Promoting reflection in pre-service teachers through problem-based learning: an example from Canada

This article discusses the process, benefits, challenges and recommendations associated with the adoption of the Problem-based Learning (PBL) approach to promote reflection for pre-service teachers. Drawing upon Schön’s concept of reflection, this article explains how a pre-service course in Canada aims to promote the participants’ ‘reflection in action’ of assessment content knowledge and professional competence through PBL. The article points out that PBL enables the pre-service teachers to critically reflect on assessment issues and make meaningful connections between their reflections and real-life teaching. The key challenges are the facilitators’ inadequate understanding of using PBL to promote reflection, as well as the pre-service teachers’ struggle with time constraint and juggling between their need for teacher guidance, group collaboration and self-directed study. To address these challenges, the article recommends formal professional development sessions for the PBL instructors, and the achievement of a balance between learner autonomy and teacher guidance.     

Teacher resistance to computer-assisted instruction

The need to introduce computers to a greater extent in teaching technology is discussed. Further, the potential importance of affective responses in the teacher’s acceptance of the computers is developed. A semantic differential scale was employed to measure preservice teachers’ attitudes toward the computer, computer-aided instruction, science, mathematics, and the teaching of science and mathematics. Considerable negative affect was found toward computers, computer-aided instruction, and teaching of science and mathematics. Implications for the ways in which computer-aided instruction is introduced are discussed.     

Creating a dialogic space for prospective teacher critical reflection and transformative learning

This research highlights the pedagogical significance of dialogic spaces in supporting critical reflection and transformative learning among prospective teachers in the United States. It finds that, with elucidation of the multiple voices and texts from prospective teachers’ field experience, teacher educators can stimulate deep reflection to springboard transformative learning. It also finds that ePortfolios have strong potential to support a dialogic approach to reflection. However, it is also clear that, absent systematic observation and careful follow-up dialogue, the potential to move from reflection to transformative learning is limited. The findings will help teacher educators rethink the design and practice of supervision with ePortfolios, reinforcing that critical dialogue between the supervisor and the prospective teachers is key to supporting prospective teachers’ critical reflection and transformative learning, and to improving their teaching practice.     

Feedback on reflection: comparing rating-scale and forced-choice formats for measuring and facilitating teacher team reflective practice

This study focused on elements of measurement and feedback for teacher reflective practice. The measurement component examined the use of the Survey of Reflective Practice: A Tool for Assessing Development as a Reflective Practitioner to measure reflective practice and promote reflection, and compared educator responses using rating-scale and forced-choice item formats. The feedback component observed teachers and mentors collaborating to set goals that facilitate growth as a reflective practitioner. Results suggest the instrument can be used to measure and facilitate a teacher team’s level of reflection with one important caveat: our results indicate that there may be a threshold level of reflection necessary before teachers can benefit from the examined collaborative process. In addition, results suggest that the forced-choice item format might help mentors move away from a judging and evaluating mindset to a mindset of thoughtful analysis of the conditions and qualities that most accurately describe the team’s reflective behavior.     

Pedagogical imagination and practical wisdom: the role of success-narratives in teacher education and professional development

There is an increasing awareness that teaching is a practice where moral action is inseparable from pedagogical action, and where wise deliberation or reflection on what course of action to take as an educator is an important part of being a good teacher. This article focuses on rethinking the role of narratives as an articulation of such practical knowledge and the enrichment they might bring to a teacher’s pedagogical imagination. Working within a conceptual framework drawing on Schön and Aristotle, the study presents a group of narratives describing successful conflict resolution told by students at a newly launched teacher education program. These are discussed as part of a teachers practice repertoire and the argument is made that the local and personal repertoires of practitioners need to be complemented with elements from the repertoire of others, something systematic research into narratives of teaching in action can be part of.     

The ethnic match between students and teachers: evidence from a vignette study

The ethnic match between teachers and students is widely believed to be beneficial for the achievement of ethnic minority students, who often lag behind their ethnic majority peers. In a quasi-experimental vignette study, we investigated whether preservice teachers who shared the same ethnic background as the student in the vignette had different judgments of the achievement, working and learning habits, and other social variables of the target student than ethnic majority preservice teachers and preservice teachers who had an ethnic minority background different from that of the student. Additionally, we asked about the causes of ethnic disparities. The preservice teachers who shared the same ethnic background as the target student more favorably judged the student’s language proficiency in his mother tongue and perceived the student as more proficient in mathematics, science, and general competence than the two other teacher groups. Moreover, the causal attributions showed that the preservice teachers with the same background as the target student generally perceived the causes of the student’s lower school success as multifaceted. The results reveal that simply having a teacher with an ethnic minority background is not sufficient for benefitting ethnic minority students. Only teachers who have the same ethnic background as the students might contribute to the reduction of ethnic disparities in school.     

Moving beyond reflection in a hall of mirrors: developing critical reflective capacity in teachers and teacher educators

Using reflection to merely affirm existing beliefs rather than engaging in confrontation and examination of beliefs is like reflecting in a hall of mirrors. This study explores the process of critical reflective development of practicing teachers through program reflections written to prompts during master’s-level coursework, seeking to understand: How does critical reflective capacity develop and change in practicing teachers enrolled in advanced coursework in an M.Ed. program? Researchers used a three-level reflective practice pyramid as a frame for examining teachers’ reflective writings. Specifically, 103 reflections from 26 PK-12 teachers were available for analysis. Where finding a clear trajectory in teacher’s reflective development was an anticipated outcome in which teachers would progress from the technical to contextual to dialectical levels of reflection, findings did not indicate such linear development for most teachers. As faculty analyzed the data, they engaged in critical reflection, also questioning purposes and program outcomes. This paper reports on both our study’s findings in response to the research question and on the results of faculty reflective engagement. Results reinforce the understanding that reflection is an individual journey for teachers and faculty alike; results also highlight the importance for engagement in critical reflection for both teachers and teacher educators.     

From teachers’ implicit theories of intelligence to job stress: The mediating role of teachers’ causal attribution of students’ academic achievement

To better understand the cognitive antecedents of teachers’ stress in the school setting, the effects of teachers’ beliefs regarding intelligence and their causal attributions of students’ academic performance on teachers’ job stress were examined in the current study. We recruited 271 teachers who voluntarily filled out an anonymous questionnaire. Findings demonstrated that teachers who endorsed the entity theory of intelligence tended to attribute students’ poor performance to students’ inability but not lack of effort. Results showed a positive relationship between teachers’ fixed view of intelligence and job stress, and this relationship was mediated by teachers’ attributing students’ poor performance to students’ lack of ability, even after controlling for teacher efficacy. We suggest to promote the psychological health of teachers by incorporating intelligence mindset and attribution training programs in preservice teacher education, professional development, and cognitive behavioral stress intervention for in-service teachers.     

Using behavioral skills training with preservice teachers in the university classroom

Preservice and novice teachers often identify behavior management as an area of weakness that they attribute to a lack of sufficient instruction during their teacher preparation. Behavioral skills training (BST) is an evidence‐based teaching methodology based on the principles of applied behavior analysis used to teach new skills. This study investigated the use of BST in the university setting to teach undergraduate preservice teachers enrolled in a field‐based special education course to implement a token economy during small group instruction with children. A single‐case research design was used to assess the effectiveness of using BST by evaluating accuracy of implementation before and after BST. Results showed BST was an effective teaching procedure and social validity measures collected from the preservice teachers indicated BST was acceptable to all participants. Limitations and needs for future research are discussed.     

Not just for special occasions: supporting the professional learning of teachers through critical reflection with audio-visual information

Despite increased use of professional learning communities in the teacher education field, they do not necessarily guarantee change in teachers’ daily practice. This study is a multiple case study of three school leaders in Vietnam to connect their teachers’ learning and practice by utilising visual records. In the cases studied, we see a progression of models of joint reflection based on visual information, from only occasional reflection to daily critical reflection, the latter of which the authors call ‘vide-flection’ referring to a process for people to consider their actions, thoughts, or experiences by utilising video-recorded images. For joint vide-flection, school leaders visit every classroom for several minutes every day to observe the wellbeing and learning of pupils and video-record struggles or breakthroughs in children’s learning; they share those images with teachers to jointly reflect on the situations. Through this vide-flection, teachers develop more detailed awareness of pupils needs.     

A failure of dialogue? a critical reflection on a discussion between a teacher trainer and a pre-service second-language teacher

Reflective practice in teacher education often involves dialogic communication between teacher educators and teachers. This essay asks what constitutes authentic dialogic engagement in discussions between a pre-service second-language (SL) teacher and her university supervisor. Written as a self-critical reflection, the paper first describes the author’s thoughts and feelings about a post-teaching session he conducted with one of his supervisees and identifies possible disconnections existing between them. Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of dialogism and Hans-Georg Gadamer’s of genuine dialogue, this paper reflects on the dispositions that foster a dialogic relationship between teacher educators and pre-service and in-service teachers.     

CONFRONTING ASSUMPTIONS: PRESERVICE TEACHERS' BELIEFS ABOUT READING AND LITERATURE

This article describes one group of preservice teachers' beliefs about reading and literature. What teachers think of these subjects affects how they implement literature-based reading instruction and influences their students' views of reading and literature. During one part of a language arts education course, 39 students read about and discussed major assumptions of reader response, engaged in self-selected novel studies, and designed literature-based learning units. Students reflected on what they learned at the end of these activities. Through qualitative analysis of students' reflective writings, I identified eight beliefs students had formulated. More than three-quarters of the class gained insights into the reading process, the interpretative nature of reading, and pleasure reading. Half the students came to view writing as a means of identifying, shaping, and enriching readers' responses to literature. Finally, more than half the class described features of quality literature and one-third wrote about using literature outside the language arts. This study documents ways teacher educators can help preservice teachers examine assumptions about reading and literature that will influence how they deliver instruction.     

Preservice Teachers' Personality Traits and Engagement in Creative Activities as Predictors of Their Support for Children's Creativity

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among preservice teachers' personality traits, their own engagement in creative activities, and their beliefs about the teaching practices that have been shown to support children's creativity. A total of 302 early childhood and elementary preservice teachers participated in this study. The Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), the Creative Behavior Inventory (CBI), and the Creativity-Fostering Teacher Behavior Index (CFTI) were used to measure the preservice teachers' personality traits (Five-Factor Model), creativity-related experiences, and their creativity-fostering teaching practices. A conceptual model was hypothesized, tested, and supported by the results using multiple regression analyses and Sobel mediator tests. Findings indicate that preservice teachers who had higher scores on the openness to experience personality trait had more engagement in creativity-related experiences; those who had higher scores on the openness trait and who had more creativity-related experiences were more likely to espouse creativity-fostering teaching styles; and preservice teachers' own creativity-related experiences fully/partially mediated the relationship between the openness trait and their beliefs about specific creativity-fostering teaching practices. Implications for teacher education are discussed, and suggestions are made for future research on the relationships between teacher attributes and the use of teaching behaviors, which support children's creative development.     

Mapping dispositions for social justice: towards a cartography of reflection

As non-White students now outnumber their White counterparts in America’s public schools, it is important for teacher education programs, which graduate a predominantly White cadre of teachers, to focus on the development of dispositions for social justice. When teachers view cultural diversity as a problem, they risk developing erroneous expectations for their students, which can support the surreptitious insertion of prejudices into the latent curriculum. In order to help preservice teachers reflect on their understanding of diverse perspectives, especially those related to cognitive complexity, this study uses social cartography and discourse analysis to map their dispositions. Discussion and self-reflection lead to understanding and self-monitoring, and mapping can help teacher candidates identify those areas in which they may harbour apathetic worldviews or unifocal perspectives.     

(Re)imagining Literacy and Teacher Preparation Through Collaboration

This article reports the outcomes of the first 3 years of an ongoing participatory action research (PAR) project that brought together literacy and content-area teacher educators. The purpose of our collaboration was two-fold: (a) to develop shared understandings or theories related to literacy and the place of literacy instruction in content-area classrooms, and (b) to make changes to our work with preservice teachers in order to prepare them to support adolescents’ content learning and discipline-specific literacy development. The findings reveal that the collaborative activities allowed participants to embrace broad notions of text and literacy that are useful in making sense of disciplinary aims and pedagogy. Furthermore, as teacher educators came to shift their thinking about literacy and disciplinary learning and teaching, their work with preservice teachers changed. Implications for future collaborative activities to promote content-area literacy are discussed.     

Portraying reflection: the contents of student teachers’ reflection on personal practical theories and practicum experience*

This research focused on personal practical theories of Finnish student teachers, on how they argued for them and what they contained, and the data were analysed using Korthagen’s ‘onion’ model of reflection (e.g. 2004). The framework of this research consists of reflection and personal practical theories (PPTs). Personal practical theories are viewed as important for a teacher’s identity: they guide the teacher’s work, action, and reactions before, during, and after a teaching event. Reflecting on teaching, then again, has been one of the most significant issues and focus of numerous studies for several decades. This is a case study of six elementary school student teachers, who had constructed their PPTs before the practicum. We examined their reflections using the onion model of reflection, according to which a person reflects on different levels. The data were collected by interviewing the student teachers after their final practicum. The results show that most of their reflection focused on Environment and Behaviour, so it was located mostly in the outer layers of the onion model. The categorization of the reflection also showed that Competence was the smallest category.     

Through the looking-glass: on the other side of ‘un’conclusive reflections

This qualitative study explored the practices of a Technology Instructional Specialist (TIS) from the reflective vantage point of the specialist herself and multiple data sets collected from classroom teachers she mentored. The study examined the actions and impact of the TIS in assisting individual teachers with technology implementation through a reflective, circular process (i.e. action, reflection, modification, additional action). Data sources were comprised of: (1) survey on teachers’ comfort levels for technology integration in an elementary classroom; (2) teacher interviews; (3) self and teacher reflective assessments of the TIS’s mentoring; and (4) reflective journal notes of the TIS’s experiences. Findings suggest that reflections on and development of differentiated technology mentoring processes and actions conducted within participating teachers’ classrooms impacted their awareness of technology uses and pedagogical application. Most notably, reflections indicate that relational aspects of the TIS and teachers’ interactions impacted the process of technology implementation in participating teachers’ instructional practices. Practical suggestions for practitioners are provided.     

Bildung as an essential disposition in becoming a reflective practitioner: practical application of philosophical hermeneutics to second language teacher education

For a few decades, reflective practice has been employed in second language teacher education (SLTE) as ‘a means by which practitioners can develop a greater level of self-awareness about the nature and impact of their performance, an awareness that creates opportunities for professional growth and development’. Dewey, who initiated the concept of reflective thinking in teacher education, emphasized one’s attitudes toward engagement in reflective process. One such disposition is open-mindedness, ‘a willingness to entertain different perspectives… and acknowledgement of the limitations of one’s own perspectives’. Regarding this concept of open-mindedness, Gadamer, who established philosophical hermeneutics, provided profound insights by using the German word Bildung, which is often translated as education, culture, or self-cultivation. Through this concept, Gadamer emphasized not only one’s open and introspective disposition toward new experience but also one’s mode of being. This paper explores this notion of Bildung and examines its possible practical application to SLTE in combination with reflective practice. Referring to Grondin’s notion that education is to raise true questions, I will argue for the importance of nurturing Bildung of preservice second language teachers and of second language teacher educators.     

Gaining insight into a novice teacher’s initial journey through reflective practice

This small-scale case study conducted in Trabzon, Turkey, aimed at uncovering the attitude of a tertiary-level novice teacher towards reflective practice in English as a foreign-language setting. The data were derived from the pre- and post-study interviews with the novice teacher, her reflective papers on her audio-recorded lessons, her classroom observation notes about the experienced teacher and the informal researcher observations. The researchers’ role was to design the process, familiarise the teacher with the focus of reflection, conduct the interviews, analyse and interpret the reflective papers of the teacher. The results show that reflective practice may be challenging in terms of emotions for a novice teacher as it may be hard to confront an outsider’s view. The results point to beneficial impact of the self-initiated reflection on the way to teachers’ continuous professional development.