prompts might include:

• What was happening inside me?

• What was happening around me?

• What can I learn from the past?

• What intention will I set for next time?

This keeps your writing focused and meaningful.

3. Use It as a Self-Check-In Tool

When something goes well — or not so well — use the compass to pause and reflect:

• Am I present and aware?

• What’s happening internally?

• What’s happening externally?

• What is history telling me?

• What do I need to consider for the future?

It’s a quick way to deepen insight on the go.

Why the Reflection Compass Matters

When educators reflect through only one lens — for example, focusing only on what happened in the moment — important insights can be missed. The Reflection Compass helps you:

• Slow down

• Shift perspective

• Notice your inner and outer worlds

• Connect past learning to future action

• Reflect with greater clarity and depth

It keeps reflection holistic, rather than one-dimensional, and ensures your thinking is grounded, intentional, and transformative.

Try It With Your Team

If you’d like to introduce the Reflection Compass to your team, try asking:

• Which direction do you naturally gravitate toward — internal, external, past, or future?

• Which direction do you find harder, and why?

• How might using all four broaden or deepen our reflections?

Reflection becomes transformative when we consider not just what happened, but everything that shaped the moment and everything it can shape going forward. The Reflection Compass helps us do exactly that, with presence, awareness, and intention.

Angela Andonopoulos

Reflective Educators HQ