In a rare effort to reflect on and enhance the quality of teaching and education in the higher education sector, the English Language Department at the University of Human Development (UHD) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) held a symposium with the University of Wolverhampton (UOW) in the United Kingdom (UK) at Professor Dr Ali Qaradaghi Hall at UHD on 8^th December 2012 to assess and compare self-reflection learning processes in both KRI and UK. The two speakers from UOW were joined through Zoom to the audience in the hall.

Under the title ‘Progressive Self-Reflection Model in Higher Education,’ several important topics were discussed by the speakers:  Encouraging Self-Reflection Model in Higher Education in the UK by Associate Professor Dr Linda Devlin (Dr Linda is currently responsible for doctoral study in the Faculty of Education Health and Wellbeing at UOW); Reflection on Educational Strategies in Higher Education: Between Humane Domain and Discipline Domain by Mr Saman Ali from UHD; Power and Agency in Education: Exploring the Pedagogical Dimensions of Funds of Knowledge in PCE in the UK by Dr Julie Wilde (Dr Julie is currently involved in initial teacher education, professional learning and doctoral supervisions at UOW); and Promoting Learner Agency through Sensual Perception: The Pedagogical Dimensions in Higher Education in Kurdistan by Mr Mohammad Javanmir from UHD. Dr Ismail Mohammed from UHD moderated the symposium.  

Self-reflection in education is the ability to be aware and conscious of your own thoughts and actions including emotions and intellect in a neutral manner. It allows you to think deeper and make faster progress, in, e.g., learning or improvement in teaching methods, through constant self-evaluation.