Reflective Teaching Practices and Academic Skills Instruction

Angel Pickett http://www.indiana.edu/~l506/mod02/pickett.html

Introduction

Reflective practice or inquiry-oriented teaching engages educators in "a cycle of thought and action based on professional experience" (Wellington, 1991 p. 4)). Robertson and Yiamouyiannis (1996) describe the process of becoming a reflective instructor as expanding the depth and range of questions you ask about your own teaching, undertaking a more systematic approach to practices, and collaborating with others who have similar interests and questions. Regardless of how it is defined, however, the origins of reflection in education stem from the writings of Dewey (1933), though Schon (1983) further developed the concept of reflection in The Reflective Practitioner, a book dedicated to the discussion of reflective practices in education, architecture, and other professions. Discussions of reflection and reflective practices in education have come to include the different types of reflection teachers engage in, the elements that make up reflective thinking, and the actions and questions that help educators think reflectively. The purpose of this paper is to address these three issues and examine how reflective practices relate specifically to the area of teaching academic skills. First, I will discuss the scope of reflective teaching, including the nature of reflection, the process of being a reflective teacher, and the barriers to reflective teaching practices. Second, I will address how the goals of reflective teaching relate to academic skills instruction. Last, I will describe how reflective teaching practices can be developed and used by teachers.

Reflection and Reflective Teaching

The Nature of Reflection

Discussions of reflection usually begin with Dewey (1933), who, in Canning (1991), defined reflection as behaviors which involve active, persistent, and careful consideration of beliefs and/or practices in light of the grounds that support them and the further consequences to which they lead. Guided by Dewey's thoughts on reflection, Bartlett(1990) developed the following principles necessary for the educator engaging in reflective practices:

1. The issue upon which the teacher reflects must occur in the social context where teaching occurs.

2. The teacher must be interested in the problem to be resolved.

3. The issue must be owned by the teacher - that is, derived from his or her own practice.

4. Reflection on the issue involves problem solving from the teaching situation in which the teacher is located.

5. Ownership of the identified issue and its solution is vested in the teacher.

6. Systematic procedures are necessary.

7. Information (observations) about the issues must be derived from the teacher's experience of teaching.

8. The teacher's ideas need to be tested through the practice of teaching.

9. Ideas about teaching, once tested through practice, must lead to some course of action. There is a tension between idea and action which is reflexive; once it is tested the action rebounds back on the idea which informed it.

10. Hence, reflective action may be transformed into new understandings and refined practice in teaching. (p. 207-8)

Schon (1983), in The Reflective Practitioner (in Robertson & Yiamouyiannis, 1996), discusses the difference between what he calls reflection-in-action and reflection on action. Reflection-in-action, Schon says, is when a competent practitioner learns to think on his/her feet and is able to improvise as s/he takes in new information and/or encounters the unexpected. In reflection-on-action, however, the practitioner reflects on the tacit understandings and assumptions s/he holds and subjects them to scrutiny in order to achieve deeper understanding of instructor/student roles, motivations and behaviors. Schon emphasizes the importance of educators' thinking about the dilemmas of their teaching and the social outcomes of education. Additionally, Schon (1987), in Sparks-Langer and Colton(1991), believes that most of teachers' learning comes through the actions and reflections taken and made on everyday problems. This is done

through professional debate about the nature of decisions, the value of goals, and the implications of actions, a reflective dialogue Schon calls problem setting. In his descriptions of reflection and reflective practices, Schon extends previous work by including critical awareness in the discussion.

The type of critical reflection initiated by Schon is extended by Ross (1990), also in Sparks-Langer and Colton(1991), who identified five components of reflective thinking:

1. recognizing an educational dilemma

2. responding to a dilemma by recognizing both the similarities to other

situations and the special qualities of the particular situation

3. framing and reframing the dilemma

4. experimenting with the dilemma to discover the consequences and implications of various solutions

5. examining the intended and unintended consequences of an implemented solution and evaluating the solution by determining whether the consequences are desirable or not (p. 40)

Ross, while ignoring the importance of the educator's ownership of the problem advocated by Dewey, includes the examination of consequences and implications in reflecting upon teaching practices. Additionally, Ross challenges educators to look not only at the intended consequences of teaching practices but also at the unintended consequences. This type of critical awareness is essential to reflective practices because it forces educators to look at their own goals and beliefs as well as the goals and beliefs of their students, other educators, and the community.

The Reflection Process

In looking at the process of reflection, Sparks-Langer and Colton(1991) list three elements important to reflective thinking: the cognitive element of reflection, the critical element of reflection, and teacher narrative. The cognitive element describes how teachers

process information and make decisions. Within the cognitive element of reflective thinking, Shulman describes six categories of knowledge: (1) content/subject-matter knowledge; (2) pedagogical methods and theory; (3) curriculum; (4) characteristics of learners; (5) teaching contests; and (6) educational purposes, ends, and aims (p. 37). Cognitive researchers who study how teachers think generally focus on the first four elements and disregard the last two, limiting the amount of information gathered on the ethical and moral purposes of education. The critical element of reflection focuses on the experiences, goals, values, and social implications that drive thinking. It is within this area that "the moral and ethical aspects of social compassion and justice are considered along with the means and ends" (p. 39). Finally, teacher narrative refers to teachers' interpretations of events as they occur within particular contexts. The cognitive and critical aspects of reflection may be included here, however, the main emphasis is on the teacher's own voice and interpretations of the context where professional decisions are made (Sparks-Langer & Colton, 1991).

Smyth (1989), in Wellington(1991), proposes four cycles in the process of reflective teaching: describing, informing, confronting, and reconstructing. Describing asks the question What do I do? and attempts to elicit a simple observational description of practice. Informing addresses the question What does this mean? and looks to uncover the principles of theories-in-use. Confronting forces us to go beyond the classroom and asks How did I become this way?. And finally, reconstructing gives the call to action with How might I do things differently?. These question are intended to raise consciousness among educators, to challenge complacent attitudes and beliefs, and to engender a high degree of professional practice.

Finally, one of the most comprehensive descriptions of the process of reflection comes from a model adapted by Bartlett(1990) from McTaggert and Kemmmis, 1983, and Smyth, 1987. While similar to Smyth's (1989) description of the reflective process, this model includes five elements in the cycle for the process of reflective thinking. These are: mapping, informing, contesting, appraising, and acting. Mapping asks the question What do I do as a teacher?. In this stage of reflection, the emphasis is on individual observations. The second stage, informing, asks What did I intend?. Here, the focus is on the meaning of the teaching. This stage asks educators to look at their mapping and dig deeper into what they want to accomplish in their teaching. Contesting, the third stage, asks How did I come to be this way and How was it possible for my present view to have emerged?.

This stage is meant to uncover the assumptions behind the actions. It asks teachers to share their ideas and thoughts with colleagues in order to understand how the teacher came to be where they are. The fourth stage, appraising, asks How might I teach differently?. This stage grows out of the contestation stage and leads to a search for alternative actions. "Appraisal begins to link the thinking dimension of reflection with the search for teaching in ways consistent with our new understanding" (p. 212-213) . Finally, acting asks What and how shall I now teach?. While Bartlettlists this stage last, he does not intend it to be the final stage of reflection. Rather, he sees it as "a continuing dialectical relationship among the preceding phases and the ideas of acting out new ideas about teaching" (p. 213).

Barriers to Reflection and Reflective Teaching

While reflection and reflective teaching practices are generally regarded as beneficial for professional development and for gaining a fuller understanding of the complex processes that go into teaching, there are factors that limit its effectiveness. Richert (1990) notes that researchers (Buchmann & Schwille 1993, Feiman-Nemser & Buchmann 1985, and Schulman 1988) have found "cognitive barriers that made looking back and learning from one's own experiences in classrooms extremely complex" (p. 509). In her own study, Richert found other organizational factors that make reflection in education difficult. In the study, four novice teachers were looked at under four different conditions of reflective practice. The first condition included student teachers reflecting on their work without the help of a partner or a portfolio for the period of a week. Teaching portfolios were then introduced for the second condition. Student teachers were asked to write for an hour and a half on the aspects of their teaching they found compelling. For the third condition, novice teachers worked with a partner who visited classrooms and observed teachers. At the end of one week, the partners met together and reflected. The fourth condition, then, included both the portfolio and the teaching partner.

In this study, Richert found that time was an issue for teachers in all the conditions. Richert found this to support Jackson's (1968) "assertion that lack of time is the central reason that teachers are not reflective about their teaching" (p. 511). Additionally, in the conditions where teachers worked with others, Richert found that safety was an important issue. Fear of failure and of judgement were especially high.

While the issues discussed may limit and/or restrict some aspects of reflection, they should not be looked at as barriers to reflection. Rather, they should be regarded as problems that can be overcome by placing importance of the process of becoming reflective and by developing a level of trust when working with reflective partners and/or peers.

Reflective Teaching and Academic Skills Instruction

Reflective teaching practices and academic skills instruction are compatible in two ways. First, reflective practices ask teachers to look at their teaching in the way that they are asking students to look at their learning, and, second, reflection compels teachers to look at the reasons and theories behind their practices and forces them to examine factors such as beliefs and assumptions about learning, students' needs, and the teachers' relationship with the larger community.

In examining the first way that reflective teaching and academic skills instruction are compatible, we can look at the goals of reflective teaching and of the Student Academic Center (SAC). The goals of teachers employing reflective teaching practices are:

To understand the particular individuals, actions, policies, and events that make up their (teacher researchers) work and work environment in order to make professional decisions. They engage in moments of reflection and inquiry in order to take action that will help their students learn better. In a sense, then, all good teachers participate in teacher research because they reflect about students' learning (and their own), inquire through multiple data sources (observation, analysis of artifacts, conferences, and the like), and then act on their new conclusions (Patterson & Shannon, 1993 p. 7-8).

These goals correlate to those of the SAC in that they both emphasize the relationship between the individual and the larger community. Additionally, courses at the SAC emphasize reflection among students to help them gain a better understanding of themselves and how they learn best. Finally, both stress the importance of being independent learners and practitioners. This is compatible with reflective teaching practices because the process the student undergoes in becoming an independent learner is similar to that of a teacher engaging in reflective practices. Both must ask questions about what they do, what

their actions mean, how they came to be the way they are, how they might do things differently, and how they will put new information into practice.

The second way that reflective practices and academic skills instruction are compatible is that reflection compels academic skills teachers to look at the reasons and theories behind their practices and forces them to examine factors such as beliefs and assumptions about learning, students' needs, and the teachers' relationship with the larger community. Although this need is not unique to academic skills instruction, it is especially important here because students are developing skills that they will need to use throughout their lifetime. Therefore, teachers in academic skills need to be especially reflective in order to understand the full consequences of what they teach, how they are teaching, and what this means to the larger community.

Becoming a Reflective Teacher

Teacher education programs are becoming more devoted to developing reflective practices in their student teachers. Programs such as the one described earlier by Richert and others are working on ways to help novice teachers become more aware of the their decision-making processes and how their work effects those around them. While the two most commonly used reflection-promoting techniques are reflective journals and peer reflection, other methods are used. These include teaching with self-analysis of video and/or audio tapes, coaching, action research and analysis of selected teaching episodes, assessment and discussion of student learning, and close examination of cases that illustrate examples of context, pedagogy, content, and ethical and moral dilemmas (Sparks-Langer and Colton, 1991).

Canning (1991) used questions that promote reflective thinking and statements that support it when working in a student teaching program at the Universityof Northern Iowa. The questions she used to prompt reflection in student teachers were:

Can you talk more about this?

Why do you think that happens?

What evidence do you have about that?

What does this remind you of?

What if it happened this way?

Do you see a connection between this and ?

How else could you approach that?

What else do you want to happen?

How could you do that?

The affirmations that Canning used to support reflection were:

You can find a way that works for you when you are ready.

You can change if you want to

You can grow at your own pace.

You can know what you need and ask for help.

You can experiment and explore. I will help you.

You can learn from what doesn't work for you.

You can feel your feelings.

Your needs and reflections are important.

I like talking to you like this.

Canning found that reflection among the student teachers prompted changes in perceptions about events and people, self-concept and in some behaviors.

Ideally, teacher education and educational workshops on reflective teaching practices would include more than just reflective journals with prompts and responses. While essential to the reflective process, journals should be used in conjunction with other practices. Teachers need to make time to reflect with peers, not only about the problems they are having but also about how these problems may have come about, what effect they are having on the students' education, and how they may possibly impact the larger community. Teachers need time to view audio and video tapes of teachers in order to understand

and identify the questions raised by Bartlett and Smyth, among others. They also need regular practice assessing and evaluating their own teaching and the teaching of others. By engaging in these activities, teachers will be more apt to develop and use their own reflective strategies, and, with this ability, they will be better prepared to serve the needs of their students and the community as a whole.

References

Bartlett, Leo. 1990. "Teacher Development Through Reflective Teaching." In Richards & Nunan (Eds.), Second Language Teacher Education.Cambridge University Press: 202-214.

Canning, Christine. 1991. "What Teachers Say about Reflection." Educational Leadership, March pp. 18-21.

Patterson, Leslie & Shannon, Patrick. 1993. "Reflection, Inquiry, Action." In Patterson, Santa, Short, & Smith (Eds.), Teachers Are Researchers: Reflection and Action. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, pp. 7-11.

Richert, Anna E. 1990. "Teaching teachers to reflect: a consideration of programme structure." Journal of Curriculum Studies Vol 22 (No. 6), pp. 509-527.

Robertson, Emily & Yiamouyiannis, Zeus.1996. University Teaching: A Guide for Graduate Students. Syracuse, NY:Syracuse University Press.

Ross, Dorene D. 1989. "First Steps in Developing A Reflective Approach." Journal of Teacher Education, March-April pp. 22-35.

Sparks-Langer, Georgea Mohlman & Colton, Amy Bernstein. 1991. "Synthesis of Research on Teachers' Reflective Thinking." Educational Leadership, March pp. 37-44.

Wellington, Bud. 1991. "The Promise of Reflective Practice." Educational Leadership, March pp. 4-5.